Brussels, 24/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - In February 2008, the orderbook entry index for eurozone industry was up 0.6% compared to January 2008, when it had risen 2.2%. In the EU27, incoming orders remained stable in February 2008 after a fall of 1% in January. These results are largely due to the shipbuilding and rail and aerospace construction sector. Compared to February 2007, order book entries for industry were up 9.9% in the eurozone and 9.2% in the EU27.
At a monthly rate, the whole of the manufacturing industry working on orders increased in 14 member states, including Latvia (+20.4%), Denmark (+17.7%) and Bulgaria (+11.6%) and was down in five, mainly Sweden (-3.4%) and the Czech Republic (-1.2%). Compared to January 2008, orders coming in increased in all sectors except metallurgy and metal working, which was down 2.9% in the EU27, and transport equipments, which was down 0.2% in the eurozone. The manufacture of machines and equipments fell by 0.2% and 2.4% respectively. At an annual pace, orders coming in increased in 18 members states and fell only in Hungary (-5.5%). All sectors are up compared to February 2007 in both areas. (A.B.)