FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (06)-1 

CB06-30

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

January 2006 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in January 

decreased $23.6 billion or 10.2 percent to $207.2 billion, 

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

follows three consecutive monthly increases, which 

includes a 2.5 percent December increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.6 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 8.1 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$24.4 billion or 31.2 percent to $54.0 billion. This was 

the largest decline since July 2000 and was led by 

nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased $17.6 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in January, 

down following three consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $2.8 billion or 1.3 percent to $219.7 billion. 

This followed a 4.1 percent December increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$3.5 billion or 5.5 percent to $60.0 billion. The decrease 

was led by nondefense aircraft and parts, which 

decreased $2.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

January, down following eight consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $5.2 billion or 0.8 percent to $633.1 

billion. This followed a 2.6 percent December increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following eight 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$6.0 billion or 1.8 percent to $324.9 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in January, 

up five consecutive months, increased $0.7 billion or 0.3 

percent to $286.7 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent 

December increase. 

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

largest increase, $0.5 billion or 1.0 percent to $48.2 

billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $17.8 billion or 20.0 percent to $71.6 billion. 

Shipments decreased $2.0 billion or 2.7 percent to $71.3 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.2 billion or 0.1 

percent to $346.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.9 

billion or 0.8 percent to $114.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $4.4 billion or 64.3 percent to $2.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 1.9 percent to $8.3 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.9 billion or 4.5 

percent to $126.0 billion. Inventories decreased $0.9 

billion or 5.6 percent to $14.8 billion. 

Revised December Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted December figures for all 

manufacturing industries are: new orders, $416.9 billion 

(revised from $415.1 billion); shipments, $408.6 billion 

(revised from $407.9 billion); unfilled orders, $638.3 

billion (revised from $637.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $470.0 billion (revised from $469.8 billion). 

Figures in text, other than year-to-date, 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 6, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. EST. 

The advance report on durable goods for February is scheduled for release on March 24, 2006, at 8:30 a.m. EST. 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

2006 2 2005 r 2005 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2006 2 2005 r 2005 2006 2005 06/05

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 219,677 222,514 213,805 -1.3 4.1 0.7 194,481 223,637 182,665 194,481 182,665 6.5

 New Orders4.............................. 207,198 230,754 225,158 -10.2 2.5 5.3 191,875 238,831 181,508 191,875 181,508 5.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 159,687 159,056 154,246 0.4 3.1 0.6 143,244 160,577 132,914 143,244 132,914 7.8

 New Orders4.............................. 153,240 152,367 149,459 0.6 1.9 0.4 142,295 154,735 130,071 142,295 130,071 9.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 209,817 212,824 204,441 -1.4 4.1 0.7 186,699 212,567 175,167 186,699 175,167 6.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 203,045 221,049 216,681 -8.1 2.0 6.9 187,734 224,110 173,525 187,734 173,525 8.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 151,476 152,933 146,748 -1.0 4.2 1.2 134,078 156,006 124,524 134,078 124,524 7.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 146,290 169,060 165,582 -13.5 2.1 7.8 138,019 179,319 130,346 138,019 130,346 5.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 16,870 16,400 16,298 2.9 0.6 0.9 16,693 14,527 15,502 16,693 15,502 7.7

 New Orders.............................. 16,780 16,720 17,506 0.4 -4.5 1.0 17,344 15,485 15,564 17,344 15,564 11.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,169 25,052 24,299 0.5 3.1 0.1 23,266 23,084 21,658 23,266 21,658 7.4

 New Orders.............................. 25,410 25,260 24,651 0.6 2.5 -0.9 24,279 22,938 22,574 24,279 22,574 7.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 28,956 29,149 27,262 -0.7 6.9 1.1 25,432 28,733 23,135 25,432 23,135 9.9

 New Orders.............................. 30,522 31,307 28,601 -2.5 9.5 3.0 28,296 31,496 24,528 28,296 24,528 15.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 38,310 38,782 37,668 -1.2 3.0 0.6 32,859 45,869 31,832 32,859 31,832 3.2

