FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2009, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (09)-05 

CB09-98

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

May 2009 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in May 

increased $2.8 billion or 1.8 percent to $163.9 billion, 

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

third increase in the last four months and followed a 1.8 

percent April increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders increased 1.1 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders also increased 1.4 percent. 

 

 Machinery, up three of the last four months, had the 

largest increase, $1.6 billion or 7.7 percent to $22.5 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, 

down ten consecutive months, decreased $3.6 billion or 

2.1 percent to $169.9 billion. This was the longest 

streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series 

was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and 

followed a 0.5 percent April decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.7 billion or 6.0 

percent to $42.2 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

May, down eight consecutive months, decreased $2.0 

billion or 0.3 percent to $747.5 billion. This followed a 

1.1 percent April decrease. 

 Machinery, down eight consecutive months, had the 

largest decrease, $0.8 billion or 0.9 percent to $87.7 

billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, 

down five consecutive months, decreased $2.5 billion or 

0.8 percent to $323.3 billion. This followed a 1.1 

percent April decrease. 

 Primary metals, down eight consecutive months, had 

the largest decrease, $0.9 billion or 3.0 percent to $27.1 

billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May 

increased $4.9 billion or 10.0 percent to $53.8 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.2 billion or 0.3 percent to $56.3 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.5 billion or 0.6 

percent to $429.7 billion. Inventories decreased $0.5 

billion or 0.3 percent to $142.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in May increased 

$0.8 billion or 7.4 percent to $12.0 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.1 billion or 1.0 percent to $10.4 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $1.7 billion or 1.2 percent to 

$144.4 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 billion or 0.4 

percent to $20.2 billion. 

Revised April Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $344.7 

billion (revised from $344.4 billion); shipments, $357.1 

billion (revised from $357.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$749.5 billion (revised from $748.7 billion); and total 

inventories, $516.5 billion (revised from $517.6 billion). 

Figures in text 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 July 2, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for June is scheduled for release on July 29, 2009, 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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May Change

2009 2 2009 r 2009 May 2 Apr r Mar 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2009 2008 09/08

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 169,885 173,469 174,417 -2.1 -0.5 -1.9 169,855 170,883 215,193 850,007 1,053,058 -19.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 163,920 161,098 158,279 1.8 1.8 -2.2 160,867 154,329 213,150 784,272 1,072,012 -26.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 127,666 128,546 129,366 -0.7 -0.6 -2.9 127,275 127,323 161,351 633,715 781,966 -19.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 121,733 120,374 119,932 1.1 0.4 -2.8 121,423 118,563 157,800 595,982 778,145 -23.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 156,454 160,104 161,209 -2.3 -0.7 -2.1 156,472 158,003 203,217 787,211 997,778 -21.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 148,948 146,921 146,065 1.4 0.6 -2.4 148,220 142,497 203,004 722,696 1,014,258 -28.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 122,277 124,228 126,704 -1.6 -2.0 -1.7 122,206 120,842 154,443 612,002 749,339 -18.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 120,291 116,023 113,457 3.7 2.3 -2.1 117,016 109,641 156,974 565,175 795,088 -28.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 12,105 12,492 13,111 -3.1 -4.7 -7.5 12,591 12,837 23,487 65,780 110,676 -40.6

 New Orders.............................. 11,727 11,701 11,641 0.2 0.5 -9.2 12,166 12,073 22,781 61,395 113,384 -45.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 23,463 23,856 24,455 -1.6 -2.4 -2.1 23,954 23,804 28,841 118,582 136,117 -12.9

 New Orders.............................. 22,670 23,253 22,249 -2.5 4.5 -3.0 23,921 23,371 29,618 114,475 141,224 -18.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 23,296 22,868 23,710 1.9 -3.6 -3.5 23,451 23,525 29,615 117,979 145,992 -19.2

 New Orders.............................. 22,465 20,857 20,730 7.7 0.6 -7.3 22,297 21,896 30,739 108,512 156,894 -30.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 28,360 28,565 27,616 -0.7 3.4 -1.0 26,425 26,936 30,431 134,077 156,156 -14.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 24,855 24,314 25,060 2.2 -3.0 1.5 22,206 21,212 25,172 115,118 131,498 -12.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 4,404 4,333 4,395 1.6 -1.4 -2.8 3,849 3,623 4,657 20,190 24,669 -18.2

