FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2007, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (07)-3 

CB07-060

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

March 2007 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in March 

increased $7.1 billion or 3.4 percent to $214.9 billion, 

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

fourth increase in the last five months and followed a 2.4 

percent February increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders increased 1.5 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 4.5 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up four of the last five 

months, had the largest increase, $4.8 billion or 8.0 

percent to $64.9 billion. This was due to nondefense 

aircraft and parts, which increased $5.6 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up following two consecutive monthly decreases, 

increased $1.6 billion or 0.8 percent to $207.8 billion. 

This followed a 1.4 percent February decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$1.1 billion or 2.0 percent to $55.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

March, up twenty-two of the last twenty-three months, 

increased $12.6 billion or 1.8 percent to $717.0 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.1 

percent February increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up thirteen of the last 

fourteen months, had the largest increase, $9.6 billion or 

2.5 percent to $394.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up thirteen consecutive months, increased $0.9 billion or 

0.3 percent to $298.8 billion. This followed a 0.1 

percent February increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up six of the last seven 

months, had the largest increase, $0.6 billion or 0.9 

percent to $69.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in March 

increased $8.4 billion or 11.7 percent to $80.2 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.6 billion or 0.9 percent to $65.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $14.6 billion or 3.8 

percent to $394.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 

billion or 0.6 percent to $117.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in March 

decreased $1.8 billion or 22.4 percent to $6.3 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.2 billion or 2.7 percent to $8.2 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.9 billion or 1.3 

percent to $136.5 billion. Inventories decreased 0.1 

percent to $14.2 billion. 

Revised February Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted February figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $388.0 

billion (revised from $386.5 billion); shipments, $386.5 

billion (revised from $387.0 billion); unfilled orders, 

$704.4 billion (revised from $702.7 billion); and total 

inventories, $483.0 billion (unchanged).

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 May 2, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 24, 2007, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. 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

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

2007 2 2007 r 2007 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2007 2 2007 r 2006 2007 2006 07/06

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 207,815 206,200 209,145 0.8 -1.4 -1.5 228,037 196,757 233,816 613,280 618,325 -0.8

 New Orders 4

........................... 214,851 207,759 202,859 3.4 2.4 -8.8 237,511 199,851 245,225 630,458 632,522 -0.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 152,417 151,912 153,983 0.3 -1.3 0.1 164,859 142,719 166,889 447,803 447,198 0.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 149,903 147,629 148,290 1.5 -0.4 -3.3 163,551 141,843 165,593 445,558 443,602 0.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 198,033 196,213 199,086 0.9 -1.4 -1.5 217,285 187,148 223,379 584,906 591,761 -1.2

 New Orders 4

........................... 207,139 198,285 193,302 4.5 2.6 -8.6 226,883 190,629 230,448 600,654 602,095 -0.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 145,746 144,291 144,492 1.0 -0.1 -2.0 160,051 137,386 159,698 427,274 421,254 1.4

 New Orders 4

........................... 158,313 152,021 146,633 4.1 3.7 -9.9 175,270 146,714 178,420 464,271 456,690 1.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 18,786 18,518 18,806 1.4 -1.5 -0.8 20,046 18,187 19,286 57,081 53,722 6.3

 New Orders.............................. 18,717 18,267 18,978 2.5 -3.7 1.2 20,090 18,365 19,519 58,219 55,328 5.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 24,962 24,807 24,928 0.6 -0.5 -0.1 26,164 23,631 25,849 73,263 71,504 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 25,479 25,173 25,516 1.2 -1.3 2.2 27,644 24,529 26,983 76,888 74,324 3.4

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 27,364 26,688 26,053 2.5 2.4 -7.6 30,767 25,108 30,236 79,514 78,221 1.7

 New Orders.............................. 28,696 27,541 27,249 4.2 1.1 -10.0 32,431 26,962 31,388 85,945 83,995 2.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 33,556 34,733 36,715 -3.4 -5.4 10.7 37,910 32,112 39,815 101,184 102,264 -1.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 29,090 29,130 28,031 -0.1 3.9 -8.6 33,399 27,220 36,392 85,007 86,478 -1.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 5,964 6,480 6,312 -8.0 2.7 -1.3 7,088 5,723 7,927 17,939 18,932 -5.2

