Germany – Setback for order intake

These are clearly disappointing figures from the German manufacturing sector: in May, it received 1.4% fewer new orders than in the previous month, and without big-ticket orders, which have little impact on production in the short term, there was even a decline of 3.1%. At the same time, the Federal Statistical Office reported that industrial sales were 1.9% lower than in the previous month after adjustment for price changes.

With the weak May figures for orders, the upward trend that had emerged after the fairly good April figures is once again in doubt. This is because order intake has fallen back to the level at which it has been moving sideways since the spring of last year. However, a noticeable increase in June, which is quite possible given the slightly improved mood among companies reflected in the Ifo business climate index, would change the picture again. But even then, this upward trend would be rather subdued and would hardly signal a strong upturn in industry.

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