BERLIN: German industrial orders rose for the second month in a row in February driven by strong domestic demand, data showed on Thursday in a further sign that manufacturers are set to cushion a pandemic-related drop in overall output in the first quarter.

The data published by the Federal Statistics Offices showed orders for industrial goods increased on the month by 1.2% in seasonally adjusted terms. This was in line with a Reuters forecast.

The increase came after a down wardly revised rise of 0.8% in January.

Domestic orders jumped by 4% on the month while foreign orders fell by 0.5%. Still, bookings from other euro zone countries increased by 2.7%.