Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301-763-4832 301-763-3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS MARCH 2018

Release Number: CB 18-62 M3-1 (18)-03

April 26, 2018 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the March advance report on manufacturers’ 

shipments, inventories and orders:

New Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased $6.4 billion or 2.6 percent to $254.9 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up four of the last five months, followed a 3.5

percent February increase. Excluding transportation, new orders were virtually unchanged. Excluding 

defense, new orders increased 2.8 percent. Transportation equipment, also up four of the last five months, 

drove the increase, $6.4 billion or 7.6 percent to $91.4 billion.

Shipments

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, up ten of the last eleven months, increased $0.7 billion 

or 0.3 percent to $250.0 billion. This followed a 0.7 percent February increase. Transportation equipment, 

up four of the last five months, drove the increase, $1.5 billion or 1.8 percent to $83.4 billion.

Unfilled Orders

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in March, up six of the last seven months, increased $9.3

billion or 0.8 percent to $1,154.0 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent February increase. Transportation 

equipment, up three of the last four months, led the increase, $8.0 billion or 1.0 percent to $782.8 billion.

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

MARCH 2018 $254.9 billion +2.6%°

FEBRUARY 2018 

(revised) $248.6 billion +3.5%°

Next release: May 25, 2018

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes.

°Statistical significance is not measurable for this survey. The Manufacturers' 

Shipments, Inventories, and Orders estimates are not based on a probability sample, 

so the sampling error of these estimates cannot be measured nor can the 

confidence intervals be computed.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders, 

April 26, 2018.

Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Mar-18 % Change -0.8% 0.0% 6.4% -6.8% 2.1% 2.4% -0.4% 1.7% 2.7% -3.6% 3.5% 2.6%

-7.0%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2017-2018

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, 

April 26, 2018.
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301-763-4832 301-763-3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, up twenty of the last twenty-one months, increased 

$0.3 billion or 0.1 percent to $411.0 billion. This followed a 0.4 percent February increase. Both 

Fabricated metal products and Machinery led the increase. Fabricated metal products, up fifteen consecutive 

months, increased $0.3 billion or 0.6 percent to $52.0 billion. Machinery, up four of the last five months, 

increased $0.3 billion or 0.4 percent to $70.8 billion.

Capital Goods

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in March increased $4.7 billion or 6.0 percent to $83.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.7 billion or 2.2 percent to $76.9 billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.3 billion or 

0.9 percent to $716.1 billion. Inventories decreased $0.5 billion or 0.3 percent to $182.5 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in March increased $0.1 billion or 0.9 percent to $10.6 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.3 billion or 2.7 percent to $10.6 billion. Unfilled orders increased less than $0.1 billion or 

virtually unchanged to $140.7 billion. Inventories also increased less than $0.1 billion or 0.2 percent to 

$23.3 billion.

Revised February Data

Revised seasonally adjusted February figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $499.3

billion (revised from $498.0 billion); shipments, $500.0 billion (revised from $500.5 billion); unfilled 

orders, $1,144.7 billion (revised from $1,142.8 billion) and total inventories, $675.1 billion (revised from 

$675.2 billion).

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on May 3, 2018, at 

10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 25, 2018

at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room:<www.census.gov/economicindicators/>. The full text and tables of this release can be found at <www.census.gov/m3>.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders exclude 

data for semiconductor manufacturing. 

“Virtually unchanged” indicates that the change is less than 0.05 percent for a percent increase or decrease.

