Core private-sector machinery orders grew 6.5 percent in fiscal 2004 from the previous year, marking a second straight yearly rise, the government said Friday.
Core machinery orders totaled 11.83 trillion yen in fiscal 2004, compared with 11.11 trillion yen in fiscal 2003, the Cabinet Office said.
This is the first time since 1999 and 2000 that core machinery orders have expanded two years in a row.
Orders from manufacturers jumped 12.5 percent to 5.12 trillion yen, marking a second straight yearly increase. The rise came on the back of strong demand in the automobile and electrical machinery sectors.
As a result, core orders from manufacturers registered their first back-to-back double-digit growths since the asset-inflated bubble years of 1988 and 1989.