 New Orders4.............................. 30,012 30,121 29,973 -0.4 0.5 0.7 26,855 38,023 26,593 26,855 26,593 1.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 8,451 8,828 8,597 -4.3 2.7 2.5 7,195 11,227 7,209 7,195 7,209 -0.2

 New Orders.............................. 8,024 9,019 8,648 -11.0 4.3 7.8 6,768 11,418 6,851 6,768 6,851 -1.2 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 6,361 5,894 5,565 7.9 5.9 -4.4 5,467 7,422 4,570 5,467 4,570 19.6

 New Orders.............................. 5,960 5,105 5,267 16.7 -3.1 -8.5 5,707 6,446 5,530 5,707 5,530 3.2

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 7,293 7,887 7,481 -7.5 5.4 5.1 6,547 8,119 6,979 6,547 6,979 -6.2

 New Orders4.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,153 9,831 9,922 3.3 -0.9 -0.9 8,930 9,979 8,115 8,930 8,115 10.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,477 10,203 10,205 2.7 0.0 0.3 9,619 10,079 8,746 9,619 8,746 10.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 59,990 63,458 59,559 -5.5 6.5 0.9 51,237 63,060 49,751 51,237 49,751 3.0

 New Orders.............................. 53,958 78,387 75,699 -31.2 3.6 16.6 49,580 84,096 51,437 49,580 51,437 -3.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 41,774 42,949 40,797 -2.7 5.3 -4.0 38,049 38,188 37,878 38,049 37,878 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 41,836 43,254 40,633 -3.3 6.5 -5.3 38,570 39,099 38,016 38,570 38,016 1.5 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,910 10,956 9,616 -18.7 13.9 26.5 5,881 14,151 4,269 5,881 4,269 37.8

 New Orders.............................. 8,204 25,791 26,547 -68.2 -2.8 139.4 7,297 31,984 4,882 7,297 4,882 49.5

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,753 3,863 3,815 -2.8 1.3 10.0 2,910 4,638 3,104 2,910 3,104 -6.3

 New Orders.............................. 4,150 5,319 4,037 -22.0 31.8 -42.7 4,278 7,131 2,938 4,278 2,938 45.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 40,229 39,842 38,797 1.0 2.7 0.8 36,064 38,385 32,672 36,064 32,672 10.4

 New Orders.............................. 40,039 38,756 38,523 3.3 0.6 -1.0 35,902 36,714 32,066 35,902 32,066 12.0

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 79,629 81,435 77,566 -2.2 5.0 3.2 67,270 91,100 61,584 67,270 61,584 9.2

 New Orders.............................. 73,992 96,233 94,404 -23.1 1.9 15.9 67,522 111,990 65,934 67,522 65,934 2.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,310 73,268 69,633 -2.7 5.2 3.4 60,645 81,970 55,276 60,645 55,276 9.7

 New Orders.............................. 71,550 89,395 87,655 -20.0 2.0 22.1 65,167 100,685 59,339 65,167 59,339 9.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,475 65,345 62,927 0.2 3.8 0.5 57,471 70,700 53,727 57,471 53,727 7.0

 New Orders.......................... 66,584 66,840 63,652 -0.4 5.0 0.1 60,846 72,061 56,835 60,846 56,835 7.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,319 8,167 7,933 1.9 2.9 1.4 6,625 9,130 6,308 6,625 6,308 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 2,442 6,838 6,749 -64.3 1.3 -30.3 2,355 11,305 6,595 2,355 6,595 -64.3

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 no

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, whic

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(04), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2004

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; vendin

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

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

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

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 equipme

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 separatel
 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 2006/

2006 2 2005 r 2005 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2006 2 2005 r 2005 2005

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 633,145 638,331 622,204 -0.8 2.6 3.1 638,386 634,445 549,388 16.2

 Total Inventories....................... 286,696 285,963 285,540 0.3 0.1 0.6 285,652 277,453 277,335 3.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 308,248 307,402 306,204 0.3 0.4 0.9 308,475 302,877 279,089 10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 220,133 218,763 218,443 0.6 0.1 0.8 219,657 212,952 213,316 3.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 493,733 493,212 477,100 0.1 3.4 4.3 497,487 489,905 394,794 26.0

