Machine Tool Orders Up 47.3% in March : Economy: Industry association figures show the first quarter was the best in 15 years.

Orders for industrial tools rose 47.3% last month, capping the best quarter in almost 15 years.

New orders for machine tools have increased in four of the past five months, figures released by the Assn. of Manufacturing Technology showed. Economists monitor machine tool orders and shipments to gauge industrial output, consumer demand and business investment.

The industry association said orders rose 30.7% in the first three months of 1995 compared with the same period last year.

“The quarter we just completed was the best since the second quarter of 1980,” said Albert W. Moore, AMT president.

Though consumer spending has slowed this year, capital spending is still strong, suggesting orders could maintain their streak, analysts said.

“Car producers still plan to expand factories, the overseas market is improving and companies are reaching capacity levels,” said Astrid Adolfson, economist at MCM MoneyWatch in New York.

General Motors Corp., for example, said last week it plans to spend $200 million during the next 18 months to upgrade and expand its Detroit-Hamtramck Cadillac assembly plant. The 277,000-square-foot addition won’t change the plant’s capacity, though it will increase GM’s flexibility to make multiple body styles, a company spokesman said.

The strong yen also means Japanese manufacturers will find it cheaper to build plants in the U.S., which could also boost demand for domestic machine tools, Adolfson said.

To be sure, other reports show the U.S. economy is weakening. For example, the Commerce Department reported last week that housing starts fell 7.9% in March to the lowest level in two years.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its regional index of manufacturing activity declined this month to its lowest point since February, 1991, citing waning expectations for future manufacturing growth.

Though some auto manufacturers are planning to expand their plants, many are reporting weaker activity. The Federal Reserve said auto production dropped 2.6% in March, and Chrysler Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said last week they were paring their 1995 estimates for vehicle sales by 300,000 cars and trucks each.

Looking ahead, warmer spring weather typically brings an increase in orders during April, as buyers find it easier to travel to inspect potential purchases, said Charles Pollock, an AMT spokesman.

In March, machine tool orders increased to $558.90 million after rising a revised 0.6% to $379.55 million in February. Previously, February orders were reported to have declined 1.1%. Compared with a year earlier, machine tool orders advanced 50.9% last month.

By category, orders for metal cutting tools, like drills, rose 84.1% in March to an even $418 million, while orders for metal forming tools, such as stamp press machines, decreased 7.6% to $140.90 million last month.

Meanwhile, machine tool shipments increased 24.7% in March to $400.05 million. The backlog of orders, which tracks pent-up demand for tools, rose 7.1% to $2.391 billion.