BERLIN – German industrial orders dropped by a larger-than-expected 2.7 percent in July compared with the previous month, although the decline followed a very strong increase in June.
Economists had expected a 1 percent decline. However, the Economy Ministry said Thursday orders jumped 5 percent in June — revised upward from the initial reading of 3.8 percent.
July's figure was dragged lower by a 5.1 percent decrease in demand for investment goods such as factory machinery. Orders from the 17 euro area countries were off 7.5 percent after a bigger increase in the previous month.
UniCredit economist Alexander Koch noted that large swings in bulk orders have made the orders data volatile and said recent business surveys "indicate a further acceleration in the underlying order dynamics during the third quarter."
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