FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (09)-01 

CB09-32

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders 

January 2009 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in January 

decreased $9.0 billion or 5.2 percent to $163.8 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the 

sixth consecutive monthly decrease and followed a 4.6 

percent December decrease. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 2.5 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders decreased 2.3 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down five of the last six 

months, had the largest decrease, $5.7 billion or 13.5 

percent to $36.7 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in January, 

down six consecutive months, decreased $6.9 billion or 

3.7 percent to $183.1 billion. This followed a 1.4 

percent December decrease. 

 Machinery, down three of the last four months, had the 

largest decrease, $2.4 billion or 8.6 percent to $26.2 

billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

January, down four consecutive months, decreased $15.3 

billion or 1.9 percent to $785.0 billion. This was the 

largest percent decrease in unfilled orders since January 

2002 and followed a 1.5 percent December decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down four consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $8.5 billion or 1.8 

percent to $454.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in January, 

down following sixteen consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $2.8 billion or 0.8 percent to $340.7 billion. 

This followed a 0.4 percent December increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$0.9 billion or 0.9 percent to $94.6 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $1.5 billion or 2.7 percent to $52.6 billion. 

Shipments decreased $2.6 billion or 4.1 percent to $62.1 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $9.6 billion or 2.1 

percent to $457.6 billion. Inventories decreased $1.1 

billion or 0.7 percent to $146.2 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $4.4 billion or 35.3 percent to $8.0 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.7 billion or 8.6 percent to $9.1 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.2 billion or 0.8 

percent to $143.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 

billion or 2.1 percent to $20.0 billion. 

Revised December Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted December figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $359.7 

billion (revised from $362.4 billion); shipments, $377.0 

billion (revised from $377.6 billion); unfilled orders, 

$800.3 billion (revised from $801.9 billion); and total 

inventories, $543.9 billion (revised from $544.3 billion). 

Figures in text are in seasonally adjusted current dollars. Figures on new and unfilled orders exclude data for semiconductor 

manufacturing. For data, call (301) 763-4673 or go to <http://www.census.gov/m3>.

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on March 5, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The 

advance report on durable goods for February is scheduled for release on March 25, 2009, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for 

survey description. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item Percent

Jan Dec Nov Dec - Nov - Oct - Jan Dec Jan Change

2009 2 2008 r 2008 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2009 2 2008 r 2008 2009 2008 09/08

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 183,059 190,004 192,772 -3.7 -1.4 -4.2 161,684 189,449 195,064 161,684 195,064 -17.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 163,798 172,760 181,047 -5.2 -4.6 -4.0 149,811 186,892 203,467 149,811 203,467 -26.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 137,850 143,666 146,836 -4.0 -2.2 -4.1 123,484 142,030 144,778 123,484 144,778 -14.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 127,099 130,351 137,982 -2.5 -5.5 -2.0 116,240 129,684 146,210 116,240 146,210 -20.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 171,166 178,645 180,918 -4.2 -1.3 -4.3 151,756 176,739 186,321 151,756 186,321 -18.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 153,438 157,102 169,913 -2.3 -7.5 -4.2 138,896 164,801 192,161 138,896 192,161 -27.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 132,362 136,905 138,596 -3.3 -1.2 -3.9 116,057 137,507 136,406 116,057 136,406 -14.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 117,041 124,311 130,803 -5.8 -5.0 -4.3 108,946 138,907 151,472 108,946 151,472 -28.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 14,831 16,249 17,975 -8.7 -9.6 -9.4 13,788 13,785 20,550 13,788 20,550 -32.9

 New Orders.............................. 13,467 14,113 15,966 -4.6 -11.6 -5.2 12,883 12,165 21,725 12,883 21,725 -40.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,835 26,066 26,990 -0.9 -3.4 -2.1 23,529 23,814 25,271 23,529 25,271 -6.9

