German Manufacturing Orders Up in June

Orders placed with companies in the German manufacturing sector rose sharply again in June, largely as a result of strong domestic demand for German-made goods, official data showed on Thursday. The Economics and Labor Ministry calculated that German manufacturing orders rose by 2.5 percent in June and May, extending the 2.8-percent gain seen the previous month. The increase was bigger than expected -- analysts had been forecasting a more modest increase of 0.3 percent in June manufacturing orders. The rise was mainly a result of a large number of big-ticket orders from within Germany, the ministry said. Domestic orders were up by 4.4 percent in June from May, while foreign orders edged up by a much more modest 0.7 percent. Using a two-month comparison to iron out seasonal fluctuations, pan-German orders rose by 2.4 percent in May and June combined from the figure for March and April, the ministry said.