FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (13)-01 

CB13-31

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

January 2013 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in January 

decreased $11.8 billion or 5.2 percent to $217.0 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

decrease, down following four consecutive monthly 

increases, followed a 3.7 percent December increase. 

Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.9 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.4 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, drove the decrease, $14.7 billion or 19.8 percent 

to $59.7 billion. This was led by defense aircraft and 

parts, which decreased $5.1 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in January, 

down following four consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $2.7 billion or 1.2 percent to $226.1 billion. 

This followed a 0.5 percent December increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$1.6 billion or 2.3 percent to $64.7 billion. This 

followed a 0.8 percent December increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

January, down following four consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $2.1 billion or 0.2 percent to $989.2 

billion. This decrease followed a 0.8 percent December 

increase. 

Transportation equipment, also down following four 

 

consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, $5.0 

billion or 0.9 percent to $582.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in January, 

up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $0.7 

billion or 0.2 percent to $374.8 billion. This increase 

followed a 0.1 percent December decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up thirty consecutive 

months, drove the increase, $1.1 billion or 0.9 percent to 

$115.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $0.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $72.2 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.2 billion or 1.7 percent to $70.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.6 billion or 0.3 

percent to $586.2 billion. Inventories increased $1.5 

billion or 0.9 percent to $174.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $11.3 billion or 69.5 percent to $4.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.0 billion or 11.6 percent to $8.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $3.1 billion or 1.8 

percent to $168.1 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 

billion or 0.2 percent to $21.5 billion. 

Revised December Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted December figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $483.4 

billion (revised from $484.8 billion); shipments, $483.4 

billion (revised from $484.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$991.3 billion (revised from $991.7 billion); and total 

inventories, $614.9 billion (revised from $615.5 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 March 6, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for February is scheduled for release on March 26, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for 

survey description. To receive the latest updates on the Nation's key economic indicators, download the America's Economy app 

for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders 1

[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 Percent

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

2013 2 2012 r 2012 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2013 2 2012 r 2012 2013 2012 2013/2012

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 226,060 228,715 227,497 -1.2 0.5 1.8 206,326 222,575 198,918 206,326 198,918 3.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 216,981 228,766 220,556 -5.2 3.7 0.6 204,366 239,308 205,318 204,366 205,318 -0.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 161,363 162,467 161,788 -0.7 0.4 1.6 149,219 156,398 144,925 149,219 144,925 3.0

 New Orders

4

.............................. 157,292 154,375 152,879 1.9 1.0 1.2 150,271 149,755 144,983 150,271 144,983 3.6

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 215,723 217,339 216,496 -0.7 0.4 1.8 197,922 209,789 189,977 197,922 189,977 4.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 209,655 210,497 209,495 -0.4 0.5 0.5 196,680 215,249 195,828 196,680 195,828 0.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 157,737 160,955 160,541 -2.0 0.3 1.7 142,758 159,306 140,498 142,758 140,498 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 155,611 168,420 160,981 -7.6 4.6 -0.1 148,417 182,436 154,453 148,417 154,453 -3.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 28,884 29,898 29,374 -3.4 1.8 4.6 28,378 25,688 28,015 28,378 28,015 1.3

 New Orders.............................. 28,033 29,077 28,650 -3.6 1.5 0.0 28,927 25,640 29,201 28,927 29,201 -0.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,687 27,303 27,387 1.4 -0.3 0.4 26,124 24,656 25,707 26,124 25,707 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 29,389 29,084 27,875 1.0 4.3 2.6 28,782 26,122 26,421 28,782 26,421 8.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 33,254 33,220 33,645 0.1 -1.3 3.2 29,663 33,839 26,842 29,663 26,842 10.5

 New Orders.............................. 35,323 31,120 31,694 13.5 -1.8 2.3 34,025 30,924 30,871 34,025 30,871 10.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,127 28,106 27,795 -3.5 1.1 -0.5 24,685 30,830 25,909 24,685 25,909 -4.7

 New Orders.............................. 20,207 21,343 20,848 -5.3 2.4 0.8 17,608 26,657 19,346 17,608 19,346 -9.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,335 2,755 2,424 -15.2 13.7 2.3 1,665 4,010 2,327 1,665 2,327 -28.4

