BERLIN: German industry orders unexpectedly rose by 1.8 percent on the month in May, official data showed on Wednesday, as big-ticket domestic orders for capital goods over-compensated for a fall in foreign demand.
The rise compared with a forecast for a 0.5 percent drop in a Reuters poll of 38 economists. Domestic manufacturing orders surged 11.3 percent while foreign orders fell 5.8 percent.
"The upwards trend in orders remains intact despite weakening foreign demand so that the prospects for industrial output remains good," the Economy Ministry said in a statement.
Domestic orders for capital goods jumped 20 percent in May. Deutsche Bahn signed an order worth more than 7 billion euros in May for high-speed trains from Siemens -- the largest order in the company's history.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.