German factory orders fall 10.6% in August

German factory orders fell 10.6 percent in August from the previous month, provisional data from statistics agency Destatis showed Tuesday, highlighting the uneven recovery in Europe's biggest economy.

The drop in new orders, a key indicator of future business activity, was the first decline in four months. It was driven by lower domestic orders and a fall in large-scale orders.

Analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet had forecast a one-percent decrease. Germany's economy ministry called the August figures a “marked setback”, but said the situation was virtually unchanged from July when the fall in big orders was excluded.

The category that includes military vehicles, aircraft, ships and trains fell by more than 60 percent. The ministry said the growing importance of public procurement meant orders were “highly volatile”.

On a less volatile three-month comparison, new orders from June to August were 1.3 percent higher than in the previous three months. Leading economic institutes recently doubled their growth forecast for Germany this year to 1.3 percent.