New orders of metalworking machinery in May totaled $583.4 million, according to the latest report from the Association for Manufacturing Technology — an increase of 47.8% compared to the same month last year.
The U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report also noted that while May’s total was down 1.8% compared to the previous month, orders were up 31.9% through the first five months of the year.
AMT analysts wrote that the recent growth stemmed in large part from capital investments by the aerospace industry, which has overcome more sluggish growth from contract machine shops — traditionally the largest manufacturing technology end market.
“While recent events have caused much trepidation in the general outlook among businesses and consumers, the U.S. economy remains on a solid footing, and robust machinery demand is cause for optimism,” wrote AMT Principal Economist Christopher Chidzik. “Investments in manufacturing technology signal that manufacturers expect to need additional productive capacity to meet growing demands on output.”
