New orders also rose further in January, but the rate of growth remained marginal and well below levels seen at the start of last year. Some survey respondents commented that weak export demand acted as a barrier to stronger growth in total new business. Indeed, latest survey data showed new export orders declining marginally, having increased in December. Panel members commented on lower demand from Russian and Asian markets. January data signalled a continuation of employment growth in Germany’s goods-producing sector. However, the rate of job creation slowed to only a marginal pace amid reports of rationalisation efforts and the newly introduced minimum wage. Concurrently, backlogs of work fell for the second time in the past three months, suggesting spare capacity in the sector. Lower oil and energy prices meanwhile pushed input costs down further in January, with the latest drop the strongest since mid-2009