FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (09)-12 

CB10-13

The Census Bureau identified a processing error that occurred when revising historic seasonally adjusted data for 

the November (data month) releases. The data have been corrected. As of January 15, 2010, revised data from 

January 2001 through November 2009 are available in the Historical Timeseries at http://www.census.gov/m3 

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

December 2009 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December increased $0.5 billion or 0.3 percent to $167.9 

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

increase followed two consecutive monthly decreases 

including a 0.4 percent November decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.9 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.3 percent. 

 

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

largest increase, $1.4 billion or 6.0 percent to $24.1 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up four consecutive months, increased $5.1 

billion or 2.9 percent to $181.9 billion. This followed a 

0.8 percent November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up three of the last four 

months, had the largest increase, $1.9 billion or 4.3 

percent to $45.9 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December, down fifteen consecutive months, decreased 

$8.6 billion or 1.2 percent to $715.5 billion. This was 

the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases 

since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 

1992 and followed a 0.7 percent November decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down fourteen of the last 

fifteen months, had the largest decrease, $8.6 billion or 

2.1 percent to $408.9 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

December, down twelve consecutive months, decreased 

$0.6 billion or 0.2 percent to $302.7 billion. This 

followed a 0.2 percent decrease in November. 

 Fabricated metal products, down fourteen of the last 

fifteen months, had the largest decrease, $0.4 billion or 

1.0 percent to $36.6 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in December 

decreased $0.1 billion or 0.2 percent to $53.7 billion. Shipments increased $2.1 billion or 3.7 percent to $59.6 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.9 billion or 1.4 

percent to $407.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.6 

billion or 0.4 percent to $131.7 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in December 

decreased $0.2 billion or 2.8 percent to $8.1 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.1 billion or 1.2 percent to $10.6 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.5 billion or 1.9 

percent to $132.4 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 

billion or 1.9 percent to $19.8 billion. 

Revised November data since the January 15, 2010 

Revision 

 Revised seasonally adjusted November figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $366.4 

billion (revised from $365.3 billion); shipments, $375.7 

billion (revised from $374.2 billion); unfilled orders, 

$724.1 billion (revised from $724.5 billion); and total 

inventories, $495.2 billion (revised from $495.1 billion). 

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality but not for inflation. 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 February 4, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The

advance report on durable goods for January is scheduled for release on February 25, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for

survey description and 2010 release schedule. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders1

[Estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.] 

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item 

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec Change

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

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 181,892 176,758 175,345 2.9 0.8 0.2 183,638 170,777 189,369 2,096,419 2,493,610 -15.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 167,911 167,454 168,098 0.3 -0.4 -0.1 181,082 159,101 186,798 1,965,059 2,462,588 -20.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 136,018 132,789 131,576 2.4 0.9 1.7 135,213 127,111 141,940 1,567,882 1,874,489 -16.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 130,626 129,405 126,699 0.9 2.1 -0.5 130,550 121,633 129,581 1,491,734 1,812,427 -17.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 168,537 162,994 161,171 3.4 1.1 0.5 168,867 156,663 176,661 1,933,862 2,353,427 -17.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 157,015 156,495 156,311 0.3 0.1 1.2 164,418 148,758 164,706 1,817,191 2,311,158 -21.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 131,485 128,177 126,753 2.6 1.1 -0.5 134,320 123,777 137,481 1,514,244 1,789,538 -15.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 122,859 122,952 123,951 -0.1 -0.8 -0.2 135,987 115,999 138,867 1,430,369 1,816,475 -21.3

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 16,211 15,191 14,557 6.7 4.4 5.1 14,087 13,960 13,783 164,739 255,463 -35.5

 New Orders.............................. 16,404 15,169 14,809 8.1 2.4 5.7 14,432 13,782 12,151 161,440 246,527 -34.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,160 24,129 24,073 0.1 0.2 0.8 22,404 22,916 23,805 288,402 330,603 -12.8

 New Orders.............................. 24,275 24,493 23,916 -0.9 2.4 0.7 22,705 22,664 22,704 279,730 327,919 -14.7

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 23,912 22,703 22,121 5.3 2.6 -2.5 23,987 20,891 28,217 277,126 347,077 -20.2

 New Orders.............................. 24,128 22,771 22,076 6.0 3.1 -8.1 23,351 20,578 23,205 265,675 354,601 -25.1

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 30,964 30,182 30,481 2.6 -1.0 6.4 34,917 29,871 34,695 349,282 379,713 -8.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 25,060 25,845 25,369 -3.0 1.9 0.4 31,244 24,826 31,513 299,252 324,566 -7.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 4,697 4,618 4,481 1.7 3.1 4.0 6,401 4,332 6,139 53,355 59,647 -10.5

 New Orders.............................. 4,640 4,898 4,523 -5.3 8.3 0.0 6,344 4,612 6,092 53,716 60,020 -10.5

