Orders placed with companies in the German manufacturing sector slipped slightly in December as a result of declining interest from abroad, official data showed on Feb. 6. The Economy Ministry in Berlin calculated that German manufacturing orders eased by 0.2 % in December from the figure for November, after rising by 0.8% the previous month.
Export orders were down by 0.4% in December from November, while domestic orders edged up by 0.2% month-on-month.
A sector breakdown showed that orders placed with manufacturers of consumer goods slumped by 4.9% on a monthly basis in December.
Orders for capital goods were down by 0.5%, while orders for semi-finished goods rose by 0.3%.
Using a two-month comparison to iron out seasonal fluctuations, German manufacturing orders increased by 0.4% in November and December combined from the figure for September and October, the ministry said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
