German factory orders drop in September, 3rd straight month

BERLIN (AP) - German factory orders dropped sharply in September, falling for the third straight month in a sign of weakness for Europe's largest economy.

The Federal Statistical Office said Thursday that orders fell 1.7 percent in seasonally adjusted terms compared with the previous month, following drops of 1.8 percent in August and a 2.2 percent drop in July.

New orders from the countries using the euro currency were down 6.7 percent, while new orders from other countries increased 0.7 percent.

UniCredit economist Andreas Rees says the "strong decline in the headline figure is a negative surprise" but "no reason to panic."

Hey says taking into account some one-off effects, "it is a bump in the road, but nothing more."

Rees predicts a strong technical rebound in October of 2-3 percent.