Orders at factories in the 17 countries that share the euro decreased at the end of the first quarter by the largest amount in half a year, suggesting the sector’s rapid growth could be cooling, according to The Wall Street Journal. On Tuesday, the European Union reported that new industrial orders in the eurozone fell by 1.8% in March from the previous month, which was larger economists’ forecast decline and marked the sharpest decrease since September 2010. Industrial orders were 14.1% above the level recorded one year earlier, which is down from a 21.5% year-over-year gain seen in February.
The drop also was the sharpest since six months for orders excluding volatile heavy transport equipment at a 1.1% decline. The details of the report showed that the region’s economic leaders, Germany and France, contributed strongly to the decline, slipping 3.4% and 0.7%, respectively. Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said the report and other recent data are “signs that the hitherto buoyant eurozone manufacturing sector may be coming off the boil.” The latest purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone showed that manufacturing activity was at the slowest level in seven months.