German industry orders growth probably slowed in the first three months of this year, provisional figures showed on Monday, tempering other recent indications that business is booming.
Orders excluding the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) rose 17.2 percent in February and 15.0 percent in March on the year in unadjusted terms, the Economy Ministry said.
On the assumption that NRW orders growth matched the rest of the country, overall growth was 1.0 percent quarter-on-quarter, according to a statistics office model, the ministry said. That marked a slowdown from the 3.3 percent growth in the last quarter of 2005.
The orders data lacked the NRW figures because of a public sector strike there which included workers at the local statistics office. NRW accounts for around 20 percent of the usual orders figure for Germany as a whole, the ministry said.
"The orders in February and March cannot have been so ample if there was just a one percent rise in the quarter," said Postbank economist Brian Mandt. "That would be rather moderate."
"It doesn't at all match the sentiment indicators - both the Ifo index and the purchasing managers indices have shown industry to be in top form," Mandt added.
In contrast to the apparent slowdown in orders in the first quarter, recent business surveys have suggested Germany's corporate sector is in rude health.
The Ifo economic institute late last month reported a rise in its April business climate index to a 15-year high. An RBS/BME purchasing managers' index showed last week that Germany's manufacturing sector grew strongly in April.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Mario Draghi said Germany and the broader euro zone were recovering.
"It seems to be that the recovery is on track, especially in Germany," he told reporters on the sidelines of a central bankers meeting in Basel.