Orders for Machine Tools Rise in March

Orders for machine tools made by U.S. manufacturers grew 9.3% in March from a year earlier as more regions of the country saw increased demand, two trade groups said in report being released today. The rise helped fuel an 11.5% gain for the first quarter compared with last year. March’s orders totaled an estimated $721 million, up from $683 million a year ago, according to the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Assn. “The sustained broad base of manufacturing strength can best be seen in the shifting of increased demand from the Midwest region to others, most notably the Central and Southern regions,” said Ralph Nappi, president of AMTDA. The report uses data from about 70% of the nation’s machine-tool makers.