German Economic Weakness May Help the ECB

Germany has had a triple dose of bad economic news in the last two days. Industrial production tumbled 0.9 percent in June from May, slightly more than expected. Factory orders dropped 1.7 percent in June from a month earlier, twice as much as the consensus forecast. And June exports fell 1.5 percent in May, more than the expected 1.3 percent.

“It’s obvious the exports are being affected by the problems of Europe, especially on the periphery,” says Gilles Moec, co-head of European economic research at Deutsche Bank. Germany derives 50 percent of its gross domestic product from exports: The euro area is Germany’s biggest export market. “It’s another signal that no one is immune,” says Moec.