FILE PHOTO: An employee works at the A3 and A4 production line of the German car manufacturer Audi, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ingolstadt, Germany, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
BERLIN (Reuters) – Orders for German industrial goods rose by 10.4% in May, rebounding from their biggest drop since records began in 1991 the previous month, data showed on Monday, as demand picked up after lockdown measures to fight the coronavirus were lifted.
The surge was weaker than a Reuters forecast for an increase of 15%, signalling that a return to pre-crisis levels will be slow.
Figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed that domestic orders rose by 12.3% while orders from abroad were up 8.8%.
It said order intake was 30.8% lower than in February, before lockdown measures were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Michelle Martin