FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (12)-12 

CB13-17

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

December 2012 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December increased $10.0 billion or 4.6 percent to 

$230.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This increase, up seven of the last eight months, 

followed a 0.7 percent November increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 1.3 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 1.2 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$8.1 billion or 11.9 percent to $75.9 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up five of the last six months, increased $2.9 

billion or 1.3 percent to $230.6 billion. This followed a 

1.8 percent November increase. 

 Primary metals, up three of the last four months, had 

the largest increase, $1.2 billion or 4.2 percent to $30.7 

billion. This followed a 5.0 percent November increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December, up six of the last seven months, increased 

$8.2 billion or 0.8 percent to $992.0 billion. This 

increase followed a slight November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up six of the last seven 

months, drove the increase, $9.0 billion or 1.6 percent to 

$588.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

December, down following 14 consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $0.1 billion to $374.5 billion. This 

decrease followed a 0.1 percent November increase. 

 Machinery, down four consecutive months, drove the 

decrease, $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $66.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in December 

increased $2.7 billion or 3.8 percent to $73.8 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $71.9 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.9 billion or 0.3 

percent to $585.7 billion. Inventories decreased $0.6 

billion or 0.3 percent to $173.0 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in December 

increased $8.7 billion or 110.4 percent to $16.5 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.5 billion or 6.1 percent to $9.1 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $7.5 billion or 4.6 

percent to $171.5 billion. Inventories decreased $0.3 

billion or 1.4 percent to $21.2 billion. 

Revised November Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted November figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $477.4 

billion (revised from $477.6 billion); shipments, $484.3 

billion (revised from $483.7 billion); unfilled orders, 

$983.9 billion (revised from $984.5 billion); and total 

inventories, $614.9 billion (revised from $615.2 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, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for January is scheduled for release on February 27, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. EST. 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

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

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2012 2011 12/11

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 230,573 227,624 223,498 1.3 1.8 0.0 222,950 220,269 215,229 2,691,437 2,515,078 7.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 230,742 220,696 219,202 4.6 0.7 1.1 239,766 209,736 239,243 2,628,747 2,525,211 4.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 163,724 161,886 159,303 1.1 1.6 0.1 156,418 154,776 155,264 1,919,788 1,821,044 5.4

 New Orders

4

.............................. 154,855 152,883 151,031 1.3 1.2 1.8 150,091 143,879 155,604 1,824,130 1,784,780 2.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 219,177 216,611 212,644 1.2 1.9 0.0 210,192 209,063 202,822 2,560,813 2,381,168 7.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 212,143 209,596 208,368 1.2 0.6 1.2 215,286 200,498 225,509 2,491,380 2,386,739 4.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 162,562 160,647 157,791 1.2 1.8 0.4 159,984 155,136 156,007 1,894,535 1,779,631 6.5

 New Orders.............................. 170,716 161,099 161,073 6.0 0.0 2.0 183,186 151,288 184,721 1,918,125 1,869,280 2.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 30,740 29,495 28,094 4.2 5.0 -0.5 25,951 27,112 26,126 343,145 304,926 12.5

 New Orders.............................. 29,800 28,777 28,645 3.6 0.5 2.4 25,741 26,998 28,425 336,905 307,778 9.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,317 27,400 27,286 -0.3 0.4 0.3 24,803 26,321 25,362 329,311 317,125 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 28,208 27,872 27,173 1.2 2.6 0.6 25,856 25,703 25,529 333,753 323,096 3.3

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 33,461 33,637 32,593 -0.5 3.2 1.2 33,942 31,872 32,601 389,395 356,866 9.1

 New Orders.............................. 31,658 31,537 30,976 0.4 1.8 3.5 31,362 29,295 34,628 374,308 388,402 -3.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 28,488 27,752 27,948 2.7 -0.7 -0.4 30,432 26,815 30,333 338,592 340,812 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 21,547 20,868 20,685 3.3 0.9 1.8 26,668 19,025 26,361 259,889 260,496 -0.2

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,550 2,389 2,370 6.7 0.8 -12.0 3,633 2,222 4,275 32,847 37,402 -12.2

 New Orders.............................. 2,509 2,522 2,423 -0.5 4.1 -10.9 3,592 2,355 4,263 33,025 37,294 -11.4

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,115 3,091 3,290 0.8 -6.0 9.3 3,988 3,086 4,116 37,488 39,373 -4.8

 New Orders.............................. 3,868 3,659 3,489 5.7 4.9 24.8 5,117 2,858 4,132 41,479 37,932 9.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,082 10,008 9,850 0.7 1.6 0.5 9,681 9,840 9,502 119,410 116,336 2.6

 New Orders.............................. 9,999 10,241 9,966 -2.4 2.8 5.5 9,348 10,013 9,839 119,104 119,935 -0.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 66,849 65,738 64,195 1.7 2.4 -0.3 66,532 65,493 59,965 771,649 694,034 11.2

 New Orders.............................. 75,887 67,813 68,171 11.9 -0.5 -0.6 89,675 65,857 83,639 804,617 740,431 8.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 44,754 44,277 42,792 1.1 3.5 -0.6 39,939 44,065 37,234 521,918 466,050 12.0

 New Orders.............................. 44,349 44,157 42,692 0.4 3.4 -0.1 40,043 44,413 38,034 520,699 466,625 11.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 10,779 10,518 10,477 2.5 0.4 0.5 14,109 10,555 10,907 117,735 95,944 22.7

