January 29, 2008 -- Growth of Germany's key machine tools sector should slow markedly to around five percent this year from an 11-percent expansion in 2007, the VDMA machinery association said Tuesday.

A VDMA statement quoted association head Manfred Wittenstein as saying that machinery suppliers expected to create 10,000 new jobs this year.

In 2007, the iconic German sector saw record growth, with production jumping by 11 percent to 181 billion euros (267 billion dollars) and sales growing by 13 percent to 193 billion, provisional data showed.

"The last time our sector saw double digit growth was in 1969," Wittenstein was quoted as saying.

This year however, a possible US recession could weigh significantly on global economic activity, he warned.

Source: Agence France Presse