Orders placed with companies in the German manufacturing sector fell in January as a result of declining orders from abroad, official data showed on March 7. The Economy Ministry in Berlin calculated that German manufacturing orders declined by 1% in January from the figure for December, after rising by 0.7% the previous month.
The ministry attributed the decline to a sharp drop in orders from abroad.
Export orders were down by 1.9% in January from December, while domestic orders eased by just 0.1% percent month-on-month.
A sector breakdown showed that orders placed with manufacturers of consumer goods rose by 1.7% on a monthly basis in January. By contrast, orders for capital goods were down by 1.3% and orders for semi-finished goods slumped by 1.5%.
Using a two-month comparison to iron out seasonal fluctuations, German manufacturing orders increased by 0.7% in December and January combined from the figure for October and November, the ministry said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
