August U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $460.61 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association and the Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was down 9.4 percent from July but up 88.5 percent when compared with the total of $244.35 million reported for August 2010. With a year-to-date total of $3,439.21 million, 2011 is up 101 percent compared with 2010.

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These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

\”Despite news reports that wider economic growth may be stagnating, the manufacturing technology industry is sustaining its momentum,\” said Douglas Woods, AMT president. \”With orders still up substantially over last year, there is clearly optimism within the industry as firms are seeing future growth opportunities that merit new capital investment.\”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations 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
Northeast Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $64.32 million in August, 9.5 percent more than the $58.72 million total for July and 64.4 percent higher than the total for August 2010. At $500.03 million, 2011 year-to-date is up 64.0 percent when compared with last year at the same time.

Southern Region
At $58.18 million, August manufacturing technology orders in the Southern Region were down 23.0 percent when compared with the $75.55 million total for July but up 90.1 percent when compared with August a year ago. The year-to-date total of $440.45 million is 81.1 percent more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Midwest Region
August manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region totaled $144.68 million, 9.3 percent less than July’s $159.53 million but up 77.4 percent when compared with the August 2010 figure. With a year-to-date total of $1,162.38 million, 2011 is up 128.9 percent when compared with 2010 at the same time.

Central Region
Central Region manufacturing technology orders in August stood at $140.07 million, 30.5 percent more than the July total of $107.34 million and 115.5 percent higher when compared with last August. At $928.03 million, the 2011 year-to-date total is 105.6 percent more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Western Region
Manufacturing technology orders in the Western Region in August totaled $53.35 million, down 50.2 percent from July’s $107.13 million but up 90.1 percent when compared with the August 2010 figure. The $408.31 million year-to-date tally is 100.6 percent higher than the total for the same period in 2010.