USMTO Reports Drop in U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders
The total for manufacturing orders in May was down 10.0 percent from April and 17.5 percent from last year's total for the same month.
According to the monthly USMTO report published by AMT–The Association For Manufacturing Technology, U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $351.9 million in May. This total, based on data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was down 10.0 percent from April and down 17.5 percent compared with May 2013's total of $426.4 million. With a year-to-date total of $1,971.83 million, 2014 sales are down 1.4 percent in terms of U.S. regional and national orders of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.
AMT President Douglas K. Woods explained that expectations for this market were for a soft first half of the year, followed by a stronger second half. The fluctuations thus far are on track with forecasts, and indications are that U.S. manufacturing activity is strong. "The PMI continues to stay above 50, capacity utilization is on the rise and both auto sales and aerospace backlogs are growing," Mr. Woods said. "We expect continued investments in capital expansion through year's end."
