FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Industrial orders in Germany slipped in January, official data showed Thursday, but officials said confidence in Europe’s largest economy should remain unclouded.

New contracts for industrial firms fell 3.9 percent month-on-month, federal statistics authority Destatis said, after a 3.0-percent increase in December.

The slide was slightly smaller if volatile orders for large items like aircraft were discounted from the calculation.

Both foreign and domestic business contributed to the slump, with orders from abroad losing 4.6 percent and orders from within Germany 2.8 percent.

Looking to different industrial sectors, consumer goods makers were the one bright spot with a 2.4-percent increase in contracts.

Meanwhile capital goods firms lost 5.0 percent and producer goods makers 3.3 percent.—AFP