BRUSSELS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial new orders rose more than expected month-on-month in July on demand for durable consumer goods, pointing to a pickup in activity and adding to evidence the recession may be ending.
Industrial orders in the 16-country area rose 2.6 percent against June, the European Union's statistics office said on Wednesday. They were 24.3 percent lower than a year earlier.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 2.0 percent monthly increase and a 25.0 percent year-on-year fall.
Without volatile orders for ships, planes and trains, orders performed more strongly -- rising 3.1 percent month-on-month for a 23.4 percent annual decline.
Industrial new orders point to trends in economic activity as they translate into production over the coming months.
The economy of the euro zone started shrinking quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2008, hit by a global economic slowdown brought on by the credit crunch.
The second quarter of 2009 marked the fifth straight quarter of economic contraction, but by a smaller-than-expected 0.1 percent after a 2.5 percent drop in the first quarter.
July is the second straight month of rising orders after two months of decline. Eurostat revised up its June data to a 4.0 percent monthly gain from the 3.1 percent rise reported earlier, and put the annual drop at 25.7 percent instead of 25.1.
The July rise was led by demand for durable consumer goods, up 5.6 percent, and capital goods, up 2.9 percent. Orders for non-durable consumer goods fell 1.8 percent on the month. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Dale Hudson)