Factory orders rose in Europe BRUSSELS, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- New factory orders rose by 1.8 percent in the eurozone and 0.5 percent in the European Union in October compared with September, Eurostat said Thursday. New orders for the 17 eurozone member states were up 1.6 percent from a year ago. In the 27-member European Union, new orders rose 2.5 percent from October 2010. Orders picked up after a steep drops in the previous month. Orders dropped 7.8 percent in the eurozone August to September and 2.1 percent in the European Union. Germany posted the highest month-to-month gain with a 5.5 percent increase in new orders, followed by a 2.9 percent rise in Britain. The largest decline was posted by Denmark, where orders fell 18.5 percent. In Latvia, orders fell 13.3 percent. In Lithuania, factory orders dropped 12.7 percent.