Companies' capital spending jumped by the most in nearly five years in the fourth quarter, government data showed Thursday, adding to signs that the economy is set to return to growth.

Capital spending excluding software rose 4.9 percent from a year earlier, after declining 11 percent in the previous quarter, the Finance Ministry said. The first gain in three quarters compared with a median estimate of a 7.4 percent decline in a Bloomberg News survey of six economists.

A weakening in the yen, gains in industrial production and retail sales, and increased government spending on reconstruction from last year's disasters may drive an expansion this quarter. The report may force the Cabinet Office to revise upward preliminary data that showed gross domestic product shrank an annualized 2.3 percent from October to December.

"Reconstruction demand was probably the biggest support for the increase in capital spending," said Yoshiki Shinke at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. "The upward trend in business investment is likely to continue as companies become more optimistic and more rebuilding demand materializes while the yen weakens."

"Given today's very strong capital investment data, there is no doubt that the fourth-quarter GDP growth will be revised upward." said Yuichiro Nagai at Barclays Capital.

The yen's fall since the Bank of Japan announced extra monetary stimulus and set an inflation goal Feb. 14 has aided exporters.

Some of the boost to spending came from chemical and transport equipment companies rebuilding factories damaged in last year's disasters, the Finance Ministry said. It also cited the construction of supermarkets and convenience stores.

Bridgestone Corp. said Feb. 16 that it will spend ¥4.7 billion to boost capacity at its plants in Fukuoka and Saga, while Toyota Motor Corp. said Feb. 7 that it raised its profit forecast 11 percent for the year ending March 31.