Times change quickly. AMT-The Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors Association just reported that machine tool consumption in the United States is down 30.6 percent from the first quarter of 2000 to the first quarter of 2001. And new orders for North American robotics companies fell 36 percent in the first quarter of 2001 versus the first quarter of 2000, according to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA).
Even though the Labor Department says unemployment fell slightly to 4.4 percent at the end of May, manufacturers continue to feel the brunt of an economy that shows almost no growth, says the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The manufacturing sector remains weak and is continuing to work its way through a serious inventory correction that began last fall. Shaky economic growth, combined with an overvalued dollar and high energy prices, led companies to reduce payrolls by 124,000 in May, the NAM says.