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Summary Weak eurozone demand drove down industrial orders in Germany in September.
It was shown by the official data on Friday, suggesting that the debt crisis is increasingly taking its toll on Europes top economy.Industrial orders were down 4.3 percent compared to the same month last year, according to seasonally-adjusted data from the economy ministry.Orders from Germanys fellow eurozone partners were particularly weak, dropping 12.1 percent, the ministry noted. Last month, orders already declined by 1.4 percent. The ministry said the volume of major orders was very small as in the previous month. Furthermore, as in August, the timing of holidays also had a dampening effect. Taking the third quarter as a whole, industrial orders declined by a seaonally-adjusted 3.6 percent compared with the preceding three months, the ministry calculated.Starting from the very high level of orders in the middle of the year, industrial orders have now declined for the third month in a row. Companies appear to be staying cautious, particularly in the case of large orders, the ministry said. This suggests a very subdued development in industrial production in the final quarter of this year.
