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Incoming orders rose by 6.4% on the previous month on a
seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal statistics
office said on Thursday. A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed
to a 1.2% increase.
There was a 137.1% increase in the manufacture of other
transport equipment, which includes ships, railway rolling
stock, air and spacecraft, as well as military vehicles.
The sharp increase in this sector, driving up the main index,
was due to large-scale orders, the statistics office said.
If this highly volatile component is factored out, the increase
in the main figure is only 2.4%, instead of 6.4%, Commerzbank's
senior economist Ralph Solveen said.
The figure for April was revised to a 0.2% increase instead of a
0.4% drop on the month.
Despite the positive data in May and April, the three-month on
three-month comparison showed that new orders were 6.1% lower in
the period from March to May than in the previous three months,
indicating a slowdown in demand.
"Although the May figure has brightened the picture somewhat,
the trend continues to point clearly downward," Solveen said.
Orders are down 4.3% compared with May 2022.
"New orders are the lifeblood of the export-heavy German
economy," said Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank Group,
adding that the situation remains critical.
Since hardly any other country in Europe is as dependent on the
manufacturing sector, it is not surprising that Germany is at
the bottom of growth rankings, said Gitzel, who expects the
economy to contract in 2023 as a whole.
(Reporting by Anna Mackenzie and Maria MartinezEditing by
Friederike Heine and Miranda Murray)
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