German industrial orders managed to rise in March, but came worse than expected. ‘Made in Germany’ goods’ contracts rose by 0.6 percent while expectations were for a 1.5 percent rise.

According to data released by the Federal Statistics Office, February’s reading was also revised slightly. The original figure stood at -4.2 percent, while the revised figure now comes up to -4.0 percent.

Amid concerns of a growth slowdown, these slightly improved figures offer some relief to Europe’s largest economy and to the Eurozone as a whole. Industrial orders grew in March after two consecutive months of steep decline.