The decline was bigger than a 0.9% dip expected by economists in a Reuters poll and marked the first decrease in two months after a 5.4% gain in October.

On a year-on-year basis, core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, slipped 3.7%, versus a forecast 2.4% increase, the Cabinet Office data found.

For the full table, go to the website of the Cabinet Office:

(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Writing by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)