国际英语新闻：Japan's machinery orders fall 2.3% in Feb.

TOKYO, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent in February from the previous month, marking the first decline in three months, Japanese Cabinet Office said in a report on Monday.

According to the government data, orders in the recording period totaled 748.8 billion yen (8.8 billion U.S. dollars), compared to 766.1 billion yen logged in January.

The government maintained its assessment in February of machinery orders, saying they are in a recovery trend, but as with last month highlighted the fact that weak movements are being seen in the non-manufacturing sector.

On an annualized basis the cabinet office said that core machinery orders, which exclude volatile orders from utilities and shipbuilders, increased 7.6 percent in February from a year earlier, with manufactures surveyed predicting core orders will rise 2.7 percent in the January-March period, from the previous quarter.

Machinery orders are a key advance indicator for corporate capital spending and the government uses the data to predict the strength of business spending in a six to nine month period head.

Such business investment accounts for roughly 15 percent of Japan's gross domestic product.

Analysts however expect a sharp fall in orders in the coming months due to last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami disrupting supply chains and severely hampering production.