Orders placed with companies in the German manufacturing sector were down again in October, after already falling sharply the previous month, official data showed on Dec. 6. The Economy Ministry calculated that German manufacturing orders declined by 1.1% in October from the figure for September. The ministry said that although a high number of big-ticket orders were received in October, the volume of such orders was lower than in previous months.
Export orders edged up by 0.6% in October from September, while domestic orders declined by 2.6% month-on-month. A sector breakdown showed that orders placed with manufacturers of capital goods fell by 2.8% on a monthly basis in October. By contrast, orders for consumer goods rose by 1.8% and orders for semi-finished goods edged up 0.3%.
Using a two-month comparison to iron out seasonal fluctuations, German manufacturing orders decreased by 1.7% in September and October combined from the figure for July and August, the ministry said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
