FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (10)-03 

CB10-59

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

March 2010 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in March 

decreased $2.2 billion or 1.3 percent to $176.7 billion, 

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

followed three consecutive monthly increases, including 

a 1.1 percent February increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 2.8 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 1.2 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $5.9 billion or 12.9 

percent to $40.2 billion. This was due to nondefense 

aircraft and parts which decreased $6.5 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up following two consecutive monthly decreases, 

increased $2.2 billion or 1.2 percent to $182.2 billion. 

This followed a 0.5 percent February decrease. 

 Machinery, up two consecutive months, had the largest 

increase, $1.0 billion or 4.3 percent to $24.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

March, down following two consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $2.3 billion or 0.3 percent to $719.8 

billion. This followed a 0.4 percent February increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$4.6 billion or 1.1 percent to $408.6 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up three consecutive months, increased $0.5 billion or 

0.2 percent to $304.7 billion. This followed a 0.5 

percent February increase. 

 Primary metals, up five consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $0.5 billion or 1.8 percent to $27.1 

billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in March 

decreased $4.6 billion or 7.5 percent to $56.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.4 billion or 2.4 percent to $59.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.9 billion or 0.7 

percent to $409.1 billion. Inventories decreased $0.5 

billion or 0.4 percent to $132.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in March 

decreased $0.4 billion or 4.0 percent to $10.0 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.7 percent to $10.9 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.9 billion or 0.6 

percent to $131.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 

billion or 0.6 percent to $20.6 billion. 

Revised February Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted February figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $384.3 

billion (revised from $383.5 billion); shipments, $385.4 

billion (revised from $384.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$722.0 billion (revised from $722.2 billion); and total 

inventories, $499.7 billion (revised from $498.3 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 May 4, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 26, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description and benchmark notice. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders1

[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 

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

2010 2 2010 r 2010 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2010 2009 10/09

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments............................... 182,214 179,978 180,817 1.2 -0.5 -0.1 196,707 167,427 186,624 524,856 509,269 3.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 176,685 178,931 176,917 -1.3 1.1 3.8 194,784 168,139 174,132 523,491 469,076 11.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 137,435 136,031 135,479 1.0 0.4 0.6 146,515 125,181 136,625 393,784 379,117 3.9

 New Orders 4

........................... 136,517 132,827 130,615 2.8 1.7 -0.8 148,089 124,671 130,093 391,926 355,996 10.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 168,120 166,030 166,049 1.3 0.0 -1.0 181,513 154,117 172,227 484,237 472,736 2.4

 New Orders 4

........................... 163,480 165,511 161,708 -1.2 2.4 1.6 178,482 155,299 158,473 479,567 431,979 11.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 133,232 130,642 130,388 2.0 0.2 -1.2 144,944 121,782 136,574 381,558 368,954 3.4

 New Orders 4

........................... 130,982 133,712 131,676 -2.0 1.5 4.9 145,508 125,992 126,482 392,685 338,518 16.0

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 17,720 16,966 16,460 4.4 3.1 0.6 18,422 15,864 13,638 49,689 40,352 23.1

 New Orders.............................. 17,973 17,357 17,136 3.5 1.3 2.5 18,546 16,703 12,368 51,808 37,156 39.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 24,412 24,480 23,996 -0.3 2.0 0.1 25,450 22,664 25,130 69,759 70,824 -1.5

 New Orders.............................. 24,589 24,897 24,053 -1.2 3.5 0.5 26,660 23,639 24,167 72,264 67,183 7.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 23,963 22,980 22,486 4.3 2.2 -6.4 26,560 21,850 25,705 68,701 71,003 -3.2

 New Orders.............................. 25,574 23,540 22,021 8.6 6.9 -9.9 28,390 22,055 23,118 71,850 64,319 11.7

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 29,922 30,637 31,819 -2.3 -3.7 7.2 33,137 27,140 30,697 89,359 80,716 10.7

 New Orders 4

........................... 26,536 25,652 26,078 3.4 -1.6 0.9 31,020 23,699 29,178 77,033 71,700 7.4

