German factory orders rise again in October
German factory orders rose for the sixth month in a row in October, coming in ahead of pre-pandemic levels, according to figures released by Destatis on Friday.
Orders increased 2.9% on the month following a revised 1.1% jump in September, beating expectations for a 1.5% rise.
On the year, orders were up 1.8% following a revised 1.1% increase the month before and versus expectations for a 2% decline.
Compared with February 2020, the month before coronavirus restrictions were imposed, new orders in October were 0.8% higher.
Domestic orders increased by 2.4%, while foreign orders were up 3.2% in October versus September. New orders from the euro zone rose 0.5% and new orders from other countries increased 4.8%.
The manufacturers of intermediate goods saw new orders increase by 2.3% compared with September, while the manufacturers of capital goods saw a 3.8% increase on the previous month. Consumer goods new orders fell 2.2%.
Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "This is more like it. Today’s report is a firm beat of the consensus, and it includes a nice upward revision of the September data, consistent with the otherwise solid survey data.
"These are strong data, matching the upturn in the surveys in recent months. The increase at the start of Q4 lifted the level of new orders to 0.8% above its pre-virus level, pointing to significant upside to manufacturing production, which was still languishing some 10% below its pre-Covid level at the end of Q3."