Capital spending by Japanese companies jumped 16.4 percent in the fourth quarter last year from a year earlier, marking the 11th straight quarterly increase, government data showed on Monday.
Investment by all nonfinancial sectors for purposes such as building factories and adding equipment totaled 14.48 trillion yen (about 96 billion U.S. dollars), a record for the fourth quarter, the Ministry of Finance data showed.
Investment by manufacturers was up 20.6 percent, driven by sectors such as information and communication machinery, and transport equipment, to boost output capacity, marking the 11th straight quarter of expansion.—Xinhua
