Economic Trends

U.S. Metalworking Machinery Orders Fall 9.5% in July, but Jump YoY

Orders continued to show monthly volatility, while key indicators suggest an activity slowdown throughout the second half of 2025.

New orders for metal cutting, forming and fabricating machinery (manufacturing technology) totaled $387.3 million in July, which showed continued market demand volatility month-to-month, and considerable year-over-year gains.

According to the Association for Manufacturing Technology’s monthly Manufacturing Technology Orders Report (USMTO), the July figure was down 9.5% from June, but a 20.1% jump from a year-earlier. It followed June’s 9.1% monthly gain and 7.7% YoY increase.

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The value of orders in July 2025 is nearly 20% above what would be expected in July of an average year. But despite the strong value trend, the number of units ordered showed continued flatness, as July’s volume was more than 13% below an average July.

“In the absence of widespread inflation among machine tools, this trend underscores the continued importance of automation in current buying trends,” the July USMTO report noted.

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The July report also called out the the following:

Contract machine shops, the largest buyers of manufacturing technology, saw a nearly 14% decrease in order value month-t0-month and rose just under 10% from a year earlier, illustrating significant softening relative to the overall market. USMTO: While this trend is not uncommon, it shows the first signs of weakness in orders from the largest customer segment, which has otherwise shown signs of recovery for much of 2025.”
New orders of machinery from agricultural equipment manufacturers have been on a downswing since April of this year. USMTO said machinery investment in this sector, as well as from its supply chain, could see a sudden uptick in the coming months after John Deere announced additional investments in its U.S. operations over the next decade.

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“Despite widespread expectations that the Federal Reserve will reduce rates at its September meeting, the latest forecasts continue to anticipate slowing industrial activity in the second half of the year, which could cause a softening in capital equipment purchases,” the report noted.