German Manufacturing Orders Slump in April

Orders for Germany's important manufacturing sector slumped in April, partly caused by a relatively low share of bulk orders, the economics ministry said Wednesday.

Manufacturing orders fell by 2.1% compared with March, the economics ministry said, referring to data adjusted for seasonal swings and calendar effects. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.5% decline.

The decline in April was led by a fall in demand from overseas, particularly from outside the eurozone, where orders slumped by 4.8% compared with March. Domestic orders declined by 0.2%.

German manufacturing orders have been volatile since the turn of the year. They plummeted in January after an unusually strong gain in December? ?2016, gathered speed in February and March, but dropped again in April. Despite the volatility, the economics ministry on Wednesday ?predicted? "a continuation of the gradual upswing" in the sector.

Write to Nina Adam at nina.adam@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2017 02:44 ET (06:44 GMT)