Germany's factory orders up in March

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Germany saw an increase in new factory orders in March, up 3.8% on a yearly basis and 3.6% on a monthly basis, official figures from Destatis showed on Wednesday.

"When large-scale orders are excluded, new orders were 3.2% higher than in the previous month," the federal statistical authority stressed.

While many economic sectors contributed to the increase in new orders, the manufacture of electrical equipment, increasing 14.5% on a monthly basis, made a significant contribution.

New orders for capital goods were up 3.7% in March compared with the previous month, and new orders also increased in the intermediate goods sector (2.5%) and consumer goods sector (8.7%).

Foreign orders went up by 4.7%, with new orders from the euro area increasing by 8% and orders from outside the euro area by 2.8%, while domestic orders increased by 2%.

In the previous month, orders remained unchanged from January but fell by 0.2% on a yearly basis.