February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $329.43 million, according to AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 10.9% from January but up 99.3% when compared with the total of $165.31 million reported for February 2010. With a year-to-date total of $699.16 million, 2011 is up 138.1% compared with 2010.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

“The dramatic year-over-year growth further underscores the manufacturing renaissance that is taking place,” said Douglas K. Woods, President of AMT. “As February is a short month, the slight decline from January is to be expected, but the overall gains compared with February 2010 point to our belief that 2011 will be a strong year for the industry.”

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

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States.

Northeast Region

Northeast Region manufacturing technology consumption in February stood at $55.16 million, 10.6% higher than January’s $49.86 million and 104.4% higher than the tally for the previous February. With a year-to-date total of $105.03 million, 2011 is up 310.7% when compared with 2010.

Southern Region

Manufacturing technology consumption in the Southern Region in February stood at $34.35 million, down 36.0% from January’s $53.66 million but up 73.1% when compared with the February 2010 figure. The $88.01 million year-to-date total is 85.8% more than the total for the same period in 2010.

Midwest Region

Midwest Region manufacturing technology consumption totaled $112.90 million in February, up slightly when compared with January’s $112.47 million and up 161.2% when compared with the total for February 2010. At $225.38 million, 2011 year-to-date is up 178.8% when compared with last year at the same time.

Central Region

At $97.49 million, February manufacturing technology consumption in the Central Region was 11.3% lower than January’s $109.91 million but up 88.3% when compared with last February. The year-to-date total of $207.40 million is 166.5% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Western Region

February manufacturing technology consumption in the Western Region totaled $29.52 mil-lion, down 32.6% from January’s $43.82 million but 25.7% higher than the February 2010 total. With a year-to-date total of $73.34 million, 2011 is up 109.0% when compared with 2010 at the same time.