Orders for Japanese machinery resumed falling in March, the government said Friday, in a sign that managers remain wary of upgrading factories and equipment before an economic recovery takes hold.
Bookings, an indicator of capital investment in the next three to six months, fell 1.3 percent from February, when they gained a revised 0.6 percent, the Cabinet Office said. Economists surveyed predicted a 4.6 percent drop.
Although Japan's worst recession since World War II probably bottomed out last quarter, the collapse in global demand has forced manufacturers to cut production by more than a third from last year's peak. With factory lines sitting idle and profits falling, companies have little reason to invest in new equipment, spending that accounts for about 16 percent of the world's second-largest economy.