 New Orders.............................. 14,048 12,762 14,652 10.1 -12.9 0.2 27,672 11,895 32,192 150,407 140,147 7.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,926 4,744 4,526 3.8 4.8 1.6 5,834 4,811 5,335 55,642 54,081 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 7,914 5,060 5,669 56.4 -10.7 -4.3 10,387 4,766 6,753 62,142 57,300 8.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,636 33,594 33,532 0.1 0.2 -0.1 31,609 32,816 31,340 399,935 384,979 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 33,643 33,588 33,586 0.2 0.0 -0.1 31,116 32,845 30,822 400,171 385,073 3.9

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 80,965 79,929 78,627 1.3 1.7 -0.1 87,835 77,670 83,948 944,069 892,865 5.7

 New Orders.............................. 90,323 78,927 80,406 14.4 -1.8 1.4 110,026 72,104 105,929 971,879 968,096 0.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,906 71,388 70,288 0.7 1.6 0.2 78,022 68,952 74,616 842,895 786,619 7.2

 New Orders.............................. 73,790 71,070 72,800 3.8 -2.4 2.6 88,884 66,051 96,109 865,281 858,049 0.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 64,616 64,431 63,074 0.3 2.2 0.4 67,921 61,880 67,517 764,522 729,178 4.8

 New Orders.......................... 63,845 63,687 61,830 0.2 3.0 3.0 66,804 59,360 69,733 759,229 761,475 -0.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,059 8,541 8,339 6.1 2.4 -2.6 9,813 8,718 9,332 101,174 106,246 -4.8

 New Orders.............................. 16,533 7,857 7,606 110.4 3.3 -9.3 21,142 6,053 9,820 106,598 110,047 -3.1

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

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec 2012/

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2011

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 992,012 983,858 983,406 0.8 0.0 0.3 989,513 966,311 965,923 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 374,497 374,568 374,011 0.0 0.1 0.3 363,423 375,181 348,124 4.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 403,208 404,092 405,715 -0.2 -0.4 -0.2 395,879 395,820 405,257 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 259,872 260,036 260,480 -0.1 -0.2 0.1 252,542 260,192 246,171 2.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 794,852 793,901 793,536 0.1 0.0 0.4 793,255 781,775 776,408 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 348,509 348,275 348,389 0.1 0.0 0.4 337,627 348,854 322,646 4.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 992,012 983,858 983,406 0.8 0.0 0.3 989,513 966,311 965,923 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 303,791 303,815 303,298 0.0 0.2 0.3 294,325 304,151 280,981 4.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 30,299 31,239 31,957 -3.0 -2.2 1.8 29,762 29,972 36,002 -17.3

 Total Inventories....................... 34,931 34,570 34,543 1.0 0.1 0.8 34,034 33,931 34,199 -0.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 84,116 83,225 82,753 1.1 0.6 -0.1 81,813 80,760 77,371 5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 46,146 46,052 46,214 0.2 -0.4 0.3 45,154 45,676 44,740 0.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 122,129 123,932 126,032 -1.5 -1.7 -1.3 119,375 121,955 134,462 -11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 66,115 66,494 66,857 -0.6 -0.5 -0.2 63,452 67,079 59,511 6.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,278 137,234 136,738 0.8 0.4 0.2 137,689 135,067 130,112 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 46,529 46,571 46,501 -0.1 0.2 -0.2 45,234 47,160 44,055 2.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,334 1,375 1,242 -3.0 10.7 4.5 1,334 1,375 1,156 15.4

 Total Inventories....................... 3,884 3,860 3,878 0.6 -0.5 1.9 3,596 3,995 3,787 -5.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,046 34,293 33,725 2.2 1.7 0.6 34,952 33,823 30,961 12.9

 Total Inventories....................... 8,222 8,275 8,427 -0.6 -1.8 -2.1 8,088 8,542 8,276 -2.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,019 21,102 20,869 -0.4 1.1 0.6 20,422 20,755 20,728 -1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 15,538 15,640 15,731 -0.7 -0.6 1.1 14,930 15,538 14,379 3.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 588,804 579,766 577,691 1.6 0.4 0.7 593,634 570,491 560,666 5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 114,625 114,532 113,531 0.1 0.9 0.7 110,881 114,989 101,953 8.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,499 15,904 16,024 -2.5 -0.7 -0.6 15,899 15,795 17,118 -7.1

 Total Inventories....................... 25,837 25,643 25,560 0.8 0.3 1.1 24,953 25,916 23,700 5.3

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 413,440 410,171 407,927 0.8 0.6 1.0 418,429 404,866 385,757 8.5

 Total Inventories....................... 62,074 62,067 61,858 0.0 0.3 1.1 59,655 62,169 53,034 12.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 66,151 63,163 62,847 4.7 0.5 1.9 65,856 61,303 59,356 11.0

 Total Inventories....................... 13,829 13,629 13,178 1.5 3.4 0.1 13,665 13,652 12,954 5.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,367 7,360 7,366 0.1 -0.1 0.7 6,818 7,311 6,582 3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 50,613 50,709 50,634 -0.2 0.1 0.0 49,738 50,808 49,287 0.9

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 757,258 747,900 748,902 1.3 -0.1 0.2 757,256 735,065 729,446 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 194,180 195,085 194,342 -0.5 0.4 0.3 187,564 196,796 175,959 6.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 585,737 583,853 584,171 0.3 -0.1 0.4 586,501 575,639 564,115 4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 173,008 173,603 173,455 -0.3 0.1 0.4 166,420 175,303 155,306 7.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 232,240 233,011 233,755 -0.3 -0.3 -0.5 228,114 229,231 233,407 -2.3

 Total Inventories................... 121,135 121,582 121,682 -0.4 -0.1 0.2 116,843 123,212 111,202 5.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 171,521 164,047 164,731 4.6 -0.4 -0.4 170,755 159,426 165,331 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 21,172 21,482 20,887 -1.4 2.8 -0.8 21,144 21,493 20,653 2.4

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-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.