(RTTNews) - German factory orders rose for a seventh month in September due to an increase in foreign orders, data released by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology showed Friday.

Factory orders climbed 0.9% month-on-month in September after an upwardly revised increase of 2.1% in August, while economists had expected a 1% rise. Compared to the previous year, orders were down 13.1% following a revised 19.8% drop in August.

The September increase in orders was driven by a monthly increase of 3.7% increase in foreign demand. At the same time, domestic orders fell 2.3%.

“The recovery of the German industry seems to be faster than some pessimists thought,” ING economist Carsten Brzeski said. “Hope that the manufacturing sector can take over the baton as the economy’s main growth driver seems to become reality.”

Recent steady increase in orders suggests that the worst is behind for the German industry. In September last year, orders fell the most, by 7.9% month-on-month, the most in the recent past.

The German economy exited recession in the second quarter by expanding 0.3% sequentially, ending a series of contractions that started in the second quarter of 2008. The European Commission said in its Autumn forecast that the biggest Eurozone economy is likely to contract 5% this year and is expected to expand by 1.2% next year and by 1.7% in 2011.

The outlook for German industry for next year is “guardedly positive” amid improved sentiment and a strong pick up in production in some important upstream sectors, Deutsche Bank Research said in a recent report. On November 3, Germany’s chemical industry association VCI said the pace of recovery in the industry is gaining speed boosted by demand from Asia and Latin America. Survey data from Markit Economics showed recently that Germany’s manufacturing sector increased for the first time since July 2008.

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