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 4,829 4,655 4,879 3.7 -4.6 4.0 5,782 3,843 5,127 13,777 12,718 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 5,162 4,571 4,370 12.9 4.6 -10.6 6,115 3,759 5,048 13,517 12,238 10.5

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,119 4,863 4,890 5.3 -0.6 1.1 6,042 4,059 5,574 13,934 13,450 3.6

 New Orders.............................. 4,719 4,540 5,117 3.9 -11.3 3.0 5,596 4,428 5,781 14,067 14,223 -1.1

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 3,279 4,117 5,188 -20.4 -20.6 27.8 2,487 3,498 2,400 12,492 9,757 28.0

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 8,691 8,593 8,456 1.1 1.6 -1.9 9,239 7,920 8,878 24,596 24,653 -0.2

 New Orders.............................. 9,058 8,637 8,718 4.9 -0.9 3.3 9,434 8,367 8,356 26,153 24,305 7.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 44,779 43,947 45,338 1.9 -3.1 -1.9 50,192 42,246 49,999 131,072 130,152 0.7

 New Orders.............................. 40,168 46,104 46,302 -12.9 -0.4 19.4 46,695 43,468 44,039 131,565 113,080 16.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 25,545 25,005 25,343 2.2 -1.3 -1.4 28,532 24,702 26,787 76,262 73,917 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 25,500 24,890 25,145 2.5 -1.0 -2.3 28,216 24,607 26,323 76,001 73,429 3.5

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 6,819 6,575 6,812 3.7 -3.5 -22.1 8,197 5,954 9,530 19,176 23,276 -17.6

 New Orders.............................. 3,214 9,763 7,357 -67.1 32.7 134.9 5,028 8,191 5,465 18,173 10,590 71.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 6,075 5,913 6,237 2.7 -5.2 7.9 6,571 5,448 6,051 16,916 14,434 17.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,609 5,499 6,927 2.0 -20.6 17.3 6,473 5,233 6,566 18,499 15,239 21.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 32,727 32,375 32,262 1.1 0.4 0.8 33,707 29,743 32,577 91,680 91,569 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 32,787 32,744 32,609 0.1 0.4 0.8 34,039 30,208 32,906 92,818 91,333 1.6

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 69,895 68,413 68,470 2.2 -0.1 -2.4 78,160 63,737 75,330 201,423 198,416 1.5

 New Orders.............................. 66,108 71,090 68,264 -7.0 4.1 7.8 76,447 66,752 68,426 204,905 175,137 17.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 59,010 57,607 57,127 2.4 0.8 -4.4 66,481 53,165 64,464 169,650 170,130 -0.3

 New Orders.............................. 56,082 60,650 57,149 -7.5 6.1 3.9 63,962 56,566 56,899 171,316 146,220 17.2

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 55,703 54,502 53,722 2.2 1.5 -1.9 62,368 50,434 59,215 160,778 157,969 1.8

 New Orders........................ 56,047 53,895 52,798 4.0 2.1 -4.4 62,868 51,605 55,878 163,250 149,261 9.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 10,885 10,806 11,343 0.7 -4.7 9.7 11,679 10,572 10,866 31,773 28,286 12.3

 New Orders.............................. 10,026 10,440 11,115 -4.0 -6.1 33.4 12,485 10,186 11,527 33,589 28,917 16.2

NA Not Available 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. Further details on survey design, 

methodology, and data limitations are contained in our most recent annual benchmark publication, Current Industrial Reports: M3-3(07), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2004-2007."

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 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 Inventories1

[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 

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar 2010/

2010 2 2010 r 2010 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2009

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders 4........................ 719,780 722,030 718,960 -0.3 0.4 0.2 727,961 727,397 768,317 -5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 304,732 304,256 302,871 0.2 0.5 0.1 304,583 307,401 327,943 -7.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders 4

........................ 311,170 308,809 307,896 0.8 0.3 0.1 313,711 309,650 317,554 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 214,077 213,945 212,764 0.1 0.6 -0.2 214,292 216,764 235,254 -8.9

