Slow Growth Predicted for U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders
October through December order levels are running significantly higher than the fourth quarter of 2017.
Manufacturing technology orders were $458 million in November 2018, down 2% from October levels and up 7% from November 2017, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT). October through December order levels are running significantly higher than the fourth quarter of 2017, but not at the frenetic pace set by third-quarter 2018 order values. The $5 billion year-to-date sum is reportedly up 22% from the same 11 months in 2017.
“Orders in the third quarter were amazing, and no one expected that pace to continue into the last three months of 2018,” said Doug Woods, president, AMT. “The single-digit October and November year-over-year growth rates are a harbinger of what we’ll see in early 2019, but our members are confident growth will continue as the aerospace industry ramps up to reduce order backlogs; medical equipment demand grows with the graying of North America; and the auto sector drives capex investment deeper into the supply chain.”