FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (08)-05 

CB08-99

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

May 2008 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in May 

increased slightly to $213.6 billion, the U.S. Census 

Bureau announced today. This was the first increase in 

three months and followed a 1.0 percent April decrease. 

Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.9 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.6 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$1.5 billion or 2.6 percent to $57.3 billion. This was led 

by nondefense aircraft and parts, which increased $1.2 

billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, 

down three of the last four months, decreased $2.3 

billion or 1.1 percent to $211.3 billion. This followed a 

1.8 percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.0 billion or 3.7 

percent to $51.9 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

May, up twenty-seven of the last twenty-eight months, 

increased $7.1 billion or 0.9 percent to $810.2 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.7 

percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-three of the last 

twenty-four months, had the largest increase, $5.4 billion 

or 1.2 percent to $458.7 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, up 

ten of the last eleven months, increased $1.4 billion or 

0.4 percent to $330.4 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 0.6 percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty of the last twentyone months, had the largest increase, $0.7 billion or 0.9 

percent to $86.3 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May 

increased $0.3 billion or 0.4 percent to $73.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $67.9 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.0 billion or 1.3 

percent to $470.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.9 

billion or 0.7 percent to $135.5 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in May increased 

$0.9 billion or 10.9 percent to $9.5 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.2 billion or 2.3 percent to $9.0 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $0.5 billion or 0.3 percent to 

$136.7 billion. Inventories increased slightly to $19.4 

billion. 

Revised April Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $445.3 

billion (revised from $445.2 billion); shipments, $445.3 

billion (revised from $443.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$803.1 billion (revised from $804.4 billion); and total 

inventories, $545.7 billion (unchanged).

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 July 2, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for June is scheduled for release on July 25, 2008, 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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May Change

2008 2 2008 r 2008 May 2 Apr r Mar 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2008 2007 08/07

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 211,301 213,573 209,778 -1.1 1.8 -0.9 215,508 213,471 222,421 1,053,324 1,053,873 -0.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 213,639 213,565 215,616 0.0 -1.0 -0.2 213,125 211,187 219,328 1,072,043 1,073,564 -0.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 159,389 159,680 156,374 -0.2 2.1 0.2 161,562 160,456 160,533 782,121 764,688 2.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 156,311 157,712 154,703 -0.9 1.9 1.8 157,654 159,364 156,038 778,056 755,856 2.9

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 199,363 201,601 198,461 -1.1 1.6 -1.0 203,494 202,275 212,924 997,993 1,008,466 -1.0

 New Orders 4

........................... 201,232 202,415 203,990 -0.6 -0.8 0.1 203,067 202,552 212,230 1,014,370 1,029,102 -1.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 152,205 152,440 150,445 -0.2 1.3 0.1 154,878 151,548 153,844 749,796 730,715 2.6

 New Orders 4

........................... 159,337 158,406 160,699 0.6 -1.4 0.9 157,057 155,672 156,182 795,298 779,021 2.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 22,224 21,983 21,346 1.1 3.0 1.6 23,518 23,307 21,921 110,716 102,048 8.5

 New Orders.............................. 22,166 22,464 21,855 -1.3 2.8 2.5 23,034 23,918 21,611 113,646 104,201 9.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 27,781 27,821 27,249 -0.1 2.1 1.6 28,979 28,564 28,843 136,284 134,746 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 27,725 27,710 28,368 0.1 -2.3 5.2 29,653 28,923 29,564 141,281 139,316 1.4

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 28,928 28,782 29,040 0.5 -0.9 -0.6 29,660 30,267 28,874 145,988 135,772 7.5

