German industrial woes deepen with sharpest fall in orders since January

By Carlo Martuscelli | 10/07/2024 12:37 PM EDT

The slowdown is particularly acute in the automotive sector.

An electric car is manufactured at the production plant of German car manufacturer Volkswagen in Zwickau, eastern Germany.

The German manufacturing slowdown is particularly acute in the automotive sector, with car sales down 4.7 percent on the year. Jens Schlueter/AFP via Getty Images

German factories recorded their sharpest drop in new orders for seven months in August, further evidence of a worrying slowdown in Europe’s largest manufacturing sector.

The national statistics agency Destatis said Monday that incoming orders fell by 5.8 percent in August, leaving them down 3.9 percent on the year. Analysts had expected a 1.9 percent decline.

The poor result can in part be explained by the fact that the month before, there had been a number of large orders in categories like aircraft, trains and military vehicles, said the agency. Excluding these, orders fell by only 3.4 percent.

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One bright spot was that July’s gain was revised up to 3.9 percent from a first reading of 2.9 percent.

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