March manufacturing technology totalled $371.1 million, up 1.4% from March 2006, and up 34.9% from February. The year-to-date total of $945.27 million represented a 7.1% increase on 2006.
John Healy, president of the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA), commented, Strong March results have produced continued growth in the first quarter of the year. This pattern of steady growth is expected to continue.
The United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations, represents the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national US consumption data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.
According to AMTDA, analysis of machine tool consumption provides a reliable economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.
