Modest Fall in December Orders Offset by 19% Gain in Annual Total Over 2017
U.S, manufacturing technology orders posted $443 million in December, down two percent from November and six percent from December 2017. The yearend order total for 2018 was $5.5 billion, up 19 percent from the annual sum for 2017. The November to December drop was only the fourth time in the program’s 23-year history that a year didn’t end with an uptick in orders from November.
“We finished a fantastic run up in manufacturing technology orders during 2018, with most analysts looking for good growth in units and modest growth in revenue in 2019,” said AMT President Doug Woods. “While our market looks healthy now, there are concerns that trade issues and slower manufacturing technology markets abroad will create headwinds in the U.S. later in the year.”