FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- New industrial orders in Germany fell 1.7 percent in July compared to June, the government said Thursday. It was a drop that analysts said marked an eighth successive decrease, the most ever recorded.
The Economy Ministry said while some foreign orders advanced, domestic orders declined by 3.6 percent. Euro zone orders rose while non-euro zone orders fell nearly 6 percent.
The government said June and July orders fell 4 percent compared to orders in April and May.
Orders for June and July are 3.4 percent below the same months in 2007.
"It was the eighth decrease in a row, which never occurred before in the history of industrial orders," said Alexander Koch, an economist with UniCredit.
"The situation for the strong German industrial sector is getting uglier by the day. The free fall in new orders continues."
Koch said the drop is now down 10 percent from November 2007, and compared to the second quarter down nearly 4 percent in July.