Europe Industrial Orders Increase More Than Forecast

European industrial orders rose more than economists forecast in June as strengthening global growth helped fuel the region’s fastest expansion in four years in the second quarter.

Orders in the 16-nation euro area increased 2.5 percent from May, when they jumped 4.1 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists had forecast orders to rise 1.5 percent, the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. In the year, June industrial orders rose 22.6 percent after a 23 percent gain in May.