U.S. demand for machine tools continued to climb in August as U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers’ new orders for capital equipment increased to $732.9 million, 21.0% above the July result and 36.3% higher than the August 2025 total. It is the third-highest monthly total on record, according to AMT - the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology, which maintains the monthly U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders series.

The monthly USMTO report tracks new-order values and machine units for metal-cutting and metal-forming machinery, nationwide and in six regions, and it serves as an index to future manufacturing activity, as machining operations invest in capacity to support their anticipated production activity.

Through eight months of activity in 2026, U.S. manufacturing technology demand has totaled $4.76 billion, 36.9% more than the comparable figure for January-August 2025.

“The current rally in manufacturing technology orders” - which AMT dates to September 2024 - "now includes six consecutive months of orders exceeding half a billion dollars, the longest such streak recorded.”

The association also noted the divergence in order values and machine units, the former of which continues to rise faster than the latter. The explanation is partly the effects of inflation, but more specifically to the growing influence of automation in manufacturing, and consequently the increase in the value of individual purchases.

“Since the current expansion began in September 2024, order values have grown nearly three times faster than the growth in units,” AMT pointed out. More specifically, it drew a link between the ongoing high demand from aerospace manufacturers for manufacturing technology, and the higher-value of the machinery those operations demand.

“Aerospace manufacturers have accounted for a rising share of total orders since prior to the current rally,” AMT reported, though it added that the automation systems paired with manufacturing technology has enhanced new-order values across all buying segments.

The regional results for August manufacturing technology orders showed particularly strong growth in the West, where the $244.8 million in new orders represented a 91.0% increase over July and a 105.8% improvement over August 2025. Strong August growth is also evident in the Northeast (+40.4% from July), but the North Central-West (-6.8%) and North Central-East (1.2%) post more modest increases.

The South Central (-29.6%) and (-10.6%) fell off their July paces, but all regions are well ahead of their YTD order volumes from August 2025.

Contract machine shops, or job shops, which are the largest segment of manufacturing technology buyers, have been less active buyers during the current rally than dedicated operations like aerospace or automotive manufacturers, or OEMs. However, AMT reported that in August the growth in demand from contract machine shops bested overall market growth.

“If the resurgent demand for manufacturing technology from job shops marks the beginning of a sustained trend, order activity for the remainder of the year could exceed expectations,” AMT forecast.