German manufacturing orders drop more than expected

German manufacturing orders fell more than expected in December, data from Destatis showed on Friday.

Orders were down 0.7% compared with a 1.5% increase in November and steeper than the 0.5% drop expected by economists.

On the year, manufacturing orders were down 2.7%.

Domestic orders decreased 2.5% while foreign orders slipped 0.6% on the previous month.

New orders from the euro area were 6.9% lower than November, while orders from other countries increased 5.5%.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said the figures were poor but the jump in export orders was upbeat. “A disappointing headline, indicating German manufacturing continues to struggle,” it said.