August U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $246.42 million, according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 5.7 percent from July but up 88 percent when compared with the total of $131.06 million reported for August 2009. With a year-to-date total of $1,697.27 million, 2010 is up 62.4 percent compared with 2009. These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

“Despite the normal summer slowdown, the first 8 months of 2010 saw an order rate that was up 60 percent over the same time period in 2009,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “We expect orders to be strong through the remainder of the year due in part to Congress extending the bonus depreciation allowance, which will remain in effect through December.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology consumption provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.