Description of the survey

This report is compiled from results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, 

and Orders (M3) survey, which is a voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. This 

survey provides statistics on a calendar-month basis for 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 
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301-763-4832 301-763-3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting 

units that represent approximately 3,100 companies and provide an indication of month-to-month change for 

the Manufacturing Sector. These reporting units may be divisions of diversified large companies, large 

homogenous companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 92 industry categories, which are combined into 65 

publication levels due to the small monthly panel size. The survey methodology assumes that the month-tomonth changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel effectively represent the monthto-month movements of all establishments that make up the category. The companies for which shipments 

data are currently reported or imputed in the M3 survey represent approximately 64 percent of the total 

value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 Economic Census, and these companies 

include almost two-thirds of the manufacturing companies with $500 million or more in shipments in the 

2012 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments data are currently reported in the M3 survey 

represent approximately 57 percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 

2012 Economic Census. Statistics based on the M3 panel differ from the results that would be obtained 

from a complete enumeration of all manufacturing companies. The M3 panel is not based on 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: 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.

RESOURCES

API

The Census Bureau’s application programming interface (API) lets developers create custom apps to reach 

new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever 

before.

<www.census.gov/developers/>

NEW TIME SERIES

Beginning with the release of June 2018 data on July 26, 2018, historical estimates of the Monthly Advance 

Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders will be available on a seasonally adjusted 

basis as well as a not seasonally adjusted basis at: <https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/>. Also, 
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301-763-4832 301-763-3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

monthly data for the Advance report will be available in the Census Application Programming Interface 

(API).

FRED Mobile App

Receive the latest updates on the nation’s key economic indicators by downloading 

the FRED App <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/fred-mobile/> for both Apple and 

Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. 

Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau’s 13 economic indicators.

Benchmark notice

Revised historical data from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey will be 

issued on May 17, 2018. These revisions result from:

• benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2016 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) and revised 2015 ASM data on a 2012 NAICS basis;

• incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2016/2015 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders (M3UFO) Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments data, as 

well as incorporating revised unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years by applying them to the 

respective ASM shipments data;

• 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;

• updating the seasonally adjusted data based on the results of benchmarking and the recent annual review 

of the seasonal adjustment models. 

These revisions will span the seasonally adjusted data for January 2002 through March 2018 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2007 through March 2018. An updated Press Release will contain 

revised monthly tables for January 2018 through March 2018. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 with 

any questions.

###
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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar Change

2018 2 2018 r 2018 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2018 2 2018 r 2017 2018 2017 2018/2017

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 249,979 249,258 247,537 0.3 0.7 0.5 270,698 233,843 257,455 729,515 683,107 6.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 254,947 248,574 240,095 2.6 3.5 -3.6 282,150 234,500 260,133 736,717 677,610 8.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 166,533 167,271 165,896 -0.4 0.8 0.2 176,542 154,928 167,461 484,401 451,455 7.3

 New Orders

4

.............................. 163,534 163,586 162,073 0.0 0.9 -0.3 177,165 155,559 167,909 485,670 452,928 7.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 237,598 236,292 233,961 0.6 1.0 0.3 256,437 221,582 243,157 692,029 647,707 6.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 242,662 236,093 229,166 2.8 3.0 -2.6 265,823 223,563 244,213 700,630 642,981 9.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 176,458 175,698 174,862 0.4 0.5 0.6 191,753 164,066 181,870 513,646 478,659 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 185,733 179,444 171,683 3.5 4.5 -5.0 206,963 168,597 188,495 533,919 487,081 9.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 21,523 21,284 20,866 1.1 2.0 0.9 22,941 20,555 20,635 64,327 57,290 12.3

 New Orders.............................. 22,133 21,818 20,920 1.4 4.3 0.1 23,844 21,640 20,896 67,001 58,804 13.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 33,842 34,007 33,781 -0.5 0.7 1.3 35,001 31,856 32,744 98,702 90,369 9.2

 New Orders.............................. 34,397 34,356 34,287 0.1 0.2 0.8 36,871 33,383 34,887 103,616 94,358 9.8

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,589 33,107 32,759 -1.6 1.1 0.0 36,329 31,447 34,642 97,079 89,672 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 32,565 33,128 33,019 -1.7 0.3 -0.2 36,237 32,443 34,885 100,291 93,710 7.0

