German industrial orders, a key measure of demand for German-made goods both at home and abroad, fell unexpectedly in November, data showed on Thursday, but analysts insisted the uptrend remains intact. Industrial orders dropped by 2.4 percent in November compared with the previous month, the economy ministry said in a statement. In October, German factory orders had risen by 2.9 percent.
Domestic orders slumped by 4.7 percent and export orders slipped by 0.7 percent compared with the previous month. Orders from the eurozone rose by 2.7 percent while those from outside the eurozone were down by 2.6 percent, the ministry calculated. By sector, orders for semi-finished goods fell by 2.3 percent and those for capital goods slumped by 3.1 percent, while demand for consumer goods rose by 2.6 percent.
Analysts said the surprisingly steep drop in the headline number was no cause for outright concern. "It was the first decline after two consecutive and strong increases. Hence, there is no need for being disappointed," said UniCredit economist Andreas Rees. "We have to be a bit more patient. In terms of business sentiment, there is more and more evidence that German companies already turned the corner. However, hard data typically lag behind such leading indicators. While economic momentum should have remained subdued at year-end 2014, an acceleration in the first quarter of 2015 is in the pipeline," Rees said.