German exports increased 3% in February on a year earlier, the slowest rate since October’s dip but still 1.3% points better than economists expected. That was likely the result of strong growth outside Europe – shipments to France fell 5% and to the U.K. dropped 9%. The surprise therefore came from China, where exports jumped 29% inline with national growth, and the U.S. The outlook is positive after German managers’ optimism about export orders hit their highest since January 2014. Meanwhile import expectations in China and the U.S. are still positive and U.S.-bound shipments grew 30% ...