 New Orders.............................. 24,631 24,916 26,058 -1.1 -4.4 -2.3 22,732 22,699 25,822 22,732 25,822 -12.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 26,162 28,609 28,305 -8.6 1.1 -0.5 23,518 28,220 25,892 23,518 25,892 -9.2

 New Orders.............................. 23,625 24,099 26,449 -2.0 -8.9 -2.8 22,926 23,320 30,949 22,926 30,949 -25.9

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 28,733 29,826 29,694 -3.7 0.4 -5.0 25,303 34,707 29,997 25,303 29,997 -15.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 23,528 24,762 26,646 -5.0 -7.1 4.0 20,210 31,519 23,665 20,210 23,665 -14.6

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 3,985 4,462 4,228 -10.7 5.5 -8.6 3,151 6,139 4,486 3,151 4,486 -29.8

 New Orders.............................. 3,709 4,415 4,775 -16.0 -7.5 11.3 2,875 6,092 3,910 2,875 3,910 -26.5 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 5,457 5,262 5,868 3.7 -10.3 7.5 4,214 6,737 4,435 4,214 4,435 -5.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,317 5,254 5,540 1.2 -5.2 -2.8 4,321 6,753 4,530 4,321 4,530 -4.6

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 3,940 4,650 3,932 -15.3 18.3 -21.9 4,762 3,957 6,663 4,762 6,663 -28.5

 New Orders4

.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,994 9,491 9,399 -5.2 1.0 -9.0 7,983 9,074 9,592 7,983 9,592 -16.8

 New Orders.............................. 8,681 9,249 8,662 -6.1 6.8 -5.4 8,295 8,391 10,726 8,295 10,726 -22.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 45,209 46,338 45,936 -2.4 0.9 -4.4 38,200 47,419 50,286 38,200 50,286 -24.0

 New Orders.............................. 36,699 42,409 43,065 -13.5 -1.5 -9.9 33,571 57,208 57,257 33,571 57,257 -41.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 25,390 27,323 29,056 -7.1 -6.0 -1.6 22,909 25,123 35,045 22,909 35,045 -34.6

 New Orders.............................. 25,052 26,761 28,585 -6.4 -6.4 -2.2 22,900 24,876 35,030 22,900 35,030 -34.6 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 9,470 8,116 6,134 16.7 32.3 -10.6 6,759 10,022 7,157 6,759 7,157 -5.6

 New Orders.............................. 3,600 1,981 4,840 81.7 -59.1 -46.2 2,110 13,561 12,260 2,110 12,260 -82.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,754 4,853 4,539 -2.0 6.9 -4.6 3,838 5,756 2,783 3,838 2,783 37.9

 New Orders.............................. 4,074 5,682 4,982 -28.3 14.1 -7.0 4,155 7,954 4,177 4,155 4,177 -0.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,295 33,425 34,473 -0.4 -3.0 -3.1 29,363 32,430 33,476 29,363 33,476 -12.3

 New Orders.............................. 33,167 33,212 34,201 -0.1 -2.9 -3.0 29,194 31,590 33,323 29,194 33,323 -12.4

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 71,278 73,183 72,244 -2.6 1.3 -2.1 61,263 79,523 67,278 61,263 67,278 -8.9

 New Orders.............................. 60,526 66,347 68,653 -8.8 -3.4 -3.7 56,028 85,867 78,488 56,028 78,488 -28.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 62,147 64,773 63,155 -4.1 2.6 -2.0 53,526 70,540 60,018 53,526 60,018 -10.8

 New Orders.............................. 52,552 54,019 60,140 -2.7 -10.2 -5.3 47,449 68,171 69,158 47,449 69,158 -31.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 56,423 60,422 60,425 -6.6 0.0 -1.3 50,109 64,589 56,394 50,109 56,394 -11.1

 New Orders.......................... 52,549 55,554 58,995 -5.4 -5.8 1.1 48,744 58,821 61,083 48,744 61,083 -20.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,131 8,410 9,089 8.6 -7.5 -2.2 7,737 8,983 7,260 7,737 7,260 6.6

 New Orders.............................. 7,974 12,328 8,513 -35.3 44.8 8.6 8,579 17,696 9,330 8,579 9,330 -8.0

NA Not Available r Revised

1

 Shipments and new orders are the totals for the period and are adjusted for trading-day and calendar-month variations; unfilled orders and total inventories are as of the end of the period and are not 

adjusted for trading-day or calendar-month variations.

