German factory orders unexpectedly drop

Warsaw - German factory orders unexpectedly declined in September, reflecting a slowdown in growth over the summer months in Europe’s largest economy.

Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 0.6% from August, when they rose a revised 0.9%, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed on Monday. The median in a Bloomberg survey was for an increase of 0.2%. Orders gained 2.6% from a year earlier.

The report confirms the Bundesbank’s view that the German economy underwent a soft patch in the third quarter, even as underlying momentum remained “quite strong.”

Since then, manufacturing has gathered pace as companies boosted hiring, partially in response to stronger foreign demand from the US and Asia, while unemployment dropped to a fresh record low.

Orders for investment goods shrank 1.6% in September, while those for consumer goods rose 0.5%, the report showed.

Domestic demand slid 1.1% and export orders dropped 0.3%. Eurozone orders slumped 4.5%, after a 4.2% gain the previous month, and orders from outside the currency bloc climbed 2.5%.

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