Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that in April, factory orders fell by 0.2%, slowing compared to March (-0.4%, revised from -0.8%). Economists had expected a 0.3% increase. Meanwhile, over the last three months (through April), factory orders decreased by 5.4% compared to the previous three months. However, when large-scale orders are excluded, new orders were 2.9% higher than in March.
Destatis said that in April new orders declined in four branches of manufacturing due to the significantly smaller number of large-scale orders. New orders in the "manufacture of other transport equipment" sector (aircraft, ships, trains) fell by 15.4% m/m. The declines witnessed in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (-5.1%), the manufacture of electrical equipment (-4.1%) and the manufacture of machinery and equipment (-1.5%) were also attributable to the lack of large-scale orders. By contrast, the increase in the automotive industry (+4.1%) had a positive impact on the overall result.
As for sectors, new orders rose in the capital goods sector (+0.5% m/m) and the consumer goods sector (+0.7% m/m). In the intermediate goods sector, new orders decreased by 1.7% m/m.
Meanwhile, foreign orders fell by 0.1% m/m, while new orders from the euro area decreased by 1.4% m/m. By contrast, new orders from the non-euro area increased by 0.6% m/m. Domestic orders declined by 0.3% m/m.