March U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $258.00 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 58.1% from February and up 49.5% from the total of $172.59 million reported for March 2009. With a year-to-date total of $548.53 million, 2010 is up 33.7% compared with 2009.

"The March increase in manufacturing technology orders is further proof that the recovery is accelerating," said Peter Borden, AMTDA president.

"The number is encouraging considering that bank lending is still anemic and that Congress has done little to help manufacturing, such as repassing the bonus depreciation tax bill or R&D credits. We still expect some ebb and flow for the rest of the year because of the uncertainties in the world 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.

U.S. manufacturing technology consumption is also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States.

Northeast Region

At $35.58 million, March manufacturing technology consumption in the Northeast Region was up 33.6% from February's $26.64 million and up 13.8% when compared with March a year ago. The $87.32 million year-to-date total was 11.3% more than the 2009 total at the same time.

Southern Region

Southern Region manufacturing technology consumption in March rose to $44.03 million, a rise of 132.9% when compared with February's $18.90 million and up 126.5% when compared with March 2009. With a year-to-date total of $91.36 million, 2010 was up 65.1% when compared with 2009 at the same time.

Midwest Region

March manufacturing technology consumption in the Midwest Region totaled $77.40 million, up 82.1% when compared with the $42.49 million total for February and up 43.2% when compared with March a year ago. The $155.85 million year-to-date total was 28.2% more than the total for the same period in 2009.

Central Region

With a total of $63.94 million, Central Region manufacturing technology consumption in March was 20.4% higher than February's $53.11 million and up 37.8% when compared with last March. The year-to-date total of $143.37 million was 40.4% above the comparable figure in 2009.

Western Region

Totaling $37.06 million, Western Region manufacturing technology consumption in March rose 67.9% when compared with February's $22.07 million and was 72.8% more than the March 2009 total. At $70.62 million, 2010 year-to-date was up 33.9% when compared with last year at the same time.