MCLEAN, VA-December U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $519.98 million according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 12.2% from November and up 12.7% when compared with the total of $461.48 million reported for December 2010. With a year-to-date total of $5,508.81 million, 2011 was up 66.4% 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 USMTO program.

“USMTO finished its strongest year in more than a decade as manufacturing led the U.S. recovery into 2012,” says AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “The 67% increase is nearly 20 points higher than forecasters predicted, which is great news in terms of reducing the foreign trade deficit. Manufactured goods represent more than 65% of trade, so the rise of U.S. manufactured products will help reduce our reliance on imports and support growth in exports.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations 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. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States:

Northeast. At $90.76 million, December manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region were up 9.1% when compared with the $83.18 million total for November and up 28.0% when compared with December a year ago. The year-to-date total of $852.96 million was 40.7% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Southern. December manufacturing technology orders in the Southern Region totaled $91.29 million, 68.7% more than November’s $54.11 million and 82.9% more than the December 2010 total. With a year-to-date total of $712.88 million, 2011 was up 59.0% when compared with 2010 at the same time.

Midwest Midwest Region manufacturing technology orders in December stood at $178.83 million, 19.8% more than the November total of $149.30 million and up 11.1% when compared with December 2010. At $1,849.55 million, the 2011 year-to-date total was 81.6% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Central Manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region in December totaled $115.01 million, down 10.1% from November’s $127.96 million and down 6.7% when compared with the December 2010 figure. The $1,472.77 million year-to-date total was 69.6% higher than the total for the same period in 2010.

Western. Western Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $44.10 million in December, 10.0% less than the $49.00 million total for November and 21.7% less than the tally for December 2010. At $620.66 million, 2011 year-to-date was up 68.0% when compared with 2010 at the same time.