U.S. manufacturing-technology orders in November came to $178.8-million, continuing an upward move into a third month. The figure was up 16% from October. That's down 16% from the year-ago number.

Still, orders have been trending upward from the bottom of $103.8-million reported in January 2009.

The year-to-date total for orders reported in the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Consumption series of surveys conducted by AMT and AMTDA comes to $1,552.5-million, down 63% compared to the first eleven months of last year.

Peter Borden, president of the machine-tool distributors' trade group, called the upward trend "great news for the industry and the country, despite unit levels stubbornly hovering around 1,000."  He says his group is hopeful that Washington will pass legislation allowing American manufacturing to rebuild "not only its employment levels and backlogs, but also to improve our balance of trade and the country's economy.

On a regional basis, the Central region showed a good monthly gain in November---up nearly 40% over October---while the West showed a decline. November order levels are shown on the map, along with each region's percentage of the national whole.

The monthly USMTC numbers are gathered from survey participants by the two national trade associations that deal with machine tools and other factory gear.

Amer. Machine Tool Distributors' Assn., Rockville, Md. 301-738-1200. 

AMT - The Assn. for Mfg. Technology, McLean, Va. 703-893-2900.