Euro zone industrial orders plunged by nearly a third year-on-year in May and fell from April despite expectations of a rebound, data showed today, pointing to continued economic contraction.
Orders fell 0.2 per cent month-on-month for a 30.1 per cent annual drop, European Union statistics office Eurostat said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1.9 per cent monthly increase and a 28 per cent year-on-year fall.
“These orders are disappointing. We were looking for a substantial increase really on a monthly basis in May," said Juergen Michels, analyst at Citigroup.
The data showed the economy of the 16-nation euro zone remained deep in crisis in the second quarter. Sentiment surveys have since shown improvement, suggesting the worst economic downturn since World War Two could be bottoming out.
France's consumer spending rose 1.4 per cent month-on-month in June, its statistics office said today.
The euro zone's economy shrank 2.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year and the European Commission expects it will contract another 0.6 percent in quarterly terms in April-June.
Eurostat revised its April orders figures to -0.7 per cent month-on-month and 35.3 per cent year-on-year from previous readings of -1.0 per cent and -35.5 per cent respectively.
It also said orders for intermediate and capital goods, which reflect on investment trends, fell 34.1 per cent and 32.3 per cent annually respectively, underlining the depth of the economic recession.
Orders for durable consumer goods dropped by 21.5 per cent in annual terms and non-durables by 6.7 per cent.
Depleted inventories should help boost orders in the subsequent months, analysts say.
Reuters