 New Orders.............................. 4,410 4,030 4,316 9.4 -6.6 -4.6 3,855 3,320 4,862 19,413 24,563 -21.0 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,525 4,685 4,788 -3.4 -2.2 0.0 4,250 3,907 5,423 21,607 26,606 -18.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,960 5,002 4,663 -0.8 7.3 -2.1 4,514 4,318 5,445 23,055 28,024 -17.7

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 3,979 4,166 2,891 -4.5 44.1 -3.7 3,798 5,353 4,574 18,908 26,795 -29.4

 New Orders4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,358 8,616 8,486 -3.0 1.5 -2.9 8,376 8,454 10,926 41,483 52,203 -20.5

 New Orders.............................. 8,092 8,178 8,182 -1.1 0.0 0.1 8,240 8,143 11,379 40,688 54,146 -24.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 42,219 44,923 45,051 -6.0 -0.3 1.1 42,580 43,560 53,842 216,292 271,092 -20.2

 New Orders.............................. 42,187 40,724 38,347 3.6 6.2 -0.1 39,444 35,766 55,350 188,290 293,867 -35.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 22,912 25,025 24,545 -8.4 2.0 -0.8 23,301 24,957 34,012 122,175 177,587 -31.2

 New Orders.............................. 22,764 24,767 24,465 -8.1 1.2 -0.7 22,920 24,873 33,712 121,222 176,656 -31.4 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,244 7,765 7,963 -6.7 -2.5 0.4 7,246 7,087 8,196 37,609 40,396 -6.9

 New Orders.............................. 6,684 3,976 4,034 68.1 -1.4 7.5 5,208 1,007 11,181 16,805 62,585 -73.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,647 5,302 5,527 6.5 -4.1 7.1 5,550 4,968 4,444 24,952 20,680 20.7

 New Orders.............................. 5,328 5,418 5,355 -1.7 1.2 6.6 4,512 4,650 4,626 24,401 22,461 8.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,084 32,149 31,988 -0.2 0.5 -2.9 32,478 31,767 38,051 155,814 180,822 -13.8

 New Orders.............................. 31,924 32,071 32,070 -0.5 0.0 -1.1 32,593 31,868 38,111 155,794 180,999 -13.9

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 66,724 66,803 68,085 -0.1 -1.9 -1.1 65,300 64,143 76,346 327,859 373,812 -12.3

 New Orders.............................. 65,866 60,154 59,150 9.5 1.7 -2.6 60,944 54,272 78,580 290,353 409,645 -29.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 56,348 56,530 58,067 -0.3 -2.6 -0.9 54,786 54,156 67,187 279,072 330,623 -15.6

 New Orders.............................. 53,831 48,944 50,424 10.0 -2.9 -1.0 50,684 45,107 71,011 242,011 365,203 -33.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 52,447 52,306 53,780 0.3 -2.7 -1.7 50,702 50,327 62,463 258,998 308,783 -16.1

 New Orders.......................... 50,858 48,537 49,989 4.8 -2.9 -1.4 48,868 47,146 63,532 245,275 322,935 -24.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,376 10,273 10,018 1.0 2.5 -2.3 10,514 9,987 9,159 48,787 43,189 13.0

 New Orders.............................. 12,035 11,210 8,726 7.4 28.5 -11.1 10,260 9,165 7,569 48,342 44,442 8.8

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(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 Inventories

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May 2009/

2009 2 2009 r 2009 May 2 Apr r Mar 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2008

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 747,501 749,487 757,692 -0.3 -1.1 -1.7 751,926 757,116 817,565 -8.0

 Total Inventories....................... 323,251 325,725 329,460 -0.8 -1.1 -1.7 324,457 326,530 333,452 -2.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 308,121 310,075 314,081 -0.6 -1.3 -2.0 312,093 314,147 357,995 -12.8

 Total Inventories....................... 230,074 232,234 236,252 -0.9 -1.7 -2.0 230,476 232,480 246,167 -6.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 587,119 590,646 599,663 -0.6 -1.5 -2.0 590,590 595,044 663,782 -11.0

