Orders for new manufacturing technology in September totaled $590 million, a 9% increase over August 2021 and a nearly 60% increase over the same month a year ago, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

Year-to-date orders for 2021 totaled $4.115 billion, a 53% increase over the total through the first nine months of 2020.

“It took 31 months after the bottom of the 2008-2009 financial crisis to have a single month with half a billion dollars in orders, but September is the third month of 2021 exceeding that mark,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “Economists project the United States is past peak growth, yet machine orders remain at a record pace to meet remaining consumer and producer demands.”

Machine shops, which consistently represent the largest share of new orders, pulled back nearly 7% from August 2021 levels, according to AMT.

After machine shops, the engine, turbine, and power generation sectors had the largest share of orders in September 2021 and their highest monthly value since December 2011.

Research indicates these outsized investments are the result of efforts to increase power grid resilience after a year that saw extreme weather test its durability, according to AMT.

“Machine shop orders usually dictate the direction of the month,” Woods said. “September 2021 was an exception to that trend, which highlights the breadth of the recovery across manufacturing sectors.”