U.S. manufacturing technology orders fell 11 percent from October to November, to $421.83 million, according to AMT, The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was down 8.5 percent from November 2011. With a year-to-date total of $5.2 billion, 2012 is up 4.8 percent compared with 2011.
“Orders for all of 2012 remain full steam ahead, likely on pace to pass the totals of 2011 and echoing the overall strength of manufacturing for the year,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “While economic uncertainty remains a concern for both businesses and consumers, we anticipate a steady, albeit slower growth for manufacturing as we begin 2013.”
The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders 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 November were $66 million, up 1.9 percent from October but down 20.8 percent when compared with the November 2011 figure. At $713.5 million, 2012 year-to-date was down 6.4 percent compared with 2011 at the same time.
Southern Region
Southern Region manufacturing technology orders were $65.47 million in November, down 6.4 percent from October but 22.6 percent higher than November 2011. The year-to-date total of $760.48 million is 17.7 percent more than the comparable figure for 2011.
Midwest Region
At $129.36 million, November manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region were down 20.9 percent when compared with October and down 13.7 percent from November a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $1.7 billion, 2012 was up 3.5 percent compared with 2011 at the same time.
Central Region
November manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region were $109.2 million, 14.3 percent lower than the prior month and down 13 percent when compared with the November 2011 figure. At $1.5 billion, the 2012 year-to-date total was 5.6 percent more than the comparable figure for 2011.
Western Region
Western Region manufacturing technology orders in November stood at $51.8 million, up 7.4 percent from October and 6.2 percent higher than November 2011. The $615.2 million year-to-date total was 6.7 percent above the total for the same period in 2011.
