German factory orders unexpectedly fall in April

German factory orders unexpectedly fell in April as domestic demand dropped, according to figures released on Monday by Destatis.

Factory orders dipped 0.2% on the month following a 3.9% increase in March, and versus expectations for a 0.5% rise. On the year, factory orders surged 78.9% in April following a 29.2% jump the month before.

Compared to February 2020 - a month before Covid-related restrictions kicked in - order intake was up 9.9%.

Domestic orders fell 4.3%, while international orders rose 2.7%. Incoming orders from the eurozone were up 0.7% and orders from the rest of the world jumped 3.8%. The manufacturers of intermediate goods saw orders drop 1% on the month, while capital goods makers saw a 0.2% uptick. The manufacturers of consumer goods saw orders rise 1.4%.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "This is soft, but better than we feared, especially given the upward revision to the March number.

"Looking ahead, the scene is set for a decent gain through Q2 as a whole. Even if new orders were unchanged through the rest of the quarter, they would still increase by 2.9%. This, in turn, however points to relative soft month-to-month data in the next few months. More generally, the surveys still point to brisk growth in new orders, though reports that firms are now scrambling to hoard input due to supply side constraints is a fly in the ointment.

"This, by contrast, suggests that new overs might not be a good guide for output in the near term as firms aren’t getting the goods they need, on time. We already see clear evidence of a widening gap between new orders and production in motor vehicles."