FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (09)-10 

CB09-176

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

October 2009 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

October decreased $1.0 billion or 0.6 percent to $166.2 

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

was the second monthly decrease in the last three 

months. This followed a 2.0 percent September 

increase. Excluding transportation, new orders 

decreased 1.3 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 0.4 percent. 

 

 Machinery, down following two consecutive monthly 

increases, had the largest decrease, $1.9 billion or 8.0 

percent to $21.8 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in October, 

down two of the last three months, decreased $0.3 

billion or 0.2 percent to $173.8 billion. This followed a 

1.6 percent September increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also down two of the last 

three months, had the largest decrease, $1.9 billion or 

4.2 percent to $43.4 billion. This was led by defense 

aircraft and parts, which decreased $1.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

October, down thirteen consecutive months, decreased 

$3.0 billion or 0.4 percent to $730.4 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 0.4 percent September decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down twelve of the last 

thirteen months, had the largest decrease, $2.2 billion or 

0.5 percent to $424.3 billion. 

 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, 

down ten consecutive months, decreased $0.1 billion to 

$304.2 billion. This followed a 1.2 percent September 

decrease. 

 Fabricated metal products, down thirteen consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $0.2 billion or 0.7 

percent to $36.7 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in October 

increased $0.6 billion or 1.2 percent to $54.6 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.9 billion or 1.6 percent to $56.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.4 billion or 0.3 

percent to $418.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 

billion or 0.2 percent to $132.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in October 

decreased $1.9 billion or 18.4 percent to $8.5 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 3.8 percent to $11.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.4 billion or 1.7 

percent to $137.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.5 

billion or 2.5 percent to $20.3 billion. 

Revised September Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted September figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $357.2 

billion (revised from $356.1 billion); shipments, $364.1 

billion (revised from $363.1 billion); unfilled orders, 

$733.4 billion (revised from $733.3 billion); and total 

inventories, $491.7 billion (revised from $492.6 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 December 4, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The

advance report on durable goods for November is scheduled for release on December 24, 2009, 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 Orders

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item Percent

Oct Sep Aug Sep - Aug - Jul - Oct Sep Oct Change

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2009 2008 09/08

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 173,794 174,074 171,341 -0.2 1.6 -1.4 180,372 187,407 208,711 1,740,765 2,122,661 -18.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 166,173 167,207 163,966 -0.6 2.0 -2.7 168,932 178,218 192,581 1,623,267 2,107,055 -23.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 130,355 128,754 128,797 1.2 0.0 -1.4 135,325 138,441 157,591 1,304,634 1,595,326 -18.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 124,903 126,552 124,311 -1.3 1.8 -0.5 127,900 136,345 143,710 1,238,231 1,555,596 -20.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 159,674 159,429 157,544 0.2 1.2 -1.6 166,374 171,735 196,783 1,607,161 2,007,440 -19.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 154,380 153,719 151,073 0.4 1.8 -2.7 157,691 164,372 181,244 1,502,529 1,988,377 -24.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 125,259 126,701 123,291 -1.1 2.8 -1.0 127,827 137,452 147,079 1,254,917 1,521,420 -17.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 122,234 123,490 120,003 -1.0 2.9 -3.1 122,424 131,300 137,279 1,176,799 1,556,279 -24.4

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 14,315 13,813 13,364 3.6 3.4 1.7 15,199 14,765 20,628 136,542 225,752 -39.5

 New Orders.............................. 14,532 14,024 13,668 3.6 2.6 1.2 14,884 14,514 16,943 133,088 220,201 -39.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 23,930 23,803 23,669 0.5 0.6 -0.6 25,128 25,369 28,906 242,982 281,764 -13.8

 New Orders.............................. 23,840 23,733 23,300 0.5 1.9 0.1 24,595 24,842 27,404 234,359 282,031 -16.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 21,932 22,512 22,102 -2.6 1.9 -1.4 22,349 23,422 28,759 232,360 293,419 -20.8

 New Orders.............................. 21,810 23,705 21,793 -8.0 8.8 1.3 22,540 24,871 28,046 221,801 307,596 -27.9

