Highlights-Japan March core machinery orders -8.3 pct m/m

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, fell 8.3 percent in March, below economists' consensus forecast for a 5.5 percent drop, government data showed on Thursday. [JPMORD=ECI]

Following are highlights of the data, based on a briefing by the Cabinet Office:

-- For a table of machinery orders data, click [ID:nT226162]

-- The Cabinet Office downgraded its assessment of machinery orders, saying they were "somewhat weak". The government had been saying orders were "moving back and forth" since it released the data for May last year.

-- Manufacturers surveyed by the Cabinet Office forecast that core orders would show a 10.3 percent fall in the April-June quarter from the previous quarter. A ministry official told reporters the orders were likely to do better than the estimate. Still, they will likely decline in the quarter, he said.

-- Private-sector core machinery orders stood at 956.8 billion yen ($9.11 billion) in March, the smallest amount since May 2005.

-- External demand-related orders fell 16.1 percent in March from the previous month to 973.8 billion yen, the smallest amount since January 2007. The ministry official said demand from the United States had already been slowing but now demand from other regions might be also slowing, reflecting a worsening environment for Japan's exports and worries about global credit markets.

-- In January-March, core orders, which exclude those for ships and machinery at electric power firms, rose 2.2 percent from the previous three months, largely due to a 17.3 percent monthly jump in January. It was the third straight quarter of increase. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa, Editing by Michael Watson)