McLEAN, VA-April U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $410.42 million according to The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) program, was down 17.0% from March but up 2.9% up when compared with the total of $398.73 million reported for April 2011. With a year-to-date total of $1,763.77 million,2012 is up 10.2% compared with 2011.

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

“Year-to-date orders of manufacturing technology are up a solid 10% over 2011,” says AMT President Doug Woods. “Manufacturing firms continue to hire, with year-over-year unemployment down from nearly 10% in 2011 to a little under 7% this year. In the first quarter, U.S. manufacturing technology exports rose consistently and factory productivity increased 5%. What remains to be seen is whether overseas instability and possible cooling of domestic investment will disrupt continued growth.”

The 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. 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 Region. Manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in April totaled $66.31 million, down 7.5% from March’s $71.67 million but up 11.8% when compared with the April 2011 figure. At $248.29 million, 2012 year-to-date is up 2.7% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Southern Region. Southern Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $50.85 million in April, a 28.6% decrease from the $71.24 million total for March and 1.1% less than the total for April 2011. The year-to-date total of $217.96 million is 8.5% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Midwest Region. At $125.73 million, April manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region fell 16.9% when compared with the $151.29 million total for March but were up 2.9% when compared with April a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $586.70 million, 2012 is up 9.1% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Central Region. April manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region totaled $128.96 million, 14.4% less than March’s $150.59 million but up 4.2% when compared with the April 2011 figure. At $540.11 million, the 2012 year-to-date total was 17.3% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Western Region. Western Region manufacturing technology orders in April stood at $38.57 million, 22.7% less than the March total of $49.91 million and 8.4% lower than the figure for April 2011. The $170.70 million year-to date total was 6.9% above the total for the same period in 2011.