German Factory Orders Fall Unexpectedly

“German factory orders unexpectedly declined in January as foreign demand for investment goods such as machinery slumped.

Orders (GRIORTMM), adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 2.7 percent from December, when they gained 1.6 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast a 0.6 percent increase, according to the median of 37 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. From a year ago, orders dropped 4.9 percent when adjusted for work days.

“It’s an ugly number but it was caused by a sharp drop in big-ticket items so it masks the overall robustness of the German economy,” said Alexander Koch, an economist at UniCredit Group in Munich. “The confidence indicators signal a gradual recovery.”

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