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 30,103 28,514 29,235 5.6 -2.5 -2.8 30,783 31,943 31,304 283,894 316,381 -10.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 24,548 25,074 25,135 -2.1 -0.2 -1.6 23,816 29,629 24,677 242,288 267,830 -9.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 4,079 4,149 4,237 -1.7 -2.1 -4.6 3,867 4,806 4,648 42,019 49,716 -15.5

 New Orders.............................. 4,049 4,365 4,351 -7.2 0.3 -3.1 3,837 5,022 4,314 42,085 49,589 -15.1

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 5,183 4,908 5,101 5.6 -3.8 -4.4 4,736 6,051 4,719 48,136 55,722 -13.6

 New Orders.............................. 5,060 5,072 5,354 -0.2 -5.3 -0.6 4,789 6,556 5,203 49,208 56,871 -13.5

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 4,596 3,656 4,087 25.7 -10.5 -8.5 6,037 3,037 6,330 39,380 50,465 -22.0

 New Orders4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,234 8,159 8,235 0.9 -0.9 -3.4 8,561 8,942 10,588 84,740 106,944 -20.8

 New Orders.............................. 8,328 8,113 8,267 2.7 -1.9 -1.7 8,670 8,513 9,436 83,043 107,095 -22.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 43,439 45,320 42,544 -4.2 6.5 -1.2 45,047 48,966 51,120 436,131 527,335 -17.3

 New Orders.............................. 41,270 40,655 39,655 1.5 2.5 -8.9 41,032 41,873 48,871 385,036 551,459 -30.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 23,554 23,810 23,490 -1.1 1.4 -0.7 26,226 25,457 33,256 241,766 334,685 -27.8

 New Orders.............................. 23,821 23,835 23,473 -0.1 1.5 1.8 26,450 25,171 32,820 239,994 332,321 -27.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,772 8,560 7,097 -9.2 20.6 -5.2 6,734 9,332 6,284 75,520 80,403 -6.1

 New Orders.............................. 7,503 4,976 4,921 50.8 1.1 -44.0 4,679 4,676 6,118 42,663 105,173 -59.4

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,561 6,528 5,636 -14.8 15.8 3.2 5,514 7,212 4,683 54,850 45,296 21.1

 New Orders.............................. 5,329 5,701 4,956 -6.5 15.0 -11.8 5,264 5,602 5,166 51,880 47,662 8.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 31,841 31,953 32,192 -0.4 -0.7 -1.6 33,305 34,000 37,406 324,116 371,066 -12.7

 New Orders.............................. 31,845 31,903 32,148 -0.2 -0.8 -1.7 33,395 33,976 37,204 323,652 370,843 -12.7

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 66,915 68,279 66,111 -2.0 3.3 -1.8 66,159 74,232 72,868 669,281 759,476 -11.9

 New Orders.............................. 63,111 64,413 62,200 -2.0 3.6 -6.6 60,936 68,567 69,652 602,395 795,781 -24.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 55,965 56,895 55,365 -1.6 2.8 -2.6 55,340 62,241 63,669 565,980 670,590 -15.6

 New Orders.............................. 54,567 53,944 52,286 1.2 3.2 -7.8 52,926 57,981 61,514 510,774 705,104 -27.6

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 51,828 51,906 51,745 -0.2 0.3 -2.2 51,932 56,787 60,782 525,963 628,006 -16.2

 New Orders.......................... 50,892 52,408 51,069 -2.9 2.6 -1.0 51,617 57,002 58,930 505,860 640,227 -21.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,950 11,384 10,746 -3.8 5.9 2.8 10,819 11,991 9,199 103,301 88,886 16.2

 New Orders.............................. 8,544 10,469 9,914 -18.4 5.6 0.8 8,010 10,586 8,138 91,621 90,677 1.0

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

Oct Sep Aug Sep - Aug - Jul - Oct Sep Oct 2009/

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2008

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 730,398 733,423 736,634 -0.4 -0.4 -0.4 720,635 726,038 806,675 -10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 304,217 304,301 308,133 0.0 -1.2 -1.5 305,554 302,968 342,379 -10.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 306,057 306,913 305,459 -0.3 0.5 -0.1 303,895 305,283 345,756 -12.1

 Total Inventories....................... 214,384 215,390 217,035 -0.5 -0.8 -0.8 214,801 214,263 251,184 -14.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 576,888 577,586 579,640 -0.1 -0.4 -0.4 570,945 573,591 651,909 -12.4