2

 Based on advance sample. Estimates of manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders are subject to survey error and revision. One major component of survey error is nonsampling error, which 

includes errors of coverage, response and nonreporting. Since the survey panel is not a probability sample, estimates of sampling error cannot be calculated. Further details on survey design, 

methodology, and data limitations are contained in our most recent annual benchmark publication, Current Industrial Reports: M3-3(07), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2004-2007."

3

 The Capital Goods Industries include Nondefense : small arms and ordnance; farm machinery and equipment; construction machinery; mining, oil, and gas field machinery; industrial machinery; vending,

laundry, and other machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material handling equipment; all 

other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, and 

control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; and 

medical equipment and supplies.

 Defense Capital Goods include : small arms and ordnance, communications equipment, aircraft; missiles, space vehicles, and parts, ships and boats, and search and navigation equipment.

4 Data on new and unfilled orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Inventories for semiconductor industry data are included in computers and electronic products and total durable goods industries, but are not shown separately.
 3

Table 2. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders and Total Inventories

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Jan Dec Nov Dec - Nov - Oct - Jan Dec Jan 2009/

2009 2 2008 r 2008 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2009 2 2008 r 2008 2008

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 784,964 800,285 812,879 -1.9 -1.5 -0.9 791,656 798,767 786,882 0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 340,714 343,527 342,259 -0.8 0.4 0.3 339,506 333,789 321,806 5.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 330,167 336,978 345,643 -2.0 -2.5 -1.4 328,449 330,931 343,116 -4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 246,076 248,016 249,552 -0.8 -0.6 -0.6 245,625 242,272 239,959 2.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 624,502 638,290 655,183 -2.2 -2.6 -1.1 628,116 636,214 633,010 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 314,809 318,247 317,018 -1.1 0.4 0.2 313,642 308,943 298,341 5.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 784,964 800,285 812,879 -1.9 -1.5 -0.9 791,656 798,767 786,882 0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 274,690 276,340 274,582 -0.6 0.6 0.4 273,510 268,523 255,328 7.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,694 19,058 21,194 -7.2 -10.1 -8.7 17,434 18,339 28,438 -38.7

 Total Inventories....................... 31,550 32,236 33,651 -2.1 -4.2 -3.3 31,234 31,997 30,813 1.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 57,374 58,578 59,728 -2.1 -1.9 -1.5 55,924 56,721 59,970 -6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 43,690 44,264 44,410 -1.3 -0.3 -0.7 43,701 43,415 42,495 2.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 97,167 99,704 104,214 -2.5 -4.3 -1.7 97,431 98,023 95,444 2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 55,760 55,262 55,190 0.9 0.1 0.6 55,759 53,486 52,536 6.1

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 123,765 125,030 125,444 -1.0 -0.3 0.7 124,242 124,573 122,098 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 47,183 47,905 47,478 -1.5 0.9 0.1 47,041 46,664 45,066 4.4

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,814 4,090 4,137 -6.7 -1.1 15.2 3,814 4,090 3,141 21.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,667 5,143 4,938 -9.3 4.2 1.8 4,461 4,869 4,815 -7.4

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,154 37,294 37,302 -0.4 0.0 -0.9 36,861 36,754 36,512 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 10,167 10,259 9,916 -0.9 3.5 1.1 10,316 10,145 9,542 8.1

