German factory orders for May miss forecasts

German manufacturing orders missed forecasts in May, amid weakness in domestic orders and in those for capital goods.

Total factory orders rose by 1.0% month-on-month, according to the Federal Office of Statistics.

Economists had penciled in a rise of 1.5%.

Last month's reading followed a 2.2% drop in April, which was downwardly revised from an initial estimate of -2.1%.

Export orders rebounded from a 3.6% drop in April to rise by 3.1%, but failed to offset a 1.9% fall in domestic orders.

By sectors, orders for capital goods orders to domestic economies were weakest, decreasing by 3.0%.

Orders for consumer goods from other euro area countries also fell sharply, Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics pointed out.

Based on indications from recent survey data panning out, Vistesen said factory orders were on track to increase by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter over the three months to June after a 1.0% plunge in the first quarter.

"This would be disappointing, but industrial production numbers are looking better for Q2," Vistesen said.

Versus a year-ago, factory orders grew by 3.7% following an advance of 3.3% during the prior month.