Industrial orders in the euro zone rose 1.5 per cent in April, reversing three months of declines, while the trade balance shrank further, the European Union's statistics agency said today.
The rise in monthly orders for the 12-nation area's beleaguered industry was helped by a 7.4 per cent rise in orders for machinery and by a 4.7 per cent rise in textile orders.
Compared with April last year, orders were up 1.6 per cent, reversing a revised 0.4 per cent decline in annual orders in March. March was originally reported as a 0.7 percent drop.
On a monthly basis, orders declined in March, February and January, Eurostat said, revising down the March fall to 0.3 per cent from a drop of 0.5 percent originally reported.
The data could provide some comfort after a long string of gloomy figures from the euro zone, where weak domestic demand resulting from high unemployment is stifling growth.
The European Commission has lowered its growth forecast for the euro zone to 1.6 per cent this year from 2.0 per cent in 2004.
Eurostat data suggested that exports, the main growth engine in the euro zone, were losing steam.
The non-seasonally adjusted trade surplus for the 12-nation euro zone shrank to €1.3 billion in April from a revised €4.3 billion in March as exports eased to €100 billion from €102.6 billion in March.
Imports, meanwhile, inched up to €98.7 billion from €98.3 billion. Eurostat said the euro zone's trade deficit with China soared to €16 billion in the first quarter of 2005 from €10.9 billion in the same period last year.
Europe's textile industry has been complaining of a flood of Chinese products that could lead to many bankruptcies, notably in Italy.