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NEW YORK — Orders for American-made machine tools rose 4.8% in April, the fourth straight monthly gain, a trade group reported Sunday. The Assn. for Manufacturing Technology said orders
advanced to $348.2 million in April, compared to a revised total of $332.1 million in March. Compared to April, 1992, orders were up 58.6%. Year-to-date, total orders are up 27.1% over the
year-ago period. Despite the steady rise, Albert W. Moore, president of the McLean, Va.-based association, said it would be premature to declare a sustained rebound in the market for machine
tools, which is a barometer of future industrial activity. Moore said much of the April gain was due to a surge in orders from the Big Three auto makers. But another large category of
machine tool customers, the building industry, remains weak because of the slow economy. Export orders for April also rose substantially to $37.90 million, up 33.9% from March. Year-to-date,
export orders total $137 million, up 31% compared to the first four months of 1992. The association’s monthly report covers two categories of tools, for metal cutting and metal forming.
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