German factory orders jumped 7% in June, the most in three years, according to data released Friday.
The big increase surprised economists who were forecasting a 2% decline, and comes after a surge in May, when revised figures said it rose by 6.2%.
The increase turned the year-over-year figure positive, to 3%, for the first time since Feb. 2022.
June’s big surge was driven by large orders — without them, factory orders would’ve declined by 2.6%. What’s called other vehicle construction jumped 89.2%, which it attributed to “a major order in the aerospace industry,” meaning Airbus
AIR,
as its Hamburg facility produces more than half the A320 aircraft.
But orders for motor vehicles and parts fell by 7.3%.
Oliver Rakau, chief Germany economist at Oxford Economics, said the fact that core orders fell by 2.6% means “the near-term implications for industry remain gloomy.”
The euro
EURUSD,
was steady at $1.0949 ahead of key U.S. jobs data later on Friday.
