When you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up. That's where the machine tools market was in 2009, but the past year has seen sales increase at a healthy pace, leaving at least one analyst feeling bullish on where the industry is headed in 2011.

Pat McGibbon of the Association of Manufacturing Technology says it's not difficult to improve when sales drop to nearly zero, which he adds is what happened in 2009 in the midst of the worst recession in the United States since the Great Depression.

"When you get near zero, it's easy to see improvement, but even given where we were, the numbers we've seen over the past 12 months have been outstanding," McGibbon says. "Right now, it's not too strong a point to say we're on a roll."

The numbers bear out McGibbon's assertion. The U.S. Manufacturing Technology Consumption reports that orders for machine tools in 2010 skyrocketed 85% over the 2009 numbers, with the last two months of the year in particular finishing strong. Spending in December reached $446.8 million, a 40.9% jump over November and a 104.8% jump over December 2009.

The report, compiled by AMT and the American Machine Tools Distributors' Association, provides regional and national U.S. consumption data for domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

According to Douglas Woods, president of AMT, the report showed four consecutive months of increased spending for the first time in the history of the USMTC report. He says he believes 2011 will also remain strong.

The January report lends credence to Woods' belief. The January numbers reached $371.4 million. While the number was down 16.3% from the spectacular December numbers, it's a 188.3% increase over January 2010. But the reality on the ground is a bit more nuanced than the numbers might indicate.