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,878 5,046 5,198 -3.3 -2.9 4.8 5,952 5,260 6,737 59,312 68,552 -13.5

 New Orders.............................. 4,835 4,871 4,947 -0.7 -1.5 -4.3 6,071 4,352 6,753 59,508 68,889 -13.6

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 5,355 4,079 4,445 31.3 -8.2 25.1 4,223 3,898 3,957 47,485 57,959 -18.1

 New Orders4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,635 8,575 8,356 0.7 2.6 1.4 8,504 8,315 9,074 101,693 124,977 -18.6

 New Orders.............................. 8,463 8,811 8,503 -3.9 3.6 3.2 7,921 8,382 8,391 99,560 123,512 -19.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 45,874 43,969 43,769 4.3 0.5 -3.9 48,425 43,666 47,429 528,537 619,121 -14.6

 New Orders.............................. 37,285 38,049 41,399 -2.0 -8.1 1.3 50,532 37,468 57,217 473,325 650,161 -27.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 25,284 24,514 23,879 3.1 2.7 -0.7 23,618 24,039 25,121 289,722 387,025 -25.1

 New Orders.............................. 25,184 24,304 24,141 3.6 0.7 0.8 23,747 23,896 24,873 287,985 384,109 -25.0

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,646 7,452 7,647 16.0 -2.6 -11.1 11,240 7,465 10,022 94,098 96,589 -2.6

 New Orders.............................. 2,721 4,401 7,333 -38.2 -40.0 47.8 12,658 4,772 13,561 60,037 124,084 -51.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,725 5,731 5,603 -0.1 2.3 -14.2 6,819 5,783 5,756 67,513 55,778 21.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,438 4,743 5,293 14.7 -10.4 -6.5 7,669 4,521 7,954 63,947 60,703 5.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,136 32,009 31,988 0.4 0.1 -0.2 31,314 31,158 32,366 386,640 436,656 -11.5

 New Orders.............................. 32,296 32,316 32,026 -0.1 0.9 0.0 30,897 31,401 31,617 386,077 435,302 -11.3

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 70,169 68,165 67,780 2.9 0.6 -1.5 77,255 66,150 79,519 813,267 907,439 -10.4

 New Orders.............................. 61,800 62,121 64,128 -0.5 -3.1 -1.5 79,213 59,066 85,789 741,661 945,917 -21.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 59,563 57,432 56,817 3.7 1.1 -1.2 66,127 54,999 70,538 687,680 800,133 -14.1

 New Orders.............................. 53,693 53,780 55,458 -0.2 -3.0 2.0 66,410 51,208 68,092 629,133 829,588 -24.2

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 54,735 53,552 52,693 2.2 1.6 0.5 59,306 50,998 64,587 636,841 748,842 -15.0

 New Orders.......................... 54,254 53,551 51,920 1.3 3.1 -1.8 58,071 50,027 58,742 614,699 753,240 -18.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,606 10,733 10,963 -1.2 -2.1 -3.2 11,128 11,151 8,981 125,587 107,306 17.0

 New Orders.............................. 8,107 8,341 8,670 -2.8 -3.8 -19.2 12,803 7,858 17,697 112,528 116,329 -3.3

NA Not Available r Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment

1

 Estimates of shipments and new orders are for the duration of the period, while estimates of unfilled orders and total inventories are for the end of the period. Not seasonally adjusted estimates of

shipments and new orders include adjusted data for non-calendar reporters. Seasonally adjusted estimates include concurrent adjustments for holiday and trading-day differences, where appropriate, 

as well as seasonal variation, based on the results of the latest annual review of the model parameters. Estimates are not adjusted for price changes

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 Inventories1

[Estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item 

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec 2009/

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2008

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 715,485 724,111 729,336 -1.2 -0.7 -0.4 714,878 713,211 798,753 -10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 302,695 303,291 304,023 -0.2 -0.2 -0.3 294,841 305,063 333,753 -11.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 306,635 306,672 305,977 0.0 0.2 -0.1 302,255 302,695 330,918 -8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 212,889 213,343 213,768 -0.2 -0.2 -0.8 208,901 214,142 242,236 -13.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 567,562 573,729 576,149 -1.1 -0.4 -0.1 567,011 567,237 636,197 -10.9

 Total Inventories....................... 276,440 276,890 277,563 -0.2 -0.2 -0.6 268,916 278,722 308,905 -12.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 715,485 724,111 729,336 -1.2 -0.7 -0.4 714,878 713,211 798,753 -10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 244,466 244,874 245,161 -0.2 -0.1 -0.1 238,063 246,469 268,393 -11.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,440 15,247 15,269 1.3 -0.1 1.7 15,028 14,683 18,327 -18.0

 Total Inventories....................... 25,841 25,542 25,365 1.2 0.7 -0.6 25,770 25,681 31,904 -19.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,241 49,126 48,762 0.2 0.7 -0.3 48,063 47,762 56,735 -15.3

