New orders for metal cutting, forming and fabricating machinery (manufacturing technology) totaled $493.1 million in September and continued to show month-to-month volatility alongside year-over-year growth.

According to the Association for Manufacturing Technology’s monthly Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO), the September figure was down 7.2% from August, but up 11% from a year-earlier. It followed August’s 36.2% monthly increase and 45% YoY increase.

This was the highest order value for a September since 2022 and the first time since September 2011 that orders exceeded the level from the year prior when an International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) was held. Despite the strong growth in order values, the number of units ordered continues to grow at a slower pace, as September 2025 had the second-lowest number of units ordered during a September since 2009. In the past, this trend has been attributed to increased demand for automation; however, amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, the loss of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has clouded the causal factors.

The September report also called out the following:

Contract machine shops, the largest buyers of manufacturing technology, saw the value of orders decline 1.2%, compared to a 7.2% decline overall.  USTMO: “Despite this outperformance, job shops continue to lag the market in 2025, with the value of machinery orders up 12% in the first three quarters, compared to the 17.3% growth seen in the total market.”

Orders from automotive manufacturers increased to their highest level of 2025, yet units were at the third lowest level of the year. There has been a general lull in orders from the automotive sector following large investments in new production lines made in 2021 and 2022. Orders are up nearly 15% over the first three quarters of 2024, as some OEMs retool production lines away from electric vehicle production.

Demand for manufacturing technology has proven resilient in 2025 despite multiple economic headwinds; however, the fourth quarter could be the toughest test yet. In announcing the latest interest rate cut, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell likened the lack of access to statistics due to the ongoing government shutdown to driving in a fog. Forecasts presented at AMT’s annual MTForecast conference predicted some industrial slowdown in 2026, but whether that will affect manufacturing technology orders in the remainder of 2025 is still an open question.