(BRUSSELS) - Factories in the 15 nations sharing the euro saw demand surge unexpectedly in April, official EU data showed on Wednesday.

New industrial orders in the eurozone rose 2.5 percent in April from March and jumped 11.7 percent compared with the same month in 2007, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.

The result exceeded economists' forecasts for orders to rise 0.7 percent over one month and increase 3.5 percent from April 2007, as polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

The figures marked a sharp bounce-back from March when new industrial orders had slumped 1.2 percent over one month and 3.7 percent over one year, according to Eurostat's data.

Meanwhile, in the 27-nation EU new industrial orders rose 3.6 percent over one month in April and 14.2 percent over one year.

Further details - Eurostat

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