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, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON DURABLE GOODS MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS FEBRUARY 2021

Release Number: CB 21-42 M3-1 (21)-02

Statement Regarding COVID-19 Impact: The Census Bureau continues to monitor response and data 

quality and has determined that estimates in this release meet publication standards. For more 

information, see < M3 COVID-19 FAQs>.

MARCH 24, 2021 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the February advance report on durable goods 

manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders:

New Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in February decreased $2.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $254.0

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down following nine consecutive monthly 

increases, followed a 3.5 percent January increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.9

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.7 percent. Transportation, down following five 

consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $1.3 billion or 1.6 percent to $83.6 billion.

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

FEBRUARY 2021 $254.0 billion -1.1%°

JANUARY 2021

(revised) $256.9 billion +3.5%°

Next release: April 26, 2021

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, March 24, 

2021.

Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21

% Change 2.0% -16.7% -18.3% 15.0% 7.7% 11.8% 0.4% 2.1% 1.8% 1.3% 1.2% 3.5% -1.1%

-19.0%

-18.0%

-17.0%

-16.0%

-15.0%

-14.0%

-13.0%

-12.0%

-11.0%

-10.0%

-9.0%

-8.0%

-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%

8.0%

9.0%

10.0%

11.0%

12.0%

13.0%

14.0%

15.0%

16.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2020-2021

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

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

March 24, 2021.
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

Shipments

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in February, down following five consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $9.1 billion or 3.5 percent to $250.9 billion. This followed a 1.7 percent January

increase. Transportation equipment, also down following five consecutive monthly increases, led the 

decrease, $7.0 billion or 8.2 percent to $78.6 billion.

Unfilled Orders

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in February, up two consecutive months, increased $8.4

billion or 0.8 percent to $1,082.0 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent January increase. Transportation 

equipment, up following eleven consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $5.0 billion or 0.7

percent to $711.1 billion.

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in February, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, 

increased $2.8 billion or 0.7 percent to $427.3 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent January decrease. 

Transportation equipment, also up following two consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $0.9

billion or 0.6 percent to $146.6 billion. 

Capital Goods

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in February increased $4.2 billion or 5.6 percent to $79.6 billion. 

Shipments decreased $2.2 billion or 2.9 percent to $74.5 billion. Unfilled orders increased $5.1 billion or 

0.9 percent to $592.1 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $192.2 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in February decreased $1.6 billion or 10.6 percent to $13.5 billion. Shipments

decreased $0.1 billion or 0.9 percent to $13.1 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.3 billion or 0.2 percent 

to $180.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 billion or 1.0 percent to $21.4 billion.

Revised January Data

Revised seasonally adjusted January figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $509.2

billion (revised from $509.4 billion); shipments, $512.2 billion (revised from $513.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,073.6 billion (revised from $1,072.8 billion) and total inventories, $696.8 billion (revised from $696.3

billion).

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on April 5, 2021, at

10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for March is scheduled for release on April 26,

2021 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room:
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

<https://www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. 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-inprocess, and 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 monthto-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-to-month changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel 

effectively represent the month-to-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 60 percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2017

Economic Census, and these companies include roughly 61 percent of the manufacturing companies with 

$500 million or more in shipments in the 2017 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments data 

are currently reported in the M3 survey represent approximately 51 percent of the total value of 

shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2017 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 
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

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>.

Benchmark notice

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

issued on May 14, 2021. These revisions result from

• benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2019 and 2018 Annual Survey of 

Manufactures (ASM) data, as well as to revised ASM data from 2013 through 2016, resulting from 

benchmarking the ASM to the 2017 Economic Census;

• incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained for 2019 and 2018 from the 

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;

• 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 2007 through March 2021 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2012 through March 2021. An updated Press Release will contain 

revised monthly tables for January 2021 through March 2021. 

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/>
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

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.

###
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

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec- Nov - Feb Jan Feb Change

2021 2 2021 r 2020 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2021 2 2021 r 2020 2021 2020 2021/2020

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 250,878 260,015 255,701 -3.5 1.7 2.1 237,438 231,422 237,057 468,860 460,528 1.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 254,004 256,946 248,307 -1.1 3.5 1.2 244,381 231,568 238,913 475,949 460,085 3.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 172,283 174,418 170,329 -1.2 2.4 1.5 160,638 157,506 153,707 318,144 303,400 4.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 170,373 171,993 169,307 -0.9 1.6 1.8 162,615 159,006 151,819 321,621 300,536 7.0

