Japan's core machinery orders up 4.3%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders in the third quarter of this year rose 4.3 percent to 2,398.6 billion yen (24.06 billion U.S. dollars), up for the second straight quarter, the government said Wednesday. Given the growth, the Cabinet office kept its basic assessment of the orders intact, saying they are "picking up." But the orders in September fell a seasonally adjusted 2.1 percent to 802.1 billion yen, down for the first time in two months, the office said. Orders from the manufacturing sector gained 4.1 percent in the reporting period on month to 334.5 billion yen, while those from nonmanufacturers slid for the first time in three months, plunging 7.0 percent to 456.7 billion yen. In addition, the cabinet office estimated the orders, which are widely seen as an indicator for future spending by companies, will shrink 2.1 percent in the last quarter of 2013.