 New Orders.............................. 2,300 2,721 2,557 -15.5 6.4 5.5 1,630 3,976 2,286 1,630 2,286 -28.7

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,189 3,131 3,089 1.9 1.4 -6.1 2,550 3,959 2,485 2,550 2,485 2.6

 New Orders.............................. 3,605 3,916 3,657 -7.9 7.1 4.8 2,996 5,088 2,649 2,996 2,649 13.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,065 10,017 9,998 0.5 0.2 1.5 9,106 9,564 8,868 9,106 8,868 2.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,038 9,904 10,231 1.4 -3.2 2.7 9,734 9,161 9,621 9,734 9,621 1.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 64,697 66,248 65,709 -2.3 0.8 2.4 57,107 66,177 53,993 57,107 53,993 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 59,689 74,391 67,677 -19.8 9.9 -0.7 54,095 89,553 60,335 54,095 60,335 -10.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 44,125 44,298 44,239 -0.4 0.1 3.4 41,516 39,550 37,797 41,516 37,797 9.8

 New Orders.............................. 44,080 44,092 44,015 0.0 0.2 3.1 41,617 39,690 37,782 41,617 37,782 10.2

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 10,080 10,664 10,529 -5.5 1.3 0.5 7,268 14,091 7,156 7,268 7,156 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 8,158 12,361 12,770 -34.0 -3.2 -12.8 5,045 27,445 13,392 5,045 13,392 -62.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,247 4,917 4,744 -13.6 3.6 4.8 3,260 5,839 3,857 3,260 3,857 -15.5

 New Orders.............................. 2,903 8,020 5,060 -63.8 58.5 -10.7 3,427 10,438 4,308 3,427 4,308 -20.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 34,346 33,923 33,589 1.2 1.0 0.2 31,263 31,821 29,584 31,263 29,584 5.7

 New Orders.............................. 34,302 33,847 33,581 1.3 0.8 0.0 31,195 31,251 29,523 31,195 29,523 5.7

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 78,512 80,741 79,945 -2.8 1.0 1.7 67,836 88,184 66,643 67,836 66,643 1.8

 New Orders.............................. 77,095 88,458 79,047 -12.8 11.9 -1.7 70,905 109,335 79,307 70,905 79,307 -10.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,513 71,696 71,416 -1.7 0.4 1.6 61,251 78,347 59,674 61,251 59,674 2.6

 New Orders.............................. 72,154 72,253 71,229 -0.1 1.4 -2.2 65,609 88,664 71,947 65,609 71,947 -8.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,862 64,476 64,459 -1.0 0.0 2.2 57,015 68,246 55,439 57,015 55,439 2.8

 New Orders.......................... 67,678 63,665 63,846 6.3 -0.3 3.3 64,258 66,584 61,141 64,258 61,141 5.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,999 9,045 8,529 -11.6 6.0 2.3 6,585 9,837 6,969 6,585 6,969 -5.5

 New Orders.............................. 4,941 16,205 7,818 -69.5 107.3 2.8 5,296 20,671 7,360 5,296 7,360 -28.0

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. For further details on survey design, 

methodology, and data limitations, see http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3.

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 Estimates of shipments for the semiconductor industry are no longer shown separately. Estimates and percent changes of shipments and inventories for the semiconductor industry are included 

 in computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 
 3

Table 2. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders and Total Inventories 1

[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 Change

Jan Dec Nov Dec - Nov - Oct - Jan Dec Jan 2013/

2013 2 2012 r 2012 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2013 2 2012 r 2012 2012

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 989,185 991,311 983,846 -0.2 0.8 0.0 995,137 989,478 979,878 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 374,783 374,065 374,554 0.2 -0.1 0.1 373,054 363,559 359,164 3.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 406,391 403,509 404,187 0.7 -0.2 -0.4 404,385 395,714 412,870 -2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 258,934 259,281 259,996 -0.1 -0.3 -0.2 257,893 252,472 253,914 1.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 795,373 794,488 793,916 0.1 0.1 0.0 800,056 793,679 789,814 1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 348,532 347,811 348,249 0.2 -0.1 0.0 346,744 337,486 333,460 4.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 989,185 991,311 983,846 -0.2 0.8 0.0 995,137 989,478 979,878 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 304,488 303,699 303,825 0.3 0.0 0.2 302,884 294,718 290,485 4.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 29,561 30,412 31,233 -2.8 -2.6 -2.3 30,473 29,924 37,188 -18.1

