U.S. October Machine Tool Sales Up 25.4% vs. Year Ago

Edited from CNN.com

The American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) said October demand for machine tools increased 25.4% to $277.53 million from $221.31 million, reported a year earlier in October 2004.

Demand for tools, which are used to shape metal for products such as car engines and refrigerators, provide a leading indicator of the pace of manufacturing as it reflects how much industries are investing in production equipment.

U.S. October demand, however, was down 5.2% from a $292.63 million in September. Total January-to-October deamnd stood at $2.550 billion, up 11.3% from $2.291 billion in the first 10 months of 2004.

The machine report is generally based ona  survey of about 200 manufacturers, distributors, and importers of machine tools that represent 765 of hte machine tool market.