German manufacturing orders unexpectedly rose for a second straight month in March, boosting the growth outlook for Europe's largest economy in the first quarter, preliminary Economy Ministry data showed today.
Adjusted for seasonal swings, orders increased by 2.4 per cent on the month, the ministry said. A separate Unicredit/Reuters indicator had last week predicted orders would rise by 0.4 per cent on the month.
Gerd Hassel, an economist at BHF-Bank, said the March orders figures were "astonishing" and augured well for the future.
"My estimate for GDP growth in the first quarter is 0.5 per cent, and it's well secured by these figures," he said. "However, the March orders have more of an impact on the second quarter," he added. "Growth of 0.6 percent in this period shouldn't be looked upon as a pipe dream."
Domestic orders rose 2.9 per cent on the month in March, while foreign orders climbed by 2.1 per cent, the ministry said. Capital goods orders rose 2.9 per cent, with intermediate goods orders up 2.8 per cent. Consumer goods orders fell 0.7 per cent.
The ministry said there was an unusually high volume of big ticket orders in March, and that the outlook for coming months remained bright thanks to buoyant business sentiment. The ministry added February orders data had been revised up 0.4 percentage points to show an increase of 4.3 percent.