Factory orders in the 17 countries that share the euro increased in the second month of the year, indicating that industry in the region remains strong overall despite a growing disparity between economies, according to The Wall Street Journal. On Wednesday, the European Union reported that new industrial orders in the eurozone were up 0.9% in February from the previous month, bringing growth to 21.3% year-over-year. The figures were short of forecasts for a 1.2% monthly increase and a 21.9% annual gain, which would have been the strongest yearly rise in six months.
Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said, “Ongoing healthy industrial orders in February bodes well for eurozone industrial production in the near term.” Excluding heavy transportation equipment, factory orders growth slowed to 0.6% on the month and 20.8% annual from rapid gains the month before. Big gaps remained between the leading economies such as Germany, where factory orders added 3.2% on the month, and debt-burdened peripheral countries like Ireland, Greece, and Spain, that all saw contractions in factory orders during February.