April U.S. machine tool orders totaled $391.53 million according to The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was down 20.4% from March but up 9.8% when compared with the total of $356.52 million reported for April 2013. With a year-to-date total of $1.62 billion, 2014 is up 3.0% compared with 2013.

“The manufacturing technology market is up 3% year-over-year thanks to March and April orders picking up the slack from the January and February weather-induced slowdown,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “Indicators such as the Purchasing Managers’ Index, which surged forward in May, and the optimism expressed by Oxford Economics in their spring update on our market, suggest we are on track for strong 2014.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (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.