German factory orders decline in August, despite expectations
BERLIN
New factory orders in the German industry dropped by 0.8 percent month-on-month in August, official figures from Destatis showed on Oct. 7.
The market expectation was a monthly rise of 1.2 percent for August, while the July figure was upwardly revised to a 2.7 percent decrease.
The negative development of new orders in manufacturing was attributed to a significant decline in new orders for the automotive industry, which fell 6.4 percent month-on-month.
The new orders in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (minus 11.5 percent ) and in the pharmaceutical industry (minus 13.5 percent ) also fell in August.
Meanwhile, new orders for the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except for machinery and equipment, rose 15.4 percent , the manufacture of other transport equipment increased 17.1 percent , and the manufacture of electrical equipment climbed 7.2 percent in August.
New orders for capital goods in the same month were down 1.5 percent and consumer goods fell 10.3 percent , while intermediate goods increased 3 percent .
On a yearly basis, factory orders posted an increase of 1.5 percent in August.
