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Manufacturing Technology Consumption Down

Report compiled by two industry trade groups shows production of manufacturing technology is down 60.4 percent in 2009 compared with 2008.

McLEAN, Va., -- December U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $219.60 million, according to AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association.

This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 22.9 percent from November but down 5.7 percent from the total of $232.93 million reported for December 2008.

With a year-to-date total of $1,771.91 million, 2009 is down 60.4 percent 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.

“The bump in November and December orders reflects the expiration of investment incentives at the end of 2009,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT President. “AMT and 40 other industry groups have sent Congress and the President a letter urging them to reinstate the Recovery Act’s depreciation bonus and increased Sec. 179 expensing provisions. Foreign tax structures encourage capital equipment investment and our government needs to meet the competition if U.S. manufacturing is to generate jobs and be the innovation engine to drive our economy.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (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.

The two associations say 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.

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