 Total Inventories....................... 277,726 278,378 281,929 -0.2 -1.3 -1.6 278,978 277,063 317,507 -12.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 730,398 733,423 736,634 -0.4 -0.4 -0.4 720,635 726,038 806,675 -10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 244,945 244,555 247,827 0.2 -1.3 -1.7 246,399 243,664 274,776 -10.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,435 15,218 15,007 1.4 1.4 2.1 14,873 15,188 21,712 -31.5

 Total Inventories....................... 25,472 25,484 25,366 0.0 0.5 -0.4 25,654 25,788 34,682 -26.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,765 48,855 48,925 -0.2 -0.1 -0.7 48,112 48,645 59,686 -19.4

 Total Inventories....................... 36,651 36,895 37,395 -0.7 -1.3 -1.3 36,612 36,745 44,579 -17.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,431 87,553 86,360 -0.1 1.4 -0.4 87,352 87,161 104,564 -16.5

 Total Inventories....................... 48,220 48,403 49,017 -0.4 -1.3 -1.0 47,990 47,748 54,710 -12.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 123,223 124,182 123,966 -0.8 0.2 0.0 122,353 123,283 123,681 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 43,153 43,195 43,378 -0.1 -0.4 -0.4 43,685 42,888 48,086 -9.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,156 4,186 3,970 -0.7 5.4 3.0 4,156 4,186 3,590 15.8

 Total Inventories....................... 4,022 4,113 4,198 -2.2 -2.0 -1.0 4,057 4,090 4,935 -17.8

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,809 37,932 37,768 -0.3 0.4 0.7 37,826 37,773 37,566 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 9,331 9,292 9,260 0.4 0.3 -0.5 9,422 9,129 9,962 -5.4

 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......................... 20,072 19,978 20,024 0.5 -0.2 0.2 19,902 19,793 23,215 -14.3

 Total Inventories....................... 12,299 12,489 12,603 -1.5 -0.9 -1.2 12,255 12,284 15,021 -18.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 424,341 426,510 431,175 -0.5 -1.1 -0.7 416,740 420,755 460,919 -9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 89,833 88,911 91,098 1.0 -2.4 -3.1 90,753 88,705 91,195 -0.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,254 13,987 13,962 1.9 0.2 -0.1 13,877 13,653 16,201 -14.3

 Total Inventories....................... 17,969 18,122 18,391 -0.8 -1.5 -1.1 18,103 18,154 22,878 -20.9

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 279,705 279,974 283,558 -0.1 -1.3 -0.8 275,253 277,308 305,385 -9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 45,115 44,387 45,869 1.6 -3.2 -4.8 45,741 44,256 42,721 7.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 46,617 46,849 47,676 -0.5 -1.7 -1.4 45,257 45,507 45,668 -0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 15,960 15,456 15,901 3.3 -2.8 0.7 16,041 15,489 14,397 11.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,131 11,127 11,177 0.0 -0.4 -0.4 11,303 11,213 12,898 -12.4

 Total Inventories....................... 48,589 48,924 49,276 -0.7 -0.7 -0.8 48,605 48,810 54,106 -10.2

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 555,492 559,296 563,162 -0.7 -0.7 -0.7 547,049 552,272 611,762 -10.6

 Total Inventories....................... 152,600 151,786 154,880 0.5 -2.0 -1.8 153,355 150,658 162,214 -5.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 418,158 419,556 422,507 -0.3 -0.7 -0.7 413,064 415,478 473,329 -12.7

 Total Inventories....................... 132,323 132,012 134,753 0.2 -2.0 -1.9 133,074 130,935 142,971 -6.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 174,040 174,976 174,474 -0.5 0.3 -0.4 173,079 173,394 201,005 -13.9

 Total Inventories................... 96,664 97,274 98,416 -0.6 -1.2 -0.7 96,963 96,248 109,464 -11.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 137,334 139,740 140,655 -1.7 -0.7 -0.6 133,985 136,794 138,433 -3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 20,277 19,774 20,127 2.5 -1.8 -0.5 20,281 19,723 19,243 5.4

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.

2010 Release Dates for M3 Survey 

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

November 2009 Dec. 24, 2009 Jan. 5, 2010 

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