GLAD TO HEAR IT.

USMTC: US Machine Tool Consumption (American Machine Tool Dealers Association)

June machine tool consumption up 3 percent

June U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $244.55 million, according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association, and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 67.1% from May and up 3.3% from the total of $236.79 million reported for June 2002. With a year-to-date total of $952.86 million, 2003 is down 17.9% compared to the same period in 2002.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

'June orders were up 3 percent from June 2002, the first growth in a monthly year-on-year comparison since November 2000,' noted Albert W. Moore, AMT President. 'A single instance does not constitute a trend but a trend must have a starting point. Thanks to the expensing provisions in President Bush's jobs and economic growth tax relief bill this year is looking more promising.'

"A single instance does not constitute a trend", but the industrial market has been moribund for the last couple of years and any sign of an uptick is good news. Mr. Moore is exactly right to put the emphasis on the expensing provisions of the administration's tax bill -- business can now expense (immediately write off) a much greater amount of capital investment than they could last year. This amounts to a tax subsidy for business investment that, along with low interest rates, should result in industry buying a lot of machines, making a lot of stuff more efficiently and keeping inflation down. Posted by David Cohen at August 29, 2003 2:39 PM