Our colleagues at AMT report that U.S. machine tool orders eased by 1.8% in May compared with April but remained 47.8% higher than a year earlier. Over the first five months of 2026, orders reached $2.77 billion, up 31.9% on the same period of 2025. Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, investment in manufacturing technology remains robust, reflecting manufacturers’ confidence in future demand and continued spending on automation to address persistent labour shortages.
While contract machine shop orders have softened since late 2025, recent growth has been driven by strong investment from the aerospace sector and industrial machinery manufacturers, supported by expanding space production and continued data centre construction.
Regionally, all areas recorded year-to-date growth, led by the West (+70.3%), while North Central-East (+3.7%) saw the weakest increase.
U.S. cutting tool shipments fell -7.4% from April but remained +15.2% above May 2025 levels. Year-to-date shipments totalled $1.2 billion, an increase of +16.8% compared with the first five months of last year.
You can download the press releases for the two surveys from the AMT website at https://www.amtonline.org/topic/intelligence or request them from MTA.