- Andreas Scheuerle, Dekabank economist
German factory orders rose sharply in June, as a weak Euro fuelled robust global demand even amid turbulence in Greece and China. German industrial orders surged by a much stronger than expected 2% in June, compared with a 0.3% decline in May. Economists had predicted a modest rise of 0.3%. While domestic orders dropped 2% compared with May, demand from other countries in the Euro zone rose 2.3% and orders from outside the currency bloc soared 6.3%. In annual terms, the measure increased 7.2% in the measured month, after recording a revised 4.5% growth in the previous month, measured on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Meanwhile, the German manufacturing sector saw a slight decline in its pace of growth in July with the respective PMI reading sliding to 51.8, down from June's 51.9. However, business sentiment among German top executives recovered from June levels. The headline Ifo Business Climate Index came in at 108 points in July, above the 107.4 booked a month earlier. The Current Assessment sub-survey, indicating current conditions in the Euro zone's number one economy, booked 113.9 points, after the previous month's 113.1, and the Ifo Expectations Index, indicating firms' projections for the next six months ahead, came in 102.4, from 102.0 in June.
A separate report, the unemployment rate in Greece dropped on a seasonally adjusted basis in May to 25.0%, down from 25.6% reported a month earlier.
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