German industrial orders fell in July, official data published on Friday, September 5th showed, as another sign that Europe’s largest economy is struggling.
New orders, a key sign of future business, fell by 2.9% in July after a 0.2% drop in June, according to early data from Destatis. The decline was mainly due to fewer orders for transport equipment, despite hopes for a small recovery.
Economy Minister Katherina Reiche, a member of the coalition government who has vowed to boost the EU’s largest economy, stressed that orders have been dropping for three months.
“We do not need any further warning signals to realise that we must now act decisively and consistently to gear all our policies towards competitiveness,” she said in a statement.
Germany’s economy has been weak for a long time because factories face high energy costs and low demand.