 New Orders.............................. 6,104 6,371 6,235 -4.2 2.2 -3.7 7,228 5,614 7,949 17,893 18,576 -3.7 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,818 5,868 5,492 -0.9 6.8 4.5 6,837 5,168 6,905 16,482 16,935 -2.7

 New Orders.............................. 6,481 5,769 5,643 12.3 2.2 -16.9 7,821 5,591 8,618 18,505 19,452 -4.9

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 5,531 6,171 8,427 -10.4 -26.8 65.6 5,745 6,234 7,313 19,819 21,239 -6.7

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 10,512 10,328 10,426 1.8 -0.9 2.9 11,333 9,621 10,774 30,250 28,773 5.1

 New Orders.............................. 10,928 10,661 11,160 2.5 -4.5 10.2 11,506 10,534 10,601 32,638 30,756 6.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 55,398 54,288 55,162 2.0 -1.6 -5.6 63,178 54,038 66,927 165,477 171,127 -3.3

 New Orders.............................. 64,948 60,130 54,569 8.0 10.2 -21.1 73,960 58,008 79,632 184,900 188,920 -2.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 38,374 37,302 37,036 2.9 0.7 -9.0 43,340 37,762 47,120 115,619 123,327 -6.3

 New Orders.............................. 38,392 37,148 37,011 3.3 0.4 -9.8 43,122 37,799 47,171 116,020 124,682 -6.9 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 8,251 8,173 8,777 1.0 -6.9 8.2 10,064 7,870 9,822 24,417 22,753 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 20,556 14,942 7,410 37.6 101.6 -60.4 22,329 12,483 19,762 42,232 36,486 15.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 3,516 3,618 3,705 -2.8 -2.3 -1.8 4,006 3,358 3,866 10,155 9,625 5.5

 New Orders.............................. 1,668 3,256 2,616 -48.8 24.5 -58.8 3,015 3,112 4,903 8,918 12,406 -28.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,237 36,838 37,055 1.1 -0.6 -3.7 38,639 34,060 40,929 106,511 112,714 -5.5

 New Orders.............................. 36,993 36,857 37,356 0.4 -1.3 -3.1 38,481 34,233 40,710 106,861 112,721 -5.2

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 73,736 73,396 73,770 0.5 -0.5 -2.0 83,548 68,862 84,604 215,871 214,845 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 86,471 79,917 73,485 8.2 8.8 -18.3 97,964 74,985 98,787 243,280 237,380 2.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 65,565 64,996 65,506 0.9 -0.8 -2.3 74,684 60,681 76,012 192,092 192,559 -0.2

 New Orders.............................. 80,163 71,792 65,409 11.7 9.8 -20.2 89,136 67,051 85,759 217,997 212,103 2.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 60,349 59,958 59,951 0.7 0.0 -3.1 67,860 55,831 69,119 176,905 177,913 -0.6

 New Orders........................ 63,143 60,308 61,705 4.7 -2.3 -6.2 70,983 58,380 71,837 187,372 188,542 -0.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 8,171 8,400 8,264 -2.7 1.6 0.3 8,864 8,181 8,592 23,779 22,286 6.7

 New Orders.............................. 6,308 8,125 8,076 -22.4 0.6 1.4 8,828 7,934 13,028 25,283 25,277 0.0

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(05), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2005."

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 equipmen

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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar 2007/

2007 2 2007 r 2007 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2007 2 2007 r 2006 2006

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 717,014 704,447 696,717 1.8 1.1 0.3 728,352 713,133 607,864 19.8

 Total Inventories....................... 298,772 297,912 297,605 0.3 0.1 0.4 297,638 300,388 274,995 8.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 322,212 319,195 317,307 0.9 0.6 0.9 327,499 323,062 288,931 13.3

 Total Inventories....................... 228,982 228,732 228,564 0.1 0.1 0.2 228,197 230,751 211,014 8.1

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 567,186 552,549 544,306 2.6 1.5 0.5 574,039 558,696 463,456 23.9

 Total Inventories....................... 280,088 279,377 278,921 0.3 0.2 0.4 278,998 281,818 256,002 9.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 717,014 704,447 696,717 1.8 1.1 0.3 728,352 713,133 607,864 19.8

