April 5 Reuters German industrial orders rose in February but less than expected, showing that the weakness in demand in the manufacturing sector continues.

New orders increased by 0.2 on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal statistics office said on Friday.

A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a rise of 0.8.

After a revision of the provisional data, there was an 11.4 decrease in January on the month, instead of a 11.3 decline.

The downturn in Germany39;s manufacturing sector, which accounts for about a fifth of the country39;s economy, continued in March, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers39; Index PMI showed.

Reporting by Maria Martinez, Amir Orusov and Mateusz Dobrzyniewski Editing by Miranda Murray

Source Reuters