German Manufacturing Orders Rose More Than Forecast in February

thenews 2013.04.05 09:06

German factory orders rose more than twice as much as economists forecast in February, adding to signs that Europe’s largest economy returned to growth in the first quarter.

Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, increased 2.3 percent from January, when they dropped a revised 1.6 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast a 1.1 percent gain, according to the median of 33 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. In the year, workday-adjusted orders were unchanged.

While the euro area remains mired in recession, the German economy probably found its way back to growth in the first quarter after a 0.6 percent contraction in the last three months of 2012. Retail sales unexpectedly rose in February and the jobless rate remained close to a two-decade low. At the same time, business confidence dropped for the first time in five months in March amid renewed concerns about Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

“Recent indicators are quite conflicting,” said Heinrich Bayer, an economist at Deutsche Postbank AG (DPB) in Bonn. “The German economy probably recovered in the first quarter but there is still a lot of uncertainty. We’ll have to wait and see if the recovery is sustainable over a longer period of time.”