German Factory Orders Rise in August

• German Factory Orders Rise in August

Strong economic growth in the Europe’s largest economy, Germany, boosted factory orders in August.

Orders climbed to 3.6 percent from a revised 0.4 percent decline recorded in July, according to the Economy Ministry report released on Friday. That is better than the 0.7 percent projected by economists and represent the biggest increase since December.

On a yearly basis, demand climbed 7.8 percent, bolstered by the growing global recovery and the renewed interest in the 19-nation Euro-area.

Experts predict the region will grow at the fastest rate in a decade this year. Bundesbank said the Europe’s largest economy will sustain its strong momentum in the third quarter, but with slightly less momentum than the first half of the year.

“Order activity has increased once again from an already high level,” the Economy Ministry said in a statement. Solid business confidence “confirms this positive picture. The solid upswing in manufacturing should thus continue.”

While businesses are scrambling to add jobs to keep up with growing demands. Domestic orders keep rising, jumping 2.7 percent in August from preceding month, according to the report. Likewise, oversea orders rose 4.3 percent.

Purchasing Manager Index released earlier in the week showed services and manufacturing sectors of the region remain strong and grew at 55.8 and 58.1 in September respectively. Another indication of broad growth in the Euro-area.

“The euro-zone manufacturing boom kicked into an even higher gear in September,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at IHS Markit. “Surging order-book growth has encouraged manufacturers to take on extra staff at a rate never previously seen in the 20-year history of the PMI survey. Despite this expansion of capacity, backlogs of incomplete work built up at a faster rate, suggesting that the hiring upturn has plenty more room to run.”