 Total Inventories....................... 268,015 266,341 266,060 0.6 0.1 0.7 267,119 258,267 258,248 3.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 633,145 638,331 622,204 -0.8 2.6 3.1 638,386 634,445 549,388 16.2

 Total Inventories....................... 222,401 221,377 221,060 0.5 0.1 0.6 221,665 215,386 215,845 2.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,117 24,207 23,887 -0.4 1.3 5.3 24,367 23,716 20,548 18.6

 Total Inventories....................... 24,152 23,898 23,809 1.1 0.4 -0.1 24,440 23,976 23,894 2.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,690 48,449 48,241 0.5 0.4 0.7 48,020 47,007 42,726 12.4

 Total Inventories....................... 37,583 37,207 36,789 1.0 1.1 0.5 37,481 36,301 36,670 2.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 88,086 86,520 84,362 1.8 2.6 1.6 88,326 85,462 75,993 16.2

 Total Inventories....................... 48,189 47,735 47,790 1.0 -0.1 0.6 48,072 46,285 45,530 5.6

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 114,660 115,665 116,439 -0.9 -0.7 -0.2 115,374 114,831 110,491 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 46,308 45,912 46,387 0.9 -1.0 1.9 45,970 44,239 45,766 0.4

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 5,689 6,116 5,925 -7.0 3.2 0.9 5,689 6,116 6,059 -6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 5,076 5,309 5,277 -4.4 0.6 0.3 4,870 4,907 5,061 -3.8

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 36,790 37,191 37,980 -1.1 -2.1 -0.8 36,726 36,486 36,185 1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 10,400 10,094 10,614 3.0 -4.9 4.5 10,445 9,816 11,029 -5.3

 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......................... 19,268 18,944 18,572 1.7 2.0 1.5 19,208 18,519 16,042 19.7

 Total Inventories....................... 13,385 13,161 13,005 1.7 1.2 0.8 13,375 12,590 12,451 7.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 324,897 330,929 316,000 -1.8 4.7 5.4 329,911 331,568 270,299 22.1

 Total Inventories....................... 66,563 67,200 67,097 -0.9 0.2 0.1 65,995 64,501 64,019 3.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,026 16,964 16,659 0.4 1.8 -1.0 17,542 17,021 15,408 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 24,446 24,394 24,735 0.2 -1.4 0.5 24,282 23,337 23,830 1.9 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 190,400 191,106 176,271 -0.4 8.4 10.6 193,833 192,417 123,199 57.3

 Total Inventories....................... 23,088 22,731 22,442 1.6 1.3 -0.2 22,831 21,667 21,592 5.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 52,758 52,361 50,905 0.8 2.9 0.4 52,947 51,579 55,231 -4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 11,480 11,792 11,780 -2.6 0.1 -0.4 11,342 11,524 10,947 3.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,427 13,617 14,703 -1.4 -7.4 -1.8 13,180 13,342 13,289 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 50,516 50,850 50,663 -0.7 0.4 0.7 50,319 49,561 49,005 2.7

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 472,233 477,870 463,072 -1.2 3.2 3.8 477,118 476,866 402,794 18.5

 Total Inventories....................... 129,144 129,099 128,988 0.0 0.1 0.6 128,332 125,077 124,418 3.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 346,266 346,026 329,899 0.1 4.9 5.8 349,773 345,251 262,027 33.5

 Total Inventories....................... 114,342 113,426 113,456 0.8 0.0 0.7 113,540 109,572 108,642 4.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 176,240 175,131 173,636 0.6 0.9 0.4 176,157 172,782 160,059 10.1

 Total Inventories................... 95,646 94,951 95,378 0.7 -0.4 1.0 95,057 91,993 91,617 3.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 125,967 131,844 133,173 -4.5 -1.0 -0.9 127,345 131,615 140,767 -9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,802 15,673 15,532 -5.6 0.9 -0.2 14,792 15,505 15,776 -6.2

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
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 4,200 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 62 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 4,200 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 4,200 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 unscheduled 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.