German industrial orders suffer in July

New orders for industrial firms in Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse Germany fell back in July, official data showed Thursday, as the economy smarts from a global growth slowdown. Companies reported new contracts down 2.7 percent compared with June, federal statistics authority Destatis said, and 5.6 percent less than in July 2018 -- well below analysts’ forecasts.

Leaving aside large orders for items like aircraft showed orders up slightly in July, adding 0.5 percent month-on-month. Nevertheless,  “new orders for industry have overall made a weak start to the third quarter,” the economy ministry in Berlin acknowledged in a statement.

“Given still-smouldering international trade conflicts and restrained business expectations, there is no sign of a fundamental improvement in the coming months.” The effects of trade conflicts between the US, China and Europe were visible in the detailed breakdown of the orders data.