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Total Inventories4....................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,139 22,452 22,694 -1.4 -1.1 -3.1 21,911 21,599 24,198 -9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,282 14,742 14,940 -3.1 -1.3 -1.5 14,300 14,249 15,114 -5.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 454,797 463,307 467,236 -1.8 -0.8 -0.6 463,207 467,836 443,766 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 94,638 95,511 92,707 -0.9 3.0 2.9 93,881 91,517 81,847 14.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,366 15,704 16,266 -2.2 -3.5 -2.8 15,641 15,650 18,550 -15.7

 Total Inventories....................... 21,084 21,741 22,372 -3.0 -2.8 -2.0 20,981 20,583 24,220 -13.4 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 297,950 303,820 309,955 -1.9 -2.0 -0.4 303,461 308,110 285,718 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 46,771 47,660 44,281 -1.9 7.6 5.6 46,185 45,580 33,437 38.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 47,661 48,341 47,512 -1.4 1.7 0.9 48,544 48,227 44,696 8.6

 Total Inventories....................... 15,269 14,653 14,718 4.2 -0.4 3.0 15,193 14,373 13,476 12.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,028 12,156 12,369 -1.1 -1.7 -2.2 11,507 11,676 12,968 -11.3

 Total Inventories....................... 53,611 53,607 53,883 0.0 -0.5 -0.3 53,590 52,461 53,935 -0.6

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 601,287 612,039 618,875 -1.8 -1.1 -0.6 608,774 614,009 586,667 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 166,222 166,859 163,341 -0.4 2.2 1.4 165,377 161,869 147,891 11.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 457,604 467,199 477,953 -2.1 -2.3 -0.6 462,270 468,347 447,955 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 146,216 147,273 143,768 -0.7 2.4 1.3 145,336 142,437 129,362 12.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 192,860 196,734 201,602 -2.0 -2.4 -0.7 191,894 193,259 193,473 -0.8

 Total Inventories................... 109,157 109,590 108,983 -0.4 0.6 0.0 108,779 106,434 103,962 4.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 143,683 144,840 140,922 -0.8 2.8 -0.4 146,504 145,662 138,712 5.6

 Total Inventories....................... 20,006 19,586 19,573 2.1 0.1 1.7 20,041 19,432 18,529 8.2

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
4

Survey Description 

This report is compiled from results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders 

(M3) survey. This survey provides statistics on manufacturers' value of shipments, new orders (net of cancellations), 

end-of-month order backlog (unfilled orders), end-of-month total inventory (at current cost or market value), and 

inventories by stage of fabrication (materials and supplies, work-in-process, and finished goods). The M3 includes 

approximately 4,300 reporting units. Units may be divisions of diversified large companies, large homogenous 

companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 89 industry categories. Due to the small monthly sample, these 89 

categories have been combined into 59 publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-tomonth changes of the total operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-tomonth movements of all establishments that make up the category. The current coverage levels in the survey show 

that reported data in the monthly survey represent approximately 61 percent of the shipments estimates at the total 

manufacturing level. Data published represent manufacturing in a calendar month. The data collection is based on a 

voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. 

The data presented in this release are based on data obtained from a panel of 4,300 reporting units and provide an 

indication of the activity within the manufacturing sector. The results differ from what would be obtained from a 

complete enumeration of all manufacturing companies. In addition, a different panel of 4,300 companies would 

yield different results. The M3 panel is comprised of companies with $500 million or more in shipments and a 

limited number of smaller companies. From a statistical perspective, the panel is not a probability sample; therefore, 

the sampling errors that are normally provided with sample surveys cannot be measured. Nonsampling errors are 

attributable to many sources. The use of company or divisional reports to estimate the monthly change for 

establishments is one source of nonsampling error. The use of primarily large companies to represent the month-tomonth movement of all companies is another potential source. Any corrections will be published in the full report. 

Corrections received after the full report will be released in the next month’s advance report. Any revisions made 

later than two months will be reflected in the annual benchmark publication. 

Additional survey documentation can be found on our web site: http://www.census.gov/m3.