Machine tool orders rose in May as the industry recovers from a two-year slump, the Association for Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA) said in a monthly report.
Orders totaled $351.85 million for the month, AMT said. That’s up 3.1% from an adjusted $341.33 million for April and a 22% increase from $288.92 million in May 2016.
May was the fourth-consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in orders. The group said the streak means the machine tool sector has achieved a sustained economic recovery. Orders declined in 2015 and 2016.
“All signs indicate a continued trend of strength for the manufacturing technology industry,” Pat McGibbon, an AMT vice president, said in a statement.
Machine tool orders are improving “in key industries like job shops, autos and aerospace,” McGibbon said. Order activity “suggests the market will continue to grow and stay strong for the coming months,” he said.
Orders totaled $1.67 billion for the first five months of 2017. That’s a 7.4% rise from the same period last year.
The figures for machine tool orders are based on information from companies participating in AMT’s US Manufacturing Technology Orders program.
Other manufacturing economic indicators have shown improvement. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM; Tempe, AZ) said last week its manufacturing economy index surged in June on improvements in new orders, production and employment. That index is based on a monthly survey of purchasing and supply executives.
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