Manufacturing technology orders up in April
April U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $410.42 million, 2.9% higher than the same month a year ago.
According to AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, the April figure was down 17.0% from March. With a year-to-date total of $1.7 billion, 2012 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.”
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 April totaled $66.31 million, down 7.5% from March’s $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
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.
Midwest Region
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.
Central Region
April manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region totaled $128.96 million, 14.4% less than March’s $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
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.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
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