German industrial orders rise in May

German industrial orders rose further in May, by 1.8 per cent, the Economy Ministry said yesterday.

This followed 2.9 per cent growth in April, according to revised figures.

The May figure far exceeded expectations by analysts, polled by Dow Jones Newswires, who had expected a 0.5 per cent drop in orders. Foreign orders were down 5.8 per cent in May, but orders from within Germany increased by 11.3 per cent.

A breakdown by sector indicated the strongest increase came from investment goods used in the production of final products – a 2.4 per cent hike that signalled sustained demand for machine tools and other German specialty goods.

Consumer goods orders were down by 1.5 per cent after a 4.3 per cent increase in April.

A large number of bulk orders was recorded in May, as was also the case in April, the ministry said. Provisional figures issued for April were revised up from 2.8 to 2.9 per cent.

The German economy is officially expected to expand by 2.6 per cent this year following growth of 3.6 per cent in 2010, but Chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated the forecast could be raised three per cent in the coming months.