 Total Inventories....................... 34,713 34,777 34,575 -0.2 0.6 0.1 34,306 34,150 34,524 -0.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 86,724 85,022 83,241 2.0 2.1 0.6 84,881 82,223 78,085 8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 45,864 45,960 46,021 -0.2 -0.1 -0.4 45,725 45,073 45,362 0.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,050 121,981 124,081 1.7 -1.7 -1.5 123,590 119,228 138,491 -10.8

 Total Inventories....................... 65,303 66,034 66,503 -1.1 -0.7 -0.5 65,027 63,498 63,341 2.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 137,856 137,823 137,172 0.0 0.5 0.3 137,784 137,242 131,104 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 46,348 46,310 46,538 0.1 -0.5 0.1 46,193 45,045 45,405 1.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,306 1,341 1,375 -2.6 -2.5 10.7 1,306 1,341 1,115 17.1

 Total Inventories....................... 3,819 3,702 3,815 3.2 -3.0 -1.6 3,701 3,418 3,963 -6.6

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,494 35,078 34,293 1.2 2.3 1.7 35,398 34,952 31,125 13.7

 Total Inventories....................... 8,305 8,224 8,271 1.0 -0.6 -1.9 8,380 8,067 8,638 -3.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 20,962 20,989 21,102 -0.1 -0.5 1.1 20,980 20,352 21,481 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 15,697 15,511 15,660 1.2 -1.0 -0.5 15,662 14,895 15,424 1.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 582,794 587,802 579,659 -0.9 1.4 0.3 590,752 593,764 567,008 4.2

 Total Inventories....................... 115,849 114,784 114,558 0.9 0.2 0.9 115,161 111,087 105,250 9.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,549 15,594 15,800 -0.3 -1.3 -1.4 15,935 15,834 17,103 -6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 25,386 25,607 25,658 -0.9 -0.2 0.4 25,471 24,792 24,974 2.0

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 409,943 411,865 410,168 -0.5 0.4 0.5 415,995 418,218 391,993 6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 63,695 62,154 62,080 2.5 0.1 0.4 62,918 59,693 54,550 15.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 64,922 66,266 63,163 -2.0 4.9 0.5 66,069 65,902 59,807 10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 13,814 13,816 13,629 0.0 1.4 3.4 13,728 13,659 13,024 5.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,238 7,282 7,358 -0.6 -1.0 -0.1 6,677 6,745 6,521 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 51,009 50,689 50,699 0.6 0.0 0.1 50,980 49,811 49,858 2.3

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 754,304 755,721 748,004 -0.2 1.0 -0.1 759,438 756,369 742,110 2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 195,580 194,048 195,072 0.8 -0.5 0.4 194,119 187,388 182,394 6.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 586,182 584,541 583,984 0.3 0.1 0.0 590,477 586,119 576,388 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 174,079 172,597 173,578 0.9 -0.6 0.1 172,473 165,961 161,579 6.7

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 236,147 232,331 233,142 1.6 -0.3 -0.3 234,975 227,732 239,109 -1.7

 Total Inventories................... 120,628 120,667 121,557 0.0 -0.7 -0.1 119,851 116,384 116,266 3.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 168,122 171,180 164,020 -1.8 4.4 -0.4 168,961 170,250 165,722 2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 21,501 21,451 21,494 0.2 -0.2 2.9 21,646 21,427 20,815 4.0

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-inprocess, 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 65 

publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-to-month changes of the total 

operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-to-month 

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 60 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-to-month 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 

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on May 17, 

2013. These revisions reflect: 

 benchmarking the shipments and inventories data to the 2011 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) data, as well as revised ASM benchmarks for prior years; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2010/2011 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments data, as well as 

incorporating revised unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years; 

 adjusting the new orders data to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and unfilled orders 

data; 

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

previously reported data; 

 migrating the data processing environment from a server having a Linux Red Hat 4 operating system 

that supports SAS® 9.1.3 to a server having a Linux Red Hat 5 operating system that supports SAS® 

9.2; and 

 updating the seasonally adjusted data, based on the results of benchmarking and the recent annual 

review of the seasonal adjustment models. 

An accompanying press release will include the revised 2013 January through March data. Please call 

Jessica Young on (301) 763-4832 with any questions.