German factory orders down more than expected in December

This compares to a downwardly-revised 0.7% decline the previous month and was slightly steeper than the 2.8% drop expected by economists.

For the year as a whole, orders were down 6.6%, which was the first annual drop since 2009.

Demand for intermediate goods slid 2 percent and bookings for capital goods dropped 0.5 percent in December.

The big December decline was led by a plunge in demand for commercial aircraft, a volatile category.

Weaker demand for transportation equipment was also reflected in a 1.4 percent decrease in shipments.

Originally published as German factory order fall 0.7%.

The weakness in orders underscores the persistent problems in USA manufacturing as a global slowdown and a strong dollar weigh on exports and the U.S. economy continues to grow at a slow pace. At $467 billion in December, shipments have been down eight of the last nine months.

Unfilled orders fell following two consecutive monthly increases.

“Positive impulses in December came primarily from outside the eurozone”, as orders from this region jumped 5.5% from the preceding month, the ministry said. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.38, up from 1.35 in November.

Total orders for Germany’s manufacturing sector were down 1.0% from December 2014. A survey on Monday showed that although manufacturing contracted in January for a fourth straight month, activity ticked up as new orders rebounded. Inventories of nondurable goods fell $1.0 billion or 0.4 percent and included a 2.6 percent decrease in petroleum and coal products.