Manufacturing Technology Orders Up 10.2% in April

June 11, 2012

While down from last month, the figure is up from last year at the same time.

In April U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $410.42 million according to AMT The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total was down 17.0% from March but up 2.9% up when compared with the total of $398.73 million reported for April 2011.

With a year-to-date total of $1,763.77 million,2 012 is up 10.2% compared with 2011.

"Year-to-date orders of manufacturing technology are up a solid 10% over 2011," said AMT President Doug Woods. "Manufacturing firms continue to hire, with year-over-year unemployment down from nearly 10% in 2011 to a little under 7% this year. In the first quarter, U.S. manufacturing technology exports rose consistently and factory productivity increased 5%. What remains to be seen is whether overseas instability and possible cooling of domestic investment will disrupt continued growth."

Geographical Breakdown

Manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in April totaled $66.31 million, down 7.5% from Marchs $71.67 million but up 11.8% when compared with the April 2011 figure. At $248.29 million, 2012 year-to-date is up 2.7% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Southern Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $50.85 million in April, a 28.6% decrease from the $71.24 million total for March and 1.1% less than the total for April 2011. The year-to-date total of $217.96 million is 8.5% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

At $125.73 million, April manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region fell 16.9% when compared with the $151.29 million total for March but were up 2.9% when compared with April a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $586.70 million, 2012 is up 9.1% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

April manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region totaled $128.96 million, 14.4% less than Marchs $150.59 million but up 4.2% when compared with the April 2011 figure. At $540.11 million, the 2012 year-to-date total was 17.3% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Western Region manufacturing technology orders in April stood at $38.57 million, 22.7% less than the March total of $49.91 million and 8.4% lower than the figure for April 2011. The $170.70 million year-to date total was 6.9% above the total for the same period in 2011.