German manufacturing bottlenecks ease in January, Ifo says

BERLIN – The number of German manufacturing companies reporting bottlenecks and problems procuring intermediate products and raw materials eased to 67.3% in January from 81.9% in December, the Ifo economic institute said on Monday.

“Despite this development, companies still have much to worry about,” Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe said in a statement. “It remains to be seen if this is a trend reversal.”

Supply chain disruptions and restrictions introduced in the autumn to fight a fourth COVID-19 wave translated into a contraction of 0.7% in the fourth quarter in Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Miranda Murray and Alex Richardson)