MCLEAN, VA--March U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $495.97 million, according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 11.3% from February but down 1.4% up when compared with the total of $502.89 million reported for March 2011. With a year-to-date total of $1,356.70 million, 2012 is up 12.9% 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.

“Manufacturing is expanding with no clear signal of a downturn in sight,” says Douglas K. Woods, AMT president. “Manufacturing added 34,000 jobs in March; capacity utilization is just shy of 80% and USMTO order growth confounds experts as it climbed 12% over 2011 levels. However, remaining obstacles to future manufacturing investment include a lack of access to credit, global supply issues, encroaching industry regulations and taxes and overall political uncertainty.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (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. They are:

Northeast Region.Manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in March totaled $71.80 million, up 34.2% from February’s $53.51 million but down 7.4% when compared with the March 2011 figure. At $182.11 million, 2012 year-to-date was down 0.2% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Southern Region.Southern Region manufacturing technology orders totaled $71.24 million in March, a 34.0% increase from the $53.18 million total for February and 16.1% more than the total for March 2011. The year-to-date total of $167.11 million was 11.7% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Midwest Region.At $152.39 million, March manufacturing technology orders in the Midwest Region fell 8.4% when compared with the $166.39 million total for February and were down 19.8% when compared with March a year ago. With a year-to-date total of $463.20 million, 2012 is up 11.5% when compared with 2011 at the same time.

Central Region.March manufacturing technology orders in the Central Region totaled $149.39 million, 13.9% more than February’s $131.18 million and up 17.8% when compared with the March 2011 figure. At $410.82 million, the 2012 year-to-date total was 22.0% more than the comparable figure for 2011.

Western Region.Western Region manufacturing technology orders in March stood at $51.15 million, 23.3% more than the February total of $41.50 million and 8.6% higher than the figure for March 2011. The $133.46 million year-to-date total was 13.6% above the total for the same period in 2011.