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 236,115 245,083 241,270 -3.7 1.6 2.6 223,290 218,881 223,163 442,171 434,585 1.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 238,750 240,449 234,993 -0.7 2.3 1.5 229,468 218,686 220,130 448,154 431,742 3.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 171,969 175,604 171,375 -2.1 2.5 2.1 162,479 156,752 164,505 319,231 320,585 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 180,333 177,627 169,204 1.5 5.0 0.8 174,279 162,547 170,964 336,826 330,118 2.0

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 20,014 20,233 19,896 -1.1 1.7 3.0 19,737 19,928 19,376 39,665 38,898 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 20,625 20,724 20,200 -0.5 2.6 1.6 21,138 20,846 19,832 41,984 39,773 5.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 32,349 32,571 31,750 -0.7 2.6 2.3 30,332 29,921 30,457 60,253 60,431 -0.3

 New Orders.............................. 33,508 33,816 32,910 -0.9 2.8 2.9 32,360 32,153 30,756 64,513 61,733 4.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,396 33,129 32,063 -2.2 3.3 1.5 31,133 29,306 30,363 60,439 59,032 2.4

 New Orders.............................. 33,371 33,585 33,600 -0.6 0.0 3.4 33,211 31,855 31,429 65,066 61,913 5.1

 Computers and electronic products 4

:

 Shipments................................ 31,110 31,264 30,893 -0.5 1.2 0.8 27,736 28,034 26,035 55,770 51,617 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 26,038 26,162 26,282 -0.5 -0.5 0.1 23,283 22,754 21,854 46,037 42,593 8.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,059 2,111 1,885 -2.5 12.0 -2.0 1,586 1,819 1,398 3,405 2,906 17.2

 New Orders.............................. 2,059 2,098 1,939 -1.9 8.2 -1.6 1,586 1,806 1,393 3,392 2,898 17.0

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,222 4,234 4,454 -0.3 -4.9 1.9 3,453 3,314 3,054 6,767 5,941 13.9

 New Orders.............................. 4,194 4,228 4,706 -0.8 -10.2 0.0 3,528 3,423 3,226 6,951 6,226 11.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 11,623 11,683 10,971 -0.5 6.5 1.6 10,709 10,099 10,363 20,808 20,048 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 12,033 12,012 11,483 0.2 4.6 2.2 11,391 10,854 10,607 22,245 20,825 6.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 78,595 85,597 85,372 -8.2 0.3 3.4 76,800 73,916 83,350 150,716 157,128 -4.1

 New Orders.............................. 83,631 84,953 79,000 -1.6 7.5 0.1 81,766 72,562 87,094 154,328 159,549 -3.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 57,196 62,756 63,564 -8.9 -1.3 2.3 57,025 55,611 60,059 112,636 114,289 -1.4

 New Orders.............................. 57,588 63,094 63,669 -8.7 -0.9 2.2 57,897 56,324 60,657 114,221 115,281 -0.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts 5

:

 Shipments................................ 5,572 7,113 6,185 -21.7 15.0 42.7 4,580 4,939 7,818 9,519 13,973 -31.9

 New Orders.............................. 9,504 4,675 1,028 103.3 354.8 -56.7 7,725 2,485 5,846 10,210 12,055 -15.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,002 4,271 3,608 -6.3 18.4 -14.6 3,604 3,390 3,961 6,994 7,670 -8.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,665 4,842 2,941 -3.7 64.6 -1.0 3,616 4,090 2,687 7,706 5,541 39.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 44,791 45,538 44,756 -1.6 1.7 0.7 40,991 40,218 37,113 81,209 73,374 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 44,798 45,694 44,832 -2.0 1.9 0.8 41,232 40,544 37,341 81,776 73,699 11.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 87,622 89,941 87,397 -2.6 2.9 2.5 81,536 77,819 78,924 159,355 151,461 5.2

 New Orders.............................. 93,045 90,445 83,327 2.9 8.5 -1.1 88,263 79,612 83,894 167,875 155,105 8.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 74,516 76,711 74,549 -2.9 2.9 3.8 68,874 66,682 66,681 135,556 128,780 5.3

 New Orders.............................. 79,593 75,405 71,022 5.6 6.2 -1.2 74,886 67,443 66,248 142,329 129,305 10.1

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 71,281 71,966 70,606 -1.0 1.9 1.1 66,499 63,935 62,162 130,434 121,587 7.3

 New Orders.......................... 72,480 73,043 72,603 -0.8 0.6 1.5 69,425 67,687 64,013 137,112 126,378 8.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 13,106 13,230 12,848 -0.9 3.0 -4.2 12,662 11,137 12,243 23,799 22,681 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 13,452 15,040 12,305 -10.6 22.2 -0.9 13,377 12,169 17,646 25,546 25,800 -1.0

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. 

