US Manufacturers Wary About Capital Investments, Technology Orders Down
U.S. manufacturing technology orders dropped 11.8 percent in July from June, totaling $318.33 million, according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). Orders were down 11.1 percent when compared with the total of $358.11 million reported for July 2014. With a year-to-date total of $2,483.59 million, 2015 was down 8.7 percent when compared with 2014.
These numbers and all data in the AMT report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report program. AMT represents and promotes U.S.-based manufacturing technology and its members—those who design, build, sell, and service manufacturing technology.
"The mood among manufacturers right now is best described as ‘caution cubed’ – concerns around disruption in China, a drop in some key economic indicators like PMI and housing starts, and softening in large customer industries, including agriculture and energy," said AMT President Douglas K. Woods, in a statement released with the monthly USMTO report. "Additionally, consumer confidence dropped in July, and the situation in Europe first with the Greek bailout and now the large influx of refugees is creating added uncertainty. Given all of that, it’s no surprise that manufacturers are wary about making large investments in capital equipment."
The 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. AMT says 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.
