Core private-sector machinery orders, rose a seasonally adjusted 14.9 percent in November to 908.8 billion yen in reaction to falls in September and October, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
Machinery orders are considered a leading indicator of corporate capital investment.
The orders, excluding those for ships and from electric power companies, posted the first double-digit growth since a 19.6 percent gain in August 2000 after a 10.1 percent drop in October to a 14-year low, the office said.
But the November figure represents an unadjusted 13.6 percent drop from the level a year earlier and the sixth consecutive monthly fall, it added.
"Smoothing monthly ups and downs, machinery orders remain on a declining trend," said Yoshihiko Senoo, a senior economist at the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office, leaving the assessment unchanged for the second month in a row.
"Based on the machinery orders data, capital investment in the first half of this year could stay sluggish."
The data are considered an indicator of corporate investment in facilities and equipment six to nine months ahead.
Despite the climb in the reporting month, the monthly average orders for October and November were still 9.7 percent less than the average for July-September, Senoo said.
Core machinery orders in October-December could drop from the previous quarter by a larger extent than the initially forecast 0.5 percent dip unless they soar in December by an unusual 22.2 percent, he added.