Euro-Area Industrial Orders Fell More Than Forecast in March

European industrial orders declined more than economists forecast in March, led by a drop in demand for durable consumer goods, such as appliances and furniture.

Orders in the euro area slipped 1.8 percent from February, when they increased 0.5 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists had forecast a drop of 1.1 percent, the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Orders jumped 14.1 percent from a year earlier.