--German manufacturing orders up 5.7%, unadj vs prior Nov
--German foreign orders volume dn 2.5%, Nov vs Oct seas adj
--German domestic orders volume up 0.3%, Nov vs Oct seas adj
--W German orders dn 0.8%, E German orders dn 1.7% vs Oct
--German manufacturing orders below Bridge/Fokus forecast
By BridgeNews
Berlin--Jan. 5--Manufacturing orders declined 0.9% in November after rising 3.1% the month before as a 2.5% drop in foreign orders overshadowed a modest domestic rise, the Finance Ministry announced today. The provisional decline in volume contrasted with a BridgeNews/Fokus Deutschland survey of economists predicting a 0.3% monthly increase. * * * The two-month comparison of October/November with the preceding two months indicated a 0.6% increase. The broader time span serves to reduce monthly volatility, the ministry said. Based on raw data, orders rose 5.7% compared with the previous November, or 7.9% using seasonally adjusted historical data from the Bundesbank. The ministry does not provide a seasonally adjusted, one-month annual comparison. The 2.5% drop in orders from abroad was partially offset by a 0.3% increase in domestic orders. Foreign orders placed with western German firms dropped 2.8% while orders with companies in eastern Germany rose 6.4%. The divergence also was apparent in domestic orders, where western Germany showed a 0.9% increase while eastern-German orders declined 5.1% from October. Compared with November/October one year ago, the volume of German orders was running 7.1% higher in the two most recent months, with foreign orders up 14.0% and domestic orders up 2.4%. End