 Total Inventories....................... 297,005 299,450 303,450 -0.8 -1.3 -1.9 298,081 300,155 308,799 -3.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 747,501 749,487 757,692 -0.3 -1.1 -1.7 751,926 757,116 817,565 -8.0

 Total Inventories....................... 260,266 262,181 264,930 -0.7 -1.0 -1.9 261,478 262,839 267,117 -2.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,596 13,974 14,765 -2.7 -5.4 -9.1 13,942 14,367 29,971 -53.5

 Total Inventories....................... 27,116 27,968 29,012 -3.0 -3.6 -3.9 26,932 27,690 33,112 -18.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 50,970 51,763 52,366 -1.5 -1.2 -4.0 52,628 52,661 64,526 -18.4

 Total Inventories....................... 39,910 40,441 41,408 -1.3 -2.3 -2.9 39,809 40,518 43,354 -8.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,661 88,492 90,503 -0.9 -2.2 -3.2 88,444 89,598 101,289 -12.7

 Total Inventories....................... 52,098 52,454 53,161 -0.7 -1.3 -2.3 52,291 52,807 54,053 -3.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 123,905 123,431 123,516 0.4 -0.1 0.3 124,528 124,949 123,904 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 46,175 46,077 46,298 0.2 -0.5 -1.5 46,523 45,955 46,892 -0.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,313 3,307 3,610 0.2 -8.4 -2.1 3,313 3,307 3,611 -8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 4,623 4,675 4,694 -1.1 -0.4 -0.1 4,770 4,666 5,351 -10.9

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,725 37,290 36,973 1.2 0.9 -0.3 38,202 37,938 37,835 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 10,524 10,332 10,295 1.9 0.4 -0.1 10,600 10,328 9,950 6.5

 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......................... 20,491 20,757 21,195 -1.3 -2.1 -1.4 20,804 20,940 25,007 -16.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,323 13,449 13,687 -0.9 -1.7 -1.2 13,487 13,650 15,375 -12.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 439,380 439,412 443,611 0.0 -0.9 -1.5 439,833 442,969 459,570 -4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 93,177 93,491 93,208 -0.3 0.3 -1.0 93,981 94,050 87,285 7.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,696 14,844 15,102 -1.0 -1.7 -0.5 14,696 15,077 17,634 -16.7

 Total Inventories....................... 18,984 19,328 19,783 -1.8 -2.3 -3.3 19,046 19,431 23,850 -20.1 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 287,567 288,127 291,916 -0.2 -1.3 -1.3 287,306 289,344 302,804 -5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 47,040 47,038 46,655 0.0 0.8 -0.7 47,566 47,311 37,643 26.4

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 47,250 47,569 47,453 -0.7 0.2 -0.4 47,676 48,714 45,083 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 15,487 15,543 15,205 -0.4 2.2 1.4 15,586 15,571 14,316 8.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,498 11,658 11,736 -1.4 -0.7 0.7 11,747 11,632 13,298 -11.7

 Total Inventories....................... 51,452 51,845 52,686 -0.8 -1.6 -0.4 51,434 51,860 53,381 -3.6

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 574,177 575,035 581,684 -0.1 -1.1 -1.5 576,429 580,785 611,290 -5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 162,313 162,889 163,184 -0.4 -0.2 -1.1 163,332 163,405 156,345 4.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 429,741 432,258 439,844 -0.6 -1.7 -1.7 431,209 435,311 473,395 -8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 142,105 142,602 143,109 -0.3 -0.4 -1.4 143,093 143,046 136,966 4.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 177,392 178,981 182,750 -0.9 -2.1 -2.0 179,459 181,293 202,936 -11.6

 Total Inventories................... 104,630 105,058 106,048 -0.4 -0.9 -1.6 105,270 105,335 107,777 -2.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 144,436 142,777 141,840 1.2 0.7 -0.9 145,220 145,474 137,895 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 20,208 20,287 20,075 -0.4 1.1 0.9 20,239 20,359 19,379 4.4

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-in-process, 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-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 61 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-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.