German factory orders fell by 5.7 percent in August, the biggest decrease since 2009, according to data released this week by the economy ministry. Economists polled by Bloomberg were predicting just a 2.5-percent decrease. The economy ministry said export orders were down 8.4 percent, while domestic orders slipped by 2 percent. Orders for investment goods dropped by 8.5 percent and orders for basic goods fell by 3 percent. Orders for consumer goods, however increased by 3.7 percent.
Market observers are now warning that Europe’s biggest economy could suffer another blow in the third quarter. “The outlook for the German economy is subdued. I am not sure we’ll see growth in the third quarter,” Holger Sandte, the chief European analyst at Nordea Markets, told Bloomberg.