5

 (NA) - New Orders month-to-month percent change is not provided for Nondefense aircraft and parts because the denominator has a negative value. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, February Advance Report, March 24, 2021. 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

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec - Nov - Feb Jan Feb 2021/

2021 2 2021 r 2020 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2021 2 2021 r 2020 2020

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders 4......................... 1,082,011 1,073,647 1,071,624 0.8 0.2 -0.2 1,086,023 1,074,223 1,151,675 -5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 427,285 424,507 425,699 0.7 -0.3 -0.2 430,528 423,116 424,848 1.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders 4......................... 370,865 367,537 364,870 0.9 0.7 1.2 374,095 367,261 352,237 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 280,654 278,747 277,742 0.7 0.4 0.7 282,651 277,898 282,183 0.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders 4

........................... 864,646 856,773 856,315 0.9 0.1 -0.1 869,137 858,102 932,427 -6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 401,651 399,074 400,451 0.6 -0.3 -0.2 404,882 397,828 399,798 1.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,082,011 1,073,647 1,071,624 0.8 0.2 -0.2 1,086,023 1,074,223 1,151,675 -5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 347,202 345,613 347,634 0.5 -0.6 0.0 348,757 344,018 345,379 1.0

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,584 33,973 33,482 1.8 1.5 0.9 35,925 34,524 32,334 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 34,963 34,581 34,343 1.1 0.7 1.5 35,254 34,769 35,675 -1.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 80,061 78,902 77,657 1.5 1.6 1.5 80,187 78,159 73,752 8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 53,293 52,553 52,068 1.4 0.9 0.9 53,498 52,551 53,392 0.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 102,654 101,679 101,223 1.0 0.5 1.5 104,073 101,995 97,609 6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 70,405 69,987 69,922 0.6 0.1 0.8 70,759 68,975 71,173 -0.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 120,525 120,359 120,369 0.1 0.0 0.5 120,769 120,365 118,694 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 43,416 43,510 43,628 -0.2 -0.3 0.2 43,551 43,187 44,026 -1.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,943 1,943 1,956 0.0 -0.7 2.8 1,943 1,943 2,000 -2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 3,950 3,943 3,964 0.2 -0.5 1.3 4,009 3,859 3,816 5.1

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,243 26,271 26,277 -0.1 0.0 1.0 26,292 26,217 25,874 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 5,196 5,218 5,235 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 5,233 5,130 5,148 1.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,058 23,648 23,319 1.7 1.4 2.2 24,269 23,587 21,560 12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 19,982 19,917 19,884 0.3 0.2 0.5 20,222 19,853 19,937 1.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 711,146 706,110 706,754 0.7 -0.1 -0.9 711,928 706,962 799,438 -10.9

 Total Inventories....................... 146,631 145,760 147,957 0.6 -1.5 -1.8 147,877 145,218 142,665 3.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,336 21,944 21,606 1.8 1.6 0.5 23,414 22,542 21,740 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 41,612 40,556 39,691 2.6 2.2 -1.4 42,316 40,724 40,482 4.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 471,731 467,799 470,237 0.8 -0.5 -1.1 471,692 468,547 558,056 -15.5

 Total Inventories....................... 74,953 75,330 78,552 -0.5 -4.1 -2.8 75,461 74,794 73,466 2.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 79,786 79,123 78,552 0.8 0.7 -0.8 79,911 79,899 82,908 -3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 12,533 12,553 12,384 -0.2 1.4 0.2 12,571 12,526 12,229 2.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,983 8,976 8,820 0.1 1.8 0.9 8,872 8,631 8,288 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 58,595 58,199 57,897 0.7 0.5 0.4 59,367 58,563 57,980 2.4

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 772,217 766,794 766,290 0.7 0.1 -0.5 772,151 765,424 841,917 -8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 213,574 213,033 215,411 0.3 -1.1 -0.8 214,033 210,671 209,591 2.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 592,061 586,984 588,290 0.9 -0.2 -0.6 592,458 586,446 665,189 -10.9

 Total Inventories....................... 192,151 191,812 194,368 0.2 -1.3 -0.9 192,636 189,568 188,729 2.1

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 227,043 225,844 224,767 0.5 0.5 0.9 228,484 225,558 216,925 5.3

 Total Inventories................... 129,468 128,791 128,300 0.5 0.4 0.4 129,714 127,154 127,628 1.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 180,156 179,810 178,000 0.2 1.0 -0.3 179,693 178,978 176,728 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 21,423 21,221 21,043 1.0 0.8 0.0 21,397 21,103 20,862 2.6

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, February Advance Report, March 24, 2021. 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>.