JAPAN CONSTRUCTION ORDERS RISE IN FEBRUARY
Orders received in February by 50 major
Japanese construction firms rose 2.7 pct to 841.68 billion yen
from a year earlier for the third successive year-on-year gain,
the construction ministry said.
    Orders rose 1.7 pct from an upward revised 827.25 billion
yen in January.
    Orders in February from the private sector rose 17.0 pct
from a year earlier to 614.26 billion yen, for the fourth
consecutive year-on-year rise. This comes after a 37.3 pct rise
in January from a year earlier, to a downward revised 598.09
billion.
    The February increase over a year earlier reflected a 23.9
pct rise in orders from non-manufacturing industries, absorbing
a 10.8 pct drop in those from manufacturers.
    Public sector orders fell 17.8 pct from a year earlier to
183.54 billion yen. There was an 11.4 pct year-on-year rise to
160.74 billion in January.
    Foreign orders were 20.08 billion yen, down 47.7 pct from a
year before, after a 69.9 pct drop to an upward revised 43.61
billion in January. Orders below 10 mln yen fell 27.7 pct from
a year earlier to 23.80 billion yen. This was after a 5.9 pct
decline to an upward revised 24.81 billion in January.
 REUTER
