German industrial orders surge on strong domestic demand

Looking at industrial sectors, the increase in the headline figure was mainly driven by strong demand for consumer goods which jumped by 8.5%, the economy ministry said. Bookings for intermediate goods were up by 2.8% and those for capital goods rose by 2.5%.

Strong domestic demand for consumer goods propelled a bigger than expected jump in German industrial orders in March, data showed on Thursday, suggesting that manufacturers in Europe's largest economy will support a recovery in the second quarter.

The data published by the Federal Statistics Offices showed orders for industrial goods jumped on the month by 3% in seasonally adjusted terms. This easily beat a Reuters forecast of 1.7% and came after an upwardly revised increase of 1.4% in February and a rise of 0.8% in January.

Domestic orders in March rose by 4.9% on the month while foreign bookings increased by 1.6%. The strong increase was driven by an unusually large number of major contracts. Without this effect, orders were up by 1.6%, the office said. Looking at industrial sectors, the increase in the headline figure was mainly driven by strong demand for consumer goods which jumped by 8.5%, the economy ministry said.

Bookings for intermediate goods were up by 2.8% and those for capital goods rose by 2.5%. Orders were particularly high in the sectors of mechanical engineering, manufacturing of data processing equipment and electronic and optical products, the ministry said.

In a sign that manufacturers are partly overcoming supply bottlenecks with semiconductors and other industrial components, real industrial sales rose in March by 2% on the month in calendar-adjusted terms, the statistics office said.

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