German factory orders jumped 7% in June, the most in three years, according to data released Friday.
The big increase surprised economists who were forecasting a 2% decline, and comes after a surge in May, when revised figures said it rose by 6.2%.
The increase turned the year-over-year figure positive, to 3%, for the first time since Feb. 2022.
June’s big surge was driven by large orders — without them, factory orders would’ve declined by 2.6%. What’s called other vehicle construction jumped 89.2%, which it attributed to “a major order in the aerospace industry,” meaning Airbus AIR, +0.29%, as its Hamburg facility produces more than half the A320 aircraft.
But orders for motor vehicles and parts fell by 7.3%.
Oliver Rakau, chief Germany economist at Oxford Economics, said the fact that core orders fell by 2.6% means “the near-term implications for industry remain gloomy.”
The euro EURUSD, -0.02% was steady at $1.0949 ahead of key U.S. jobs data later on Friday.
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
