MCLEAN, VA — April U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $384.81 million, according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was down 8.1 percent from March’s $418.67 million and down 1 percent when compared with the total of $388.51 million reported for April 2014. With a year-to-date total of $1,458.90 million, 2015 was down 8.5 percent when compared with 2014.

The data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“Right now capital equipment makers are feeling the effects of a stronger dollar, which creates a drag on exports, and lower oil and natural gas prices, which means less spending on equipment investments from the energy industry,” said AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “But what is a negative now should help us later — imported components for capital equipment are costing less, and businesses will accumulate savings from lower fuel prices in the coming months, meaning more money for capital investment. We believe investment in manufacturing will remain steady, and overall performance for the year will be as strong as we saw in 2013 and 2014.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders 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.

For more information, visit www.amtonline.org.