German Factory Orders See Surprise Jump in February

German industrial orders rose sharply and unexpectedly in February, official data showed Wednesday, adding to signs that Europe's biggest economy was rebounding from the Ukraine war fallout.

New orders, which give a foretaste of industrial output, rose by 4.8 percent on the previous month, federal statistics office Destatis said. It was the third consecutive monthly increase, reports AFP.

Analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet had expected a mild drop in orders for February.

"The recovery trend in the industrial sector is now unmistakable," said LBBW bank economist Jens-Oliver Niklasch.

Destatis said the increase was driven by an 8.9-percent rise in orders from the eurozone, while domestic orders were up by 5.6 percent.

Orders from the rest of the world increased by just 1.4 percent.

The car manufacturing sector saw strong demand in February, as did metal products and chemicals, Destatis said. But orders for electrical equipment and pharmaceuticals declined.

New orders are "still on the road to recovery in many sectors of the German industry," the economy ministry said in a statement.

Germany's economy has proved unexpectedly resilient to the shocks from the Ukraine war, partly thanks to government measures to cushion the impact of higher energy costs and efforts to diversify gas supplies.

The German economy contracted by 0.4 percent in the final quarter of 2022, but fears of a looming recession have waned.

After initially predicting that the German economy would contract in 2023, the government now expects it to grow by 0.2 percent.

"Overall, there are signs of an economic recovery at the beginning of 2023 after the weak year-end quarter of 2022," the economy ministry said.