Machine tool orders rose 76.7% in December...

Machine tool orders rose 76.7% in December to $242.6 million, but year-end figures show orders declined slightly for 1987, the National Machine Tool Builders’ Assn. said. The sharp December increase capped a year of wild fluctuations punctuated by a 48.7% decline in November orders. Despite such month-to-month volatility, orders were down only 0.3% to $2.12 billion from the 1986 total of $2.13 billion. Machine tools are used in manufacturing, and the association’s figures are a gauge of the overall health of U.S. industry. The president of Copeland Economics predicted an increase in domestic capital spending and higher export orders to boost demand for U.S. machine tools by about 12% in 1988.