US machine tool orders sag

Machine tool orders in May had the largest monthly decline since last September, according to the National Machine Tool Builders Association. They fell 25 percent, to $229.7 million, compared with the previous month and 47 percent from the level of orders the previous May.

"May orders are very disappointing," James A. Gray, president of the association, said. "It is a distressing note for the country's economic recovery and industrial revitalization."