MCLEAN, VA--U.S. machine tool sales in October totaled $564 million, that's a decrease of 14 percent compared with September sales and a decrease of 17 percent compared with October 1999 sales.

According to the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA), machine tool sales for the first 10 months of 2000 totaled $4.9 billion--1 percent more than sales in the first 10 months of 1999.

"While metal cutting equipment producers saw a boost in orders in September as a result of the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, metal forming equipment manufacturers had their best month of the year in October," says Don F. Carlson, president of the AMT. "We expect that business will continue to improve as manufacturers invest to increase their productivity."