According to the latest data released today by AMT (The Association for Manufacturing Technology), U.S. manufacturing technology orders for December totaled $499.43 million.
This figure -- representing a 17.8% increase from November but a 9.4% drop from last year's numbers -- was enough to push total annual sales up over $5.7 billion, beating annual performance records going back 13 years.
“Finishing 2012 with the highest order total in 13 years certainly confirms the renaissance of U.S. manufacturing,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT President. “This also shows the resilience of the industry in the face of GDP contraction in the fourth quarter, along with fiscal and political concerns that have been overshadowing much of the general economy.”
The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, compiled by the trade association 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.
Northeast Region: Northeast Region manufacturing technology orders in December stood at $74.02 million, up 10.1% from the November total of $67.24 million but down 25.0% when compared with December 2011. The $789.38 million year-end total was 9.0% less than the total for 2011.
Southern Region: Manufacturing technology orders in the Southern Region in December totaled $78.11 million, up 19.1% from November’s $65.58 million but down 12.4% when compared with December 2011. At $835.28 million, 2012 was up 12.2% when compared with 2011.
Midwest Region: Midwest Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $166.19 million in December, a rise of 27.3% when compared with November’s $130.54 million but 9.7% less than the total for December 2011. The year-end total of $1,814.51 is 1.0% more than the comparable figure for 2011.
Central Region: At $125.05 million, December manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region were up 14.6% when compared with the $109.10 million total for November but down 1.2% when compared with December a year ago. With a year-end total of $1,586.85 million, 2012 was up 4.7% when compared with 2011.
Western Region: December manufacturing technology orders in the Western Region totaled $56.06 million, up 8.6% from November’s $51.62 million and up 6.8% when compared with the December 2011 total. At $679.56 million, the 2012 total was 6.9% more than the comparable figure for 2011.