By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The Eurozone’s largest economy looks set for at least one quarter of economic contraction after incoming orders to German factories fell for a third month in a row in April.
Orders fell by 2.7% on the month, following on from declines of 4.2% and 0.8% in the previous two months. The numbers were – again – a disappointment, falling well short of expectations for a bounce of 0.3%. March’s data were revised up from an initial estimate of -4.7%, however.
The figures are the latest evidence of a sharp slowdown in Germany in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has triggered steep rises in energy costs. Producer price inflation is now running at an annual rate of 33.5%, largely due to the fact that gas prices have risen by over 150% in the last year, while industrial electricity prices have risen by nearly 90%.