German factory orders advance in March as exports pick up

Bloomberg

German factory orders picked up in March as strong global trade helped offset a lull in domestic demand.
Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, advanced 1.9% from the prior month, when they fell a revised 0.8 percent, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed on Monday. The reading, which is typically volatile, compares with a median estimate for an increase of 0.6 percent in a Bloomberg survey. Orders climbed 1.7 percent from a year earlier.
Exports from outside the euro area rebounded with global headwinds such as a slowdown in China, Germany’s third-biggest trading partner, failing to damp demand for shipments. At the same time, while the German economy has proved resilient on the back of record-low unemployment, the effect of low oil prices that have boosted consumer spending may be starting to fade. Export orders rose 4.3 percent, led by a 6.2 percent surge in orders from the outside the euro area, and domestic orders fell 1.2 percent in March, the ministry report showed. Orders for investment goods advanced 4 percent and those for consumer goods gained 1.6 %.