McLEAN, Va. — Manufacturing technology orders in the United States for March totaled $495.97 million according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in its United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program, is up 11.3 percent from February. It is down slightly, by 1.4 percent, when compared with the total of $502.89 million reported for March 2011. With a year-to-date total of $1.36 billion, 2012 is up 12.9 percent compared with 2011.

The association said these numbers are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“Manufacturing is expanding with no clear signal of a downturn in sight,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “Manufacturing added 34,000 jobs in March, capacity utilization is just shy of 80 percent, and USMTO order growth confounds experts as it climbed 12 percent over 2011 levels. However, remaining obstacles to future manufacturing investment include a lack of access to credit, global supply issues, encroaching industry regulations and taxes, and overall political uncertainty.”

AMT said 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.

Publication date: 05/28/2012