New orders at German factories increased in January for the second month in a row boosted by the more-volatile component of aircraft orders, but the outlook for the country’s manufacturing sector remains clouded by rapidly rising interest rates. Manufacturing orders rose 1% in January compared with the previous month, according to price-adjusted data from the German statistics office Destatis published Tuesday, beating the 1% drop expected by economists in a poll from The Wall Street Journal.
In December, orders rose by a revised 3.4% from a 3.2% increase previously estimated. January’s increase in orders was driven by foreign orders, which rose 5.5% on month. Among these, orders from the eurozone fell 2.9%, and orders from the rest of the world rose by a sharp 11.2%. The increase in orders from non-euro area countries was mainly due to large-scale orders in the sector of aircraft and spacecraft construction, Destatis said. The sector saw a 138.5% increase in orders on month, it said. Meanwhile, domestic orders declined 5.3% on month. Activity in Germany’s key manufacturing sector slowed throughout 2022 as high energy prices and weakening demand have hit production. Stabilizing energy prices and easing supply-chain bottlenecks shou …