Eurozone industrial new orders gained 3.8 percent in May month on month, and soared 22.7 percent year on year, according to data released Thursday by the European Union's statistical bureau Eurostat.
Excluding ships, railways and aerospace equipment, for which changes tend to be more volatile, new industrial orders grew by 2.6 percent in the 16 EU nations that share the single currency euro.
Compared with the previous month, among the various industries, new orders for capital goods rose 5.3 percent in the Eurozone. Non-durable consumer goods increased 4.0 percent and durable consumer goods gained 2.9 percent. Intermediate goods grew 1.4 percent.
In the 27-nation EU, industrial new orders were up 2.7 percent in May on a monthly basis, and up 20.1 percent compared with a year ago.
Among the member states for which data were available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in fourteen and fell in seven compared to April. The highest increase was registered in Denmark, up by 13.4 percent, while both Greece and Netherlands recorded the sharpest monthly drops of 6.1 percent.
Industrial new orders in Germany, the largest EU economy, went down by 0.2 percent month on month./.