TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Private sector machinery orders in December fell 0.5 pct month-on-month, following a 14.9 pct rise in November, the Cabinet Office said.
Year-on-year, orders in December fell 14.4 pct following a fall of 13.6 pct a month earlier.
The data excludes shipbuilding and power generation equipment orders.
The Cabinet Office provided the following breakdown of the December orders, with month-on-month and year-on-year figures given respectively:
Manufacturing - down 7.1 pct, down 36.5 pct
Non-manufacturing - up 2.6 pct, up 3.6 pct
Public sector - down 18.9 pct, down 26.8 pct
Offshore - up 8.9 pct, down 25.9 pct

These compare with the following month-on-month and year-on-year figures for the month earlier:
Manufacturing - up 12.9 pct, down 31.0 pct
Non-manufacturing - up 17.5 pct, up 0.8 pct
Public sector - up 12.2 pct, up 12.8 pct
Offshore - down 6.5 pct, down 41.7 pct

Private sector economists earlier forecast December machinery orders would come in at between a rise of 10.0 pct and a fall of 16.9 pct month-on-month, with a consensus of a fall of 2.1 pct.
They forecast December orders would come in between a fall of 5.4 pct and a fall of 28.8 pct year-on-year, with consensus at around a 16.5 pct fall.