U.S. February Equipment Orders Rose 50% Above Average

The latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report from AMT — The Association For Manufacturing Technology came in 33% above January's total of ~$351 million and only 1.6% below the total for February 2022 which was at ~$475 million. Year-to-Date totals for 2023 have a total of $819.6 million, 10.7% below the first two months for 2022.

“This was the third-best February for manufacturing technology orders ever recorded, nearly 50% above the average value for February orders,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT.

“Although many had anticipated a recession to take hold at the beginning of 2023, we are not yet seeing that in the data, and while declining somewhat, manufacturing technology orders remain at a historically elevated level.”

Usually, job shops have the largest share of orders in a given month; they've maintained their orders at nearly the same level as January 2023 but their overall activity is down compared to this time last year. The data for January and February show an increase in orders from OEMs and suppliers.

The most significant increase has come from the automotive sector, fabricated metal manufacturers, and railroad, ship, and other transportation manufacturers.

Woods states that there is typically a big increase in orders in the time between February and March. However, with the news of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, pockets are tightening which could affect order activity for March 2023. Apart from those fears, the overall outlook is positive for business conditions over the next year.