April U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $222.36 million, according to AMT- the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 15.6 percent from March but up 102.7 percent from the total of $109.69 million reported for April 2009.  With a year-to-date total of $783.03 million, 2010 is up 50.6 percent compared with 2009. These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

"Cautious spending on manufacturing technology in January and February pushed higher levels of investment into the later part of the first quarter, propping up March results," says Douglas Woods, AMT president. "While April dipped slightly as compared to March, the level of activity was more than 100 percent better than a year ago.  We expect this investment level to be more typical as the year progresses, reflecting manufacturers' continued cautious optimism."

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