Berlin - German factory orders surged in March, data released Thursday showed, bringing to an end a series of hefty monthly falls.

The surprise 3.3 per cent increase announced by the German Ministry for Economics and Technology is the first sign of a pickup in key hard data for Europe's biggest economy since it slumped into recession last year. Analysts had forecast a 0.8-per-cent fall in order books.

The release of the factory order data followed the release of a series of economic sentiment reports pointing to the recession bottoming out in recent weeks and raising the prospects of signs of recovery emerging by the end of the year.

Helping to drive the rise in March was a solid 5.6-per-cent increase in foreign industrial orders. Total domestic orders rose by 1.1 per cent.

Releasing the data, which economists see as a key if volatile economic indicator, the ministry said the rise in March reflected an above-average number of large orders.

The ministry also revised up the February data from a 3.5-per-cent fall to a 3.1-per-cent drop.