 Total Inventories....................... 36,626 36,983 36,880 -1.0 0.3 -0.4 36,120 36,636 43,413 -16.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,685 87,469 87,401 0.2 0.1 -0.1 86,460 87,096 97,911 -11.7

 Total Inventories....................... 47,686 47,835 48,015 -0.3 -0.4 -0.9 46,394 48,115 53,470 -13.2

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 122,376 122,925 123,183 -0.4 -0.2 -0.5 122,034 121,484 124,579 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 42,933 42,828 42,944 0.2 -0.3 -0.8 42,117 43,708 46,646 -9.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,451 4,508 4,228 -1.3 6.6 1.0 4,451 4,508 4,090 8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 4,100 4,093 4,113 0.2 -0.5 -0.7 3,887 4,269 4,869 -20.2

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,328 37,371 37,546 -0.1 -0.5 -0.7 36,950 36,831 36,754 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 9,393 9,074 9,143 3.5 -0.8 -2.0 9,349 9,351 10,145 -7.8

 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......................... 20,220 20,392 20,156 -0.8 1.2 0.7 19,466 20,049 21,599 -9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 12,076 12,142 12,203 -0.5 -0.5 -1.4 11,709 12,041 14,248 -17.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 408,850 417,439 423,359 -2.1 -1.4 -0.6 412,623 410,516 467,835 -11.8

 Total Inventories....................... 89,806 89,948 90,255 -0.2 -0.3 0.8 85,940 90,921 91,517 -6.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,915 14,015 14,225 -0.7 -1.5 1.9 13,912 13,783 15,649 -11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 18,442 18,250 18,073 1.1 1.0 -0.6 17,744 18,416 20,587 -13.8

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 270,269 276,194 279,245 -2.1 -1.1 -0.1 274,049 272,631 308,110 -11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 45,231 45,225 45,470 0.0 -0.5 1.0 42,735 46,094 45,580 -6.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,996 45,283 46,271 -0.6 -2.1 -0.7 44,661 43,811 48,227 -7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 15,391 15,620 15,889 -1.5 -1.7 3.0 15,107 15,530 14,373 5.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,673 11,513 11,206 1.4 2.7 0.3 11,204 11,621 11,767 -4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 47,727 48,013 48,361 -0.6 -0.7 -1.0 46,791 47,961 52,555 -11.0

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 540,216 548,585 554,629 -1.5 -1.1 -0.7 542,329 540,371 613,935 -11.7

 Total Inventories....................... 151,569 152,526 152,813 -0.6 -0.2 0.2 146,986 154,403 161,853 -9.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 407,859 413,729 417,381 -1.4 -0.9 -0.3 409,723 409,440 468,270 -12.5

 Total Inventories....................... 131,722 132,298 132,496 -0.4 -0.1 -0.2 127,185 134,145 142,419 -10.7

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 173,385 173,866 173,867 -0.3 0.0 -0.4 171,040 172,275 193,182 -11.5

 Total Inventories................... 95,977 96,169 96,475 -0.2 -0.3 -0.9 93,609 97,291 106,416 -12.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 132,357 134,856 137,248 -1.9 -1.7 -1.6 132,606 130,931 145,665 -9.0

 Total Inventories....................... 19,847 20,228 20,317 -1.9 -0.4 2.6 19,801 20,258 19,434 1.9

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. 

 BENCHMARK NOTICE 

2010 Release Dates for M3 Survey

 Survey Month Advance 8:30 A.M. Preliminary 10:00 A.M.

December 2009 Jan. 28, 2010 Feb. 4, 2010 

January 2010 Feb. 25, 2010 Mar. 4, 2010 

February 2010 Mar. 24, 2010 Mar. 31, 2010 

March 2010 Apr. 23, 2010 May 4, 2010 

April 2010 May 26, 2010 Jun. 3, 2010 

May 2010 Jun. 24, 2010 Jul. 2, 2010 

June 2010 Jul. 28, 2010 Aug. 3, 2010 

July 2010 Aug. 25, 2010 Sep. 2, 2010 

August 2010 Sep. 24, 2010 Oct. 4, 2010 

September 2010 Oct. 27, 2010 Nov. 3, 2010 

October 2010 Nov. 24, 2010 Dec. 3, 2010 

November 2010 Dec. 23, 2010 

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on 

May 14, 2010. These revisions reflect: 

o benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2007 Economic Census and the 2008 Annual 

Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data; 

o adjusting new orders and order backlog to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and inventory 

data; 

o correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to previously 

reported data; and 

o updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series. 

As of the Benchmark release, the semiconductor industry will no longer be shown separately, but will be 

included in the computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. An accompanying 

press release will include the revised 2010 January through March data. Please call Chris Savage on 

(301)763-4832 with any questions.