German manufacturing orders staged their biggest jump since June 2007 in January, propelled by demand from domestic customers, the Economy Ministry reported today.
Overall orders leapt 4.3 per cent month-on-month.
Last December orders dropped 1.6 per cent, the ministry said in a statement, revising the figure from a previously reported fall of 2.3 per cent.
The ministry hailed the data as "an index for the continuation of the industrial recovery".
Orders from within Germany drove January's strong performance, rising 7.1 per cent month-on-month compared with an increase of only 1.9 per cent in foreign orders.
"Today's numbers clearly support the view that despite some recent disappointments, the recovery remains healthy," said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Financial Markets.
"These days, giving an assessment of the German economy requires not only economic but also meteorological skills. Hardly any other euro zone economy suffered under the heavy snow as much as Germany," he noted.
"Adverse winter conditions are likely to have a dampening impact on the first quarter. However, even the harshest winter does not destroy growth, it only postpones it," he added.
Overall, manufacturing orders also rose 4.3 per cent month-on-month in June 2007 and the last time they staged a better performance was in December 2004, when they were up 6.6 per cent.
Reuters