MCLEAN, VA - August U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $129.16 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 United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) program, was down 14.8% from July and down 63.3% from the total of $351.66 million reported for August 2008. With a year-to-date total of $1,041.57 million, 2009 is down 67.7% compared with 2008.

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

“We are cautiously optimistic that manufacturing has hit bottom and will begin to move forward,” says Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “But it’s going to take time before technology providers feel the impact in their backlogs.”

The 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.

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States.

For more information, visitwww.amtonline.org.