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders 4........................ 572,286 573,647 570,049 -0.2 0.6 0.1 576,314 576,858 605,197 -4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 277,977 277,330 276,238 0.2 0.4 -0.1 277,875 280,454 301,963 -8.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders 4........................ 719,780 722,030 718,960 -0.3 0.4 0.2 727,961 727,397 768,317 -5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 246,693 246,202 245,108 0.2 0.4 0.3 246,119 248,311 263,318 -6.5

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,928 16,675 16,284 1.5 2.4 4.3 17,094 16,970 15,131 13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 27,054 26,579 26,098 1.8 1.8 1.1 26,782 26,547 28,561 -6.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,675 49,498 49,081 0.4 0.8 0.1 50,389 49,179 53,094 -5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 37,216 37,066 36,707 0.4 1.0 -0.1 37,538 37,607 41,566 -9.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 89,578 87,967 87,407 1.8 0.6 -0.5 89,940 88,110 91,227 -1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 46,937 46,972 47,147 -0.1 -0.4 -0.8 47,532 47,959 53,622 -11.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders 4........................ 121,470 121,577 122,445 -0.1 -0.7 -0.4 122,764 122,394 125,320 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 42,741 43,165 42,983 -1.0 0.4 -1.0 41,899 43,760 45,127 -7.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,447 4,114 4,198 8.1 -2.0 -10.8 4,447 4,114 3,610 23.2

 Total Inventories....................... 4,241 4,275 4,265 -0.8 0.2 1.6 4,085 4,336 4,474 -8.7

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,027 37,427 37,750 -1.1 -0.9 0.6 37,215 37,661 37,527 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 8,880 9,507 9,318 -6.6 2.0 -0.3 8,716 9,735 10,039 -13.2

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders 4........................ (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Total Inventories 4..................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 20,880 20,513 20,469 1.8 0.2 1.3 20,983 20,788 21,251 -1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 12,254 12,175 12,106 0.6 0.6 0.7 12,404 12,391 13,725 -9.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 408,610 413,221 411,064 -1.1 0.5 0.2 414,250 417,747 450,763 -8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 90,655 90,311 90,107 0.4 0.2 0.6 90,291 90,637 92,689 -2.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,702 13,747 13,862 -0.3 -0.8 -1.4 13,812 14,128 15,161 -8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 18,629 18,591 18,522 0.2 0.4 -0.1 18,688 18,893 19,670 -5.0

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 270,696 274,301 271,113 -1.3 1.2 0.2 273,328 276,497 295,424 -7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 46,348 45,807 45,441 1.2 0.8 1.0 46,098 45,803 46,393 -0.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 45,281 45,747 46,161 -1.0 -0.9 1.5 46,576 46,674 49,032 -5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 15,688 15,941 15,740 -1.6 1.3 2.7 15,574 15,853 15,126 3.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,639 12,579 12,210 0.5 3.0 2.9 12,541 12,209 11,531 8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 47,875 47,988 47,723 -0.2 0.6 0.1 48,137 48,500 52,653 -8.6

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 540,462 544,249 541,572 -0.7 0.5 0.0 547,363 549,076 590,656 -7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 152,708 153,313 152,521 -0.4 0.5 0.8 152,513 154,827 162,465 -6.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 409,115 412,043 409,000 -0.7 0.7 0.0 412,507 415,026 444,360 -7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 132,096 132,585 132,070 -0.4 0.4 0.5 131,834 133,990 142,341 -7.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 173,141 172,797 173,404 0.2 -0.4 -0.5 174,547 174,047 184,474 -5.4

 Total Inventories.................. 95,313 96,155 96,050 -0.9 0.1 0.1 95,137 97,576 105,367 -9.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 131,347 132,206 132,572 -0.6 -0.3 -0.2 134,856 134,050 146,296 -7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 20,612 20,728 20,451 -0.6 1.4 2.7 20,679 20,837 20,124 2.8

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 59 

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 14, 2010. These revisions reflect: 

o benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2007 Economic Census and the 2008 Annual 

Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data; 

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

inventory data; 

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

previously reported data; and 

o updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series. 

As of the Benchmark release, shipments for the semiconductor industry will no longer be shown separately, 

but will be included in the computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. An 

accompanying press release will include the revised 2010 January through March data. Please call 

Chris Savage on (301)763-4832 with any questions.