Core machinery orders in private sector in Japan was up 0.6 percent in May on a seasonally-adjusted base from the previous month for the third consecutive monthly gain, according to the government Thursday.

The value of orders, excluding those for ships and from utilities, hit the highest level since June 2008 to 907.6 billion yen (about 7.52 billion U.S. dollars).

Manufacturing sector's orders jumped 9.9 percent to 441.7 billion yen, while those from nonmanufacturing sector declined 4.0 percent to 475.0 billion yen.

However, total orders, including those from the domestic public sector and abroad, decreased 6.2 percent to 2,302.8 billion yen.

Meanwhile, overseas demand for the country's machinery climbed 3.7 percent to 890.4 billion yen.