 New Orders.............................. 30,393 32,093 30,526 -5.3 5.1 8.5 30,479 34,254 27,952 156,710 141,390 10.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 32,598 33,347 31,476 -2.2 5.9 -0.8 30,504 30,532 30,382 156,237 154,242 1.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 27,845 27,288 27,889 2.0 -2.2 0.9 24,807 23,820 25,437 131,141 128,632 2.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 5,364 5,175 5,415 3.7 -4.4 -1.8 4,649 4,249 4,837 24,661 24,750 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 5,569 5,057 5,644 10.1 -10.4 -0.4 4,854 4,131 4,829 24,555 24,635 -0.3 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,672 5,530 5,800 2.6 -4.7 1.5 5,376 4,792 5,384 26,559 26,427 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 5,893 5,756 5,810 2.4 -0.9 0.3 5,237 5,150 5,878 27,816 27,724 0.3

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 4,794 5,974 4,416 -19.8 35.3 -5.5 4,562 6,408 5,431 26,783 28,615 -6.4

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 10,722 10,656 10,540 0.6 1.1 -0.1 10,985 10,597 10,873 52,262 51,768 1.0

 New Orders.............................. 11,118 10,951 9,279 1.5 18.0 -18.8 11,575 10,982 11,179 54,337 54,687 -0.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 51,912 53,893 53,404 -3.7 0.9 -4.1 53,946 53,015 61,888 271,203 289,185 -6.2

 New Orders.............................. 57,328 55,853 60,913 2.6 -8.3 -5.1 55,471 51,823 63,290 293,987 317,708 -7.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 32,314 33,493 34,567 -3.5 -3.1 -6.0 34,068 34,249 43,866 177,637 206,448 -14.0

 New Orders.............................. 32,338 33,446 34,613 -3.3 -3.4 -4.9 33,834 34,220 43,649 176,770 206,255 -14.3 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 8,192 8,647 7,908 -5.3 9.3 -3.7 8,200 7,901 8,466 40,400 38,438 5.1

 New Orders.............................. 13,298 12,058 16,000 10.3 -24.6 8.7 11,184 9,351 12,282 62,588 64,914 -3.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 4,536 4,642 4,500 -2.3 3.2 -2.0 4,480 4,140 3,263 20,729 15,447 34.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,193 4,518 4,638 14.9 -2.6 6.8 4,651 3,613 2,038 22,493 12,203 84.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,136 37,091 36,723 0.1 1.0 -0.1 37,916 37,189 39,640 180,634 186,112 -2.9

 New Orders.............................. 37,064 37,206 36,786 -0.4 1.1 1.1 38,106 37,467 40,295 180,941 187,630 -3.6

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 76,922 77,083 75,338 -0.2 2.3 0.6 76,419 74,611 73,485 373,826 356,235 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 83,385 82,183 83,738 1.5 -1.9 -0.3 77,943 77,261 76,066 409,069 394,850 3.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 67,883 67,830 66,680 0.1 1.7 0.3 67,266 65,766 65,717 330,643 318,779 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 73,891 73,623 75,431 0.4 -2.4 1.4 70,500 70,813 70,233 364,753 357,544 2.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,428 63,072 62,500 0.6 0.9 0.8 62,538 61,589 60,824 308,799 297,581 3.8

 New Orders........................ 64,689 65,188 63,222 -0.8 3.1 -1.0 63,017 64,767 61,438 322,481 311,784 3.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 9,039 9,253 8,658 -2.3 6.9 2.8 9,153 8,845 7,768 43,183 37,456 15.3

 New Orders.............................. 9,494 8,560 8,307 10.9 3.0 -13.2 7,443 6,448 5,833 44,316 37,306 18.8

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 equipmen

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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May 2008/

2008 2 2008 r 2008 May 2 Apr r Mar 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2007

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 810,212 803,080 797,114 0.9 0.7 1.3 817,318 815,139 706,184 15.7

 Total Inventories....................... 330,393 329,005 327,066 0.4 0.6 1.0 333,292 331,276 316,398 5.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 351,531 349,815 345,809 0.5 1.2 0.8 357,739 357,085 329,222 8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 244,082 243,424 242,257 0.3 0.5 0.8 245,971 244,995 238,707 3.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 657,910 651,247 644,459 1.0 1.1 1.6 663,667 659,532 560,480 18.4

