U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers booked orders totaling more than $1 billion for new capital equipment during September, setting a new monthly record for investments tracked by AMT - the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology in its U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders series. The $1.007 billion in new orders for September represent a 38.0% rise over the August order total, and a 101.7% improvement over September 2025.

The September totals improved by 22.5% over the previous monthly record set in December 2025, and represent the seventh consecutive month for new order totals above $500 million, the longest such streak on record for the USMTO.

The new totals include the orders collected by exhibitors at IMTS 2026, September 14-19, and the unit count (3,471 new machines) is the highest for any month since September 2014.

Through nine months of activity for 2026, the USMTO report indicates a total order value of $5.76 billion, 45.0% more than during January-September 2025.

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.

AMT - which has been tracking the rise in the average value of machine tool orders, as a result of economic inflation and the additional cost of automation in manufacturing - reported that the gap between order values and units ordered began to narrow during September: the number of units ordered grew at the fastest rate since July 2024, relative to the change in value, AMT noted.

“A one-month deviation in the trend could be attributed to customers with a lower appetite for automation making a larger share of monthly investment. Should this trend continue, it may reflect growing capacity constraints among machinery manufacturers, pushing the buying decision toward the option with the shortest lead time, which could forego some added features if it results in extended delivery times,” the report explained.

In August AMT noted that new orders from contract machine shops (or job shops) began to increase, and that continued with the September results. Job shop orders set a new monthly record in September, 25% ahead of August 2026, and the machine unit total was the highest since September 2014.

Machine tool demand by manufacturers of aerospace products and parts continued to rise in September 2026, with the order values up 5.0% and machine units up 8.9%, both new monthly records.

Automotive sector orders for new machine tools in September hit their highest level since July 2020, though automakers’ efforts to expand internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicle production has moderated recently, according to AMT.

Regionally, September new orders were strongest in the West ($210.7 million) and Northeast ($205.2 million), though the West region’s total is actually a -13.9% decrease from the August total. Each of the six regions is now tracking double-digit rates of improvement over their 2025 order volumes.