German factory orders increased slightly in September, but failed to offset a huge slump in previous month and failed analysts' expectation, official data showed on Thursday.
Adjusted for calendar, seasonal and price fluctuations, new industrial orders received by German factories increased by 0.8 percent in September on August, following a revised drop of 4.2 percent in previous month, German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said.
Analysts expected earlier that the orders would increase by 2.3 percent month-on-month.
"Uncertainties caused by geopolitical conflicts and the weak economy in the euro zone continue to weigh on industrial activities," said German Economy Ministry in a statement.
The European Commission cut forecast for the euro zone on Tuesday. It expected the gross domestic product (GDP) in the common currency area to increase 0.8 percent this year and by 1.1 percent in 2015.
Forecast for growth of German economy, the biggest one in Europe, was also slashed to 1.3 percent from the 1.8 percent it expected in spring.
Following a slight growth of 0.7 percent at the start of 2014 and a contraction of 0.2 percent in the second quarter, German economy was expected to improve only slightly, if not stagnated, in the second half of this year.
German government is resisting increasing pressure to exploit its fiscal scope to stimulate growth. Earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated that her government would stick to its target of a balanced budget in next year and would not boost economy with new borrowing.