September Manufacturing Orders Increase 5.8 Percent from August

According to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA), September U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $397.57 million, up 5.8 percent from August but down 31.1 percent when compared with the total of $577.17 million reported for September 2012. With a year-to-date total of $3,507.71 million, 2013 is down 11.3 percent compared with 2012.

“The monthly gain in USMTO indicates that manufacturers are making capital investments, and we expect these gains will grow in 2014. The year-over-year decline was anticipated due to the typical high volume during an IMTS year, which we saw in September 2012,” said Douglas K. Woods, the president of AMT.

He continued, “A recent uptick in factory orders shows strong activity in a number of industries, particularly aerospace, which is forecast to grow more than 10 percent in the coming year. We also expect growth in automotive and energy, good news for manufacturing overall.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (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.

Northeast Region
Northeast Region manufacturing technology orders in September totaled $60.76 million, down 1.1 percent when compared with August’s $61.46 million and down 30.0 percent when compared with September a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $583.19 million, 2013 is up 0.9 percent when compared with 2012 at the same time.

Southeast Region 
Year-to-date Southeast Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $320.66 million, down 19.5 percent when compared with 2012 at the same time.

North Central-East Region 
North Central-East Region manufacturing technology orders in September stood at $105.83 million, up 10.8 percent when compared with August’s $95.55 million but down 27.8 percent when compared with September 2012. The $906.05 million year-to-date total is 10.3 percent less than the comparable figure for 2012.

North Central-West Region
Manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-West Region in September totaled $72.56 million, up 3.2 percent from August’s $70.33 million but 52.6 v less than the September 2012 total. At $646.78 million, 2013 year-to-date is 16.1 percent less than the total for 2012 at the same time.

South Central Region
At $60.59 million, South Central Region manufacturing technology orders in September were 13.0 percent higher than August’s $53.62 million but 22.5 percent lower than in September 2012. The year-to-date total of $541.76 million was down 21.7 percent when compared with 2012 at the same time.

West Region 
With a year-to-date total of $509.26 million, West Region manufacturing technology orders were level with the year ago total.

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