According to the Association for Manufacturing Technology, U.S. manufacturing technology orders in July totaled $318.33 million, down 11.8% from the $361.03 million recorded in June and down 11.1% compared to the total of $358.11 million reported in July 2014.

With a year-to-date total of $2,483.59 million, 2015 was down 8.7% when compared with 2014. These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“The mood among manufacturers right now is best described as ‘caution cubed’ – concerns around disruption in China, a drop in some key economic indicators like PMI and housing starts, and softening in large customer industries, including agriculture and energy,” said AMT president Douglas K. Woods. “Additionally, consumer confidence dropped in July, and the situation in Europe first with the Greek bailout and now the large influx of refugees is creating added uncertainty. Given all of that, it’s no surprise that manufacturers are wary about making large investments in capital equipment.”

Of the six reporting regions, the South Central region had the steepest decline, with a drop of 37.8% in metal cutting tools month-over-month and a 65.6% fall year-over-year. No region reported an improvement over July, although the Northeast (27.4%) and Southeast (18.2%) both enjoyed positive growth on a year-over-year basis.

Access the full report from the AMT here.