German industrial orders rose in February but less than expected, showing that the weakness in demand in the manufacturing sector continues. New orders increased by 0.2% on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal statistics office said on Friday.

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A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a rise of 0.8%.

After a revision of the provisional data, there was an 11.4% decrease in January on the month, instead of a 11.3% decline.

The downturn in Germany's manufacturing sector, which accounts for about a fifth of the country's economy, continued in March, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed.