August U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $336.6 million, according to AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 34.4 percent from July and down 15.9 percent from August 2015.
Year-to-date, total orders were $2,431.9 million, down 12.8 percent compared to the same point in 2015.
“This was the first time since March 2015 that we saw growth in all six regions that we track for this report,” said AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “Much of the growth came from smaller contract machining shops, a sign of greater activity and capacity constraints in larger industries. Automotive and aerospace also made gains after some faltering. These are possible indicators that our market has hit its bottom and is signaling a comeback, albeit slowly.”
Industry forecasts still indicate that orders for capital manufacturing equipment will finish the year below the levels for the previous year, with a full-fledged market comeback not expected until the second half of 2017. Business spending has remained weak amid the continued constraints of a weak energy sector and strong dollar, augmented by a climate of uncertainty around the presidential elections.
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