Germany has rebounded strongly from the slowdown in global economic growth that emerged in recent months with a slew of figures showing exports and investment helping to power ahead Europe's biggest economy, according to dpa. The statistics office said Friday that German exports bounced back by a more-than-forecast 4.3 per cent in May bolstered by a weaker euro combined with demand from both the world's leading emerging economies such as China. Exports slumped by 5.6 per cent in April. "Germany's recipe for success is and will remain its export strength," said Commerzbank economist Ulrike Rondorf. Exports raced ahead by about 20 per cent in May compared with the same month last year, while imports were up 15.6 per cent on the year after climbing by 3.7 per cent in May, the statistics office said. Meanwhile, the nation's three top luxury carmakers - BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz - reported this week that sales to China raced ahead during the first six months of the year. In the case of BMW, which is the world's biggest premium auot group, first-half sales to China jumped by about 61 per cent. The trade data followed figures released over the week showing both factory orders and production growing at a faster-than-projected rate in May and the numbers out of work contracting again in June. German business confidence also posted a surprise increase in June. The Munich-based Ifo institute's closely watched business climate index edged up to 114.5 this month, from 114.2 in May. "The German economy is experiencing a robust upswing," Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn said, releasing the closely watched survey. At the same time, the nation's unemployment appears set to enter its third year of consecutive monthly falls with employers hiring new workers on the back of the pickup in the economy that has taken shape this year. At 7 per cent, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate is now at its lowest rate in two decades with the country facing labour shortages in key industrial sectors. Job vacancies in June soared by about 30 per cent to 479,519 compared with the same month last year. The latest batch of key German economic data comes amid tentative signs that the world economy might be starting to shake off the rough patch it went through in the wake of Japan's devastating earthquake in March and the surge in oil prices following the uprising in the Arab world earlier this year. Also overhanging the global and European economic outlook has been the uncertainty unleashed by the debt crisis gripping parts of the 17-member eurozone. This in turn has helped to undercut the performance of the euro. But Germany's recent economic resilience is also a reflection of the tough round of restructuring that the nation has undertaken over the last 20 years, which has boosted corporate competitiveness and introduced more flexibility into the economy. On Thursday, the Ministry of Economics and Technology in Berlin said May industrial production rose by 1.2 per cent after a 2.5-per-cent gain in production of investment goods. Year on year, overall industrial production rose by a strong 7.6 per cent in May, the ministry said. One day earlier, the ministry said new industrial orders climbed by 1.8 per cent from an upwardly revised 2.9 per cent in April. Domestic demand for investment goods surging by 20 per cent in May, the figures showed. Year on year, total factory orders jumped by 12.2 per cent in May, the ministry said. Still, economists expect the German economy to slow during the three months to the end of June after it bounded into the new year with a solid 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months. But they believe the country's 2011 growth rate could almost match last year's robust 3.6 per cent expansion rate. This is despite the moves among Germany's key European trading partners to launch a round of tough austerity plans aimed at slashing high deficit-and-debt levels. While the industrial sector gains momentum, the key area of uncertainty facing the German economy remains domestic demand. Despite hopes that private consumption might join exports and investment in underpinning the nation's growth rate, retail sales plunged by 2.8 per cent month-on-month in May to record their biggest fall in about four years, the statistics office said last week. This came amid worries about renewed inflationary pressures caused by higher oil prices. But the Nuremberg-based GfK marketing institute's forward-looking survey released last week pointed to consumer sentiment in the nation increasing in July as expectations rose of higher incomes and a pickup in economic growth.