 Total Inventories....................... 233,320 232,984 232,781 0.1 0.1 0.7 232,523 234,859 213,644 8.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,960 26,029 26,280 -0.3 -1.0 0.7 26,943 26,899 26,880 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 30,078 29,725 29,780 1.2 -0.2 -0.7 30,036 29,861 26,046 15.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 55,063 54,546 54,180 0.9 0.7 1.1 55,508 54,028 49,925 11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 38,421 38,371 38,469 0.1 -0.3 0.3 38,866 38,887 35,427 9.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 81,240 79,908 79,055 1.7 1.1 1.5 83,206 81,542 67,479 23.3

 Total Inventories....................... 48,235 48,161 47,793 0.2 0.8 0.7 48,386 48,831 44,342 9.1

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 123,427 122,362 121,794 0.9 0.5 -0.2 125,158 123,924 113,028 10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 46,463 46,685 46,813 -0.5 -0.3 0.3 45,067 46,806 42,487 6.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,418 4,278 4,387 3.3 -2.5 -1.7 4,418 4,278 4,346 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,431 4,420 4,449 0.2 -0.7 -0.3 4,151 4,424 3,963 4.7

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 38,051 37,388 37,487 1.8 -0.3 0.4 38,761 37,777 35,529 9.1

 Total Inventories....................... 9,684 9,940 10,115 -2.6 -1.7 1.4 9,410 10,158 9,825 -4.2

 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......................... 24,135 23,719 23,386 1.8 1.4 3.2 24,407 24,234 19,817 23.2

 Total Inventories....................... 14,359 14,375 14,384 -0.1 -0.1 -0.5 14,467 14,645 13,378 8.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 394,802 385,252 379,410 2.5 1.5 -0.2 400,853 390,071 318,933 25.7

 Total Inventories....................... 69,790 69,180 69,041 0.9 0.2 1.1 69,441 69,637 63,981 8.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 19,754 19,736 19,890 0.1 -0.8 -0.1 20,419 20,637 18,447 10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 24,448 24,516 24,605 -0.3 -0.4 1.0 24,411 24,754 23,433 4.2 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 249,976 237,671 230,902 5.2 2.9 -0.6 251,881 239,616 181,167 39.0

 Total Inventories....................... 26,287 25,739 25,396 2.1 1.4 1.4 26,083 25,863 21,701 20.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,694 46,542 46,904 -4.0 -0.8 -2.3 46,183 47,174 48,289 -4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 11,785 11,588 11,650 1.7 -0.5 -0.3 11,742 11,585 11,439 2.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,387 12,631 12,612 -1.9 0.2 2.4 12,277 12,435 11,802 4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 51,426 51,415 51,325 0.0 0.2 0.3 51,375 51,721 49,334 4.1

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 531,076 518,341 511,820 2.5 1.3 -0.1 539,376 524,960 437,230 23.4

 Total Inventories....................... 131,546 130,815 130,381 0.6 0.3 0.1 130,640 131,885 121,099 7.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 394,612 380,014 373,218 3.8 1.8 0.0 398,824 384,372 306,458 30.1

 Total Inventories....................... 117,298 116,554 116,113 0.6 0.4 0.0 116,393 117,586 106,688 9.1

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 173,248 170,454 170,104 1.6 0.2 1.0 176,136 173,013 149,835 17.6

 Total Inventories................... 97,575 97,558 97,455 0.0 0.1 0.6 96,738 98,480 89,995 7.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 136,464 138,327 138,602 -1.3 -0.2 -0.1 140,552 140,588 130,772 7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,248 14,261 14,268 -0.1 0.0 1.2 14,247 14,299 14,411 -1.1

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
4

NOTICE

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

May 18, 2007. These revisions reflect:

• benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2005 Annual Survey of Manufactures

(ASM) data;

• adjusting new orders and order backlog to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments

and inventory data;

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

previously reported data; and

• updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series.

For revised historical data go to http://www.census.gov/m3/hist/naicshist.htm. An accompanying

press release will include the revised 2007 January through March data. Please call Chris Savage on

(301)763-4832 with questions.

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 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.