Japan's machinery orders increase 4.2% in Jan.

（单词翻译）

    TOKYO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core machinery¹(机械) orders rose 4.2 percent in January from the previous month, marking the second rise in five months, the Cabinet Office said in a report on Wednesday.
    According to the government data, orders in the recording² period totaled 766.1 billion yen³ (9.28 billion U.S. dollars), beating median economists⁴' expectations.
    Average forecasts were for a 2.5 percent increase on the back of December's 1.7 percent rise, economists said.
    Ongoing⁵ robust⁶ demand from China and the U.S. continues to boost corporate⁷ earnings⁸ and companies are feeling more inclined to invest more in plants, machinery and equipment, the data showed.
    And whilst the government maintained its assessment⁹ in January of machinery orders, saying they are in a recovery trend, they highlighted the fact that weak movements are being seen in the non- manufacturing sector¹⁰.
    On a non-adjusted basis the Cabinet Office said that core machinery orders, which exclude volatile¹¹ orders from utilities and shipbuilders（造船专家）, increased 5.9 percent in January 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 indicator¹² 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.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）