German machinery orders plummet, adding to recession fears

BERLIN (AP) — An industry association says orders for German machinery, an important export, plummeted in August, adding to signs of a recession in Europe’s biggest economy.
The VDMA group said Friday that orders were down 17% compared with a year earlier, with demand from abroad dropping 19% and orders from inside Germany falling 12%. Orders from countries outside the eurozone fell a particularly sharp 21%.
VDMA’s Olaf Wortmann said the figures suggest single-digit drops in pr