Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in October for the fifth consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 53rd consecutive month, according to the latest data from the Institute for Supply Management.

As usual, our annual Capital Equipment Spending Survey provided a wealth of interesting and often contradictory data. Thirty percent of plants will spend more on assembly technology next year than they did this year, and only 20 percent will spend less.

WASHINGTON—US sales of machine tools are up 5.3 percent in the first 10 months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011, according to the AMT—The Association for Manufacturing Technology.

WASHINGTON—U.S. sales of machine tools totaled $401.69 million in January, an 8 percent increase compared with January 2011 sales.