Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 6.2 percent in January from the previous month to 1.059 trillion yen, the first fall in four months, the government said Friday.

But the Cabinet Office left its assessment that core machinery orders are on a rising trend unchanged from the previous month, because the drop in January followed growth in large-lot orders in December.

"We maintained the assessment because core machinery orders grew, backed by large-lot orders such as for semiconductor-manufacturing equipment in December, while there were no large-lot orders in January," an official at the Cabinet Office said.

The official also said core machinery orders have maintained high levels, topping 1 trillion yen for the fourth straight month.

This marks the longest period of core orders in excess of 1 trillion yen since a five-month stretch from August to December 2000, he added.

The figure represents an unadjusted 9.8 percent increase from a year earlier, marking the eighth consecutive monthly increase, the Cabinet Office said.

Including the January data, core machinery orders will need to grow by 2.6 percent in both February and March to meet the government's forecast of a 1.3 percent rise in the first quarter of the year, the official said.

Core machinery orders have expanded for five quarters in a row, rising a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in the October to December quarter.

In January, orders from manufacturers slipped 5.1 percent from the previous year, the first decline in three months.