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 28,218 28,357 28,257 -0.5 0.4 0.9 30,410 24,896 28,619 80,909 76,242 6.1

 New Orders.............................. 24,177 23,871 23,913 1.3 -0.2 -0.3 27,814 21,276 25,565 69,719 65,148 7.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,754 1,876 1,923 -6.5 -2.4 7.9 2,122 1,350 2,415 4,943 5,420 -8.8

 New Orders.............................. 1,850 1,899 1,931 -2.6 -1.7 6.3 2,218 1,373 2,418 5,070 5,488 -7.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,290 3,263 3,281 0.8 -0.5 -0.1 3,891 2,685 3,508 9,178 8,267 11.0

 New Orders.............................. 3,337 3,085 3,334 8.2 -7.5 1.6 4,029 2,986 3,626 9,734 9,581 1.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,444 10,459 10,322 -0.1 1.3 0.9 11,069 9,597 10,820 29,977 28,767 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 10,416 10,403 10,082 0.1 3.2 0.1 11,192 9,984 11,132 30,809 30,417 1.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 83,446 81,987 81,641 1.8 0.4 0.9 94,156 78,915 89,994 245,114 231,652 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 91,413 84,988 78,022 7.6 8.9 -9.8 104,985 78,941 92,224 251,047 224,682 11.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 57,451 57,391 56,604 0.1 1.4 0.8 63,785 57,311 60,596 173,503 162,541 6.7

 New Orders.............................. 57,748 57,719 56,609 0.1 2.0 0.2 64,158 58,177 60,722 174,872 163,633 6.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,389 11,571 11,435 15.7 1.2 0.6 15,659 9,520 14,328 33,965 32,622 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 20,997 14,535 10,446 44.5 39.1 -27.9 24,565 9,762 15,320 40,155 25,905 55.0

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,783 4,191 4,240 -9.7 -1.2 0.2 4,609 3,646 4,994 11,369 11,031 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,058 3,375 2,612 -9.4 29.2 -48.5 4,322 2,268 5,919 9,057 12,321 -26.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 39,917 40,057 39,911 -0.3 0.4 -1.4 40,792 36,577 40,001 113,407 109,115 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 39,846 40,010 39,852 -0.4 0.4 -1.7 41,207 36,833 40,544 114,234 110,491 3.4

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 87,444 86,080 85,868 1.6 0.2 0.4 97,544 78,774 90,701 250,489 230,717 8.6

 New Orders.............................. 93,764 88,931 83,225 5.4 6.9 -4.7 108,428 80,072 94,937 260,518 231,940 12.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 76,858 75,200 74,376 2.2 1.1 0.0 85,467 68,279 79,135 218,565 201,106 8.7

 New Orders.............................. 83,142 78,402 74,090 6.0 5.8 -1.0 94,052 70,824 82,060 229,421 204,102 12.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,303 67,803 67,135 -0.7 1.0 0.0 74,321 62,668 69,821 196,918 181,402 8.6

 New Orders.......................... 67,238 67,329 66,718 -0.1 0.9 -0.3 75,475 64,403 71,518 202,228 189,845 6.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,586 10,880 11,492 -2.7 -5.3 2.9 12,077 10,495 11,566 31,924 29,611 7.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,622 10,529 9,135 0.9 15.3 -26.6 14,376 9,248 12,877 31,097 27,838 11.7

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 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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Advance Report, April 26, 2018. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website at 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 
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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar 2018/

2018 2 2018 r 2018 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2018 2 2018 r 2017 2017

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,153,966 1,144,691 1,140,945 0.8 0.3 -0.3 1,164,892 1,149,682 1,131,164 3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 411,007 410,698 409,006 0.1 0.4 0.4 410,634 414,773 393,283 4.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 371,153 369,845 369,100 0.4 0.2 0.1 376,044 371,663 360,055 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 279,316 278,169 277,064 0.4 0.4 0.3 278,722 280,490 263,649 5.7

