German industrial orders rise

German industrial orders, a key indicator of the health of Europe's biggest economy, rose unexpectedly in September, driven by booming demand for German-made goods in the eurozone, data showed on Monday. German industrial orders grew by 1.0 percent in September from August, after already rising by 4.1 percent the previous month, the federal statistics authority Destatis said in a statement. Analysts had been forecasting a drop in orders of 1.3 percent for September.
"In the last two months, orders outstripped the volume that was reached at the end of 2007, before the outbreak of the economic and financial crisis," Destatis said. The September increase was wholly attributable to a bumper rise in orders from Germany's eurozone neighbours, the statisticians calculated. Industrial orders from the single currency area grew by 6.3 percent month-on-month, while orders from the rest of the world fell by 1.0 percent and domestic contracts shrank by 0.1 percent. The economy ministry in Berlin predicted that improving business confidence in the manufacturing sector "suggests growth in industrial orders will continue."