German manufacturing orders rose by a much larger than expected 2.2 percent month-on-month in March, the first monthly increase since December, Economy Ministry data showed on Friday. "The volume of orders in March was thus higher than ever before, apart from in December 2004, which benefited from an exceptional amount of big ticket orders," the ministry said. The mid-range forecast of 38 economists polled by Reuters was for orders to rise by 0.1 percent month-on-month.