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 980,103 970,732 966,501 1.0 0.4 -0.1 989,041 975,897 952,047 3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 383,634 383,350 381,678 0.1 0.4 0.5 383,241 387,366 367,192 4.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,153,966 1,144,691 1,140,945 0.8 0.3 -0.3 1,164,892 1,149,682 1,131,164 3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 334,270 334,128 332,832 0.0 0.4 0.4 333,732 336,593 319,787 4.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,825 32,215 31,681 1.9 1.7 0.2 33,895 32,992 30,456 11.3

 Total Inventories....................... 34,871 34,697 34,564 0.5 0.4 0.6 34,700 34,826 32,194 7.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 83,331 82,776 82,427 0.7 0.4 0.6 84,265 82,395 77,248 9.1

 Total Inventories....................... 52,028 51,742 51,450 0.6 0.6 0.5 52,278 51,973 48,486 7.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 102,311 102,335 102,314 0.0 0.0 0.3 103,493 103,585 99,687 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 70,801 70,515 70,170 0.4 0.5 -0.2 70,705 71,111 67,135 5.3

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 120,052 119,786 119,842 0.2 0.0 -0.1 121,024 119,862 118,733 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 45,981 45,877 45,645 0.2 0.5 0.4 45,334 46,475 43,370 4.5

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,132 2,036 2,013 4.7 1.1 0.4 2,132 2,036 1,757 21.3

 Total Inventories....................... 4,315 4,362 4,395 -1.1 -0.8 0.5 4,075 4,526 4,161 -2.1

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,382 28,335 28,513 0.2 -0.6 0.2 28,687 28,549 27,087 5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 4,635 4,614 4,601 0.5 0.3 0.3 4,579 4,715 4,516 1.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,285 22,313 22,369 -0.1 -0.3 -1.1 22,934 22,811 23,287 -1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 18,414 18,336 18,293 0.4 0.2 0.9 18,406 18,447 17,397 5.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 782,813 774,846 771,845 1.0 0.4 -0.5 788,848 778,019 771,109 2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 131,691 132,529 131,942 -0.6 0.4 0.6 131,912 134,283 129,634 1.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,262 24,965 24,637 1.2 1.3 0.0 26,130 25,757 23,992 8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 35,614 35,537 35,422 0.2 0.3 0.8 35,493 35,954 33,976 4.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 591,825 584,217 581,253 1.3 0.5 -0.2 595,409 586,503 577,062 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 67,296 68,199 67,800 -1.3 0.6 1.1 67,709 69,513 67,926 -0.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 69,231 69,956 70,772 -1.0 -1.2 -2.2 69,780 70,067 72,690 -4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 13,172 13,196 13,180 -0.2 0.1 -1.6 13,106 13,190 12,060 8.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 10,349 10,420 10,467 -0.7 -0.4 -0.6 10,433 10,018 10,644 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 57,221 57,002 56,942 0.4 0.1 0.1 57,299 57,658 55,067 4.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 856,739 850,419 847,568 0.7 0.3 -0.3 863,609 852,725 845,400 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 205,728 206,143 205,174 -0.2 0.5 0.4 205,462 208,057 198,960 3.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 716,084 709,800 706,598 0.9 0.5 0.0 720,967 712,382 701,685 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 182,474 182,933 182,000 -0.3 0.5 0.5 182,122 184,782 177,187 2.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 228,179 228,244 228,718 0.0 -0.2 -0.2 230,704 229,550 228,008 1.2

 Total Inventories................... 126,436 126,059 125,621 0.3 0.3 0.1 125,504 126,772 120,698 4.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,655 140,619 140,970 0.0 -0.2 -1.6 142,642 140,343 143,715 -0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 23,254 23,210 23,174 0.2 0.2 -0.6 23,340 23,275 21,773 7.2

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 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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Advance Report, April 26, 2018. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on 

our website at <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.