 Total Inventories....................... 305,878 304,514 302,963 0.4 0.5 1.0 308,620 306,650 294,640 4.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 810,212 803,080 797,114 0.9 0.7 1.3 817,318 815,139 706,184 15.7

 Total Inventories....................... 264,448 262,965 260,821 0.6 0.8 1.3 266,934 264,868 249,866 6.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 29,287 29,345 28,864 -0.2 1.7 1.8 30,193 30,677 29,098 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 32,964 32,281 31,693 2.1 1.9 2.3 33,091 32,342 30,984 6.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,329 62,385 62,496 -0.1 -0.2 1.8 64,416 63,742 59,819 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 43,101 42,917 42,443 0.4 1.1 0.4 43,439 43,429 42,194 3.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 99,158 97,693 94,382 1.5 3.5 1.6 101,109 100,290 84,002 20.4

 Total Inventories....................... 53,508 53,423 53,549 0.2 -0.2 1.3 53,976 53,961 51,072 5.7

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 122,910 122,869 122,954 0.0 -0.1 0.7 123,454 124,589 117,758 4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 46,402 46,362 46,045 0.1 0.7 1.2 46,788 46,279 45,786 2.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,611 3,406 3,524 6.0 -3.3 6.9 3,611 3,406 3,370 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 5,201 5,185 5,255 0.3 -1.3 3.9 5,344 5,152 4,963 7.7

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,276 37,055 36,829 0.6 0.6 0.0 37,674 37,813 36,347 3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 9,860 9,924 9,768 -0.6 1.6 3.5 9,877 9,894 9,124 8.3

 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......................... 24,677 24,281 23,986 1.6 1.2 -5.0 25,139 24,549 24,769 1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 15,134 15,288 15,119 -1.0 1.1 -0.6 15,384 15,602 14,552 5.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 458,681 453,265 451,305 1.2 0.4 1.7 459,579 458,054 376,962 21.9

 Total Inventories....................... 86,311 85,581 84,809 0.9 0.9 1.6 87,321 86,281 77,691 12.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,658 17,634 17,681 0.1 -0.3 0.3 17,698 17,932 20,240 -12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 23,595 23,718 24,026 -0.5 -1.3 0.2 23,829 24,026 25,776 -7.6 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 303,229 298,123 294,712 1.7 1.2 2.8 302,803 299,819 223,734 35.3

 Total Inventories....................... 37,060 36,356 35,778 1.9 1.6 3.8 37,651 36,561 29,411 28.0

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,428 43,771 43,895 1.5 -0.3 0.3 45,066 44,895 38,903 15.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,193 13,972 13,770 1.6 1.5 0.2 14,284 14,011 12,489 14.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,170 13,242 13,127 -0.5 0.9 0.5 13,428 13,238 13,776 -2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 52,973 53,153 53,408 -0.3 -0.5 -0.3 53,293 53,382 54,119 -1.5

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 607,323 600,860 595,760 1.1 0.9 1.4 610,700 609,176 514,987 18.6

 Total Inventories....................... 154,874 153,985 152,616 0.6 0.9 1.8 156,278 154,712 142,034 10.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 470,595 464,587 458,794 1.3 1.3 1.9 472,925 469,691 382,560 23.6

 Total Inventories....................... 135,519 134,634 133,603 0.7 0.8 2.0 136,857 135,265 124,873 9.6

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 199,353 198,092 195,976 0.6 1.1 0.4 202,466 201,987 187,225 8.1

 Total Inventories................... 106,708 106,642 106,149 0.1 0.5 1.3 107,665 107,182 102,650 4.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 136,728 136,273 136,966 0.3 -0.5 -0.3 137,775 139,485 132,427 4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 19,355 19,351 19,013 0.0 1.8 0.5 19,421 19,447 17,161 13.2

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.