U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Still Up 5.3 Percent Over 2011

Overall momentum appears to slowing as the year comes to an end, with all five geographic regions reporting a fall in orders from September to October.

October U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $459.16 million according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA). This total, as reported by the companies participat­ing in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program, was down 31.3 percent from September and down 0.1 percent when compared with the total of $459.41 million reported for October 2011. With a year-to-date total of $4,753.68 million, 2012 is up 5.3 percent compared with 2011.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“Orders continue to be on pace for a record-setting year, and a monthly drop was fully ex­pected in the month following IMTS,” said Douglas K. Woods, the president of AMT. “While manu­facturing continues to play a strong role in economic recovery, our main concern heading toward the end of the year is that lawmakers do what’s necessary to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff,’ and the impli­cations it could have on the broader economy.”

The USMTO report, compiled by the trade association representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, pro­vides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase ca­pacity and improve productivity.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis for five geographic break­downs of the United States.

Northeast Region
Manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in October totaled $63.69 million, down 19.7 percent from September’s $79.27 million and down 3.6 percent when compared with the October 2011 figure. At $640.83 million, 2012 year-to-date is down 5.7 percent when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Southern Region
Southern Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $60.69 million in October, down 41.1 percent from the $102.99 million total for September but 12.8 percent higher than the total for October 2011. The year-to-date total of $683.23 million is 15.3 percent more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Midwest Region
At $162.75 million, October manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region were down 20.0 percent when compared with the $203.33 million total for September but up 10.3 percent when compared with October a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $1,530.30 million, 2012 is up 4.9 percent when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Central Region
October manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region totaled $124.77 million, 30.2 percent lower than September’s $178.71 million and down 8.8 percent when compared with the October 2011 figure. At $1,341.76 million, the 2012 year-to-date total was 6.8 percent more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Western Region
Western Region manufacturing technology orders in October stood at $47.27 million, down 54.6 percent from the September total of $104.07 million and 14.3 percent lower than the figure for October 2011. The $557.56 mil­lion year-to-date total was 5.7 percent above the total for the same period in 2011. www.amtonline.org