FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (09)-09 

CB09-163

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

September 2009 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

September increased $1.6 billion or 1.0 percent to 

$165.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This was the second increase in the last three 

months. This followed a 2.6 percent August decrease. 

Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.9 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.5 

percent. 

 

 Machinery, up five of the last six months, had the 

largest increase, $1.7 billion or 7.9 percent to $23.4 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

September, up three of the last four months, increased 

$1.3 billion or 0.8 percent to $172.6 billion. This 

followed a 1.4 percent August decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also up three of the last four 

months, had the largest increase, $2.4 billion or 5.6 

percent to $44.9 billion. This was led by nondefense 

aircraft and parts, which increased $1.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

September, down twelve consecutive months, decreased 

$3.3 billion or 0.4 percent to $733.6 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 0.4 percent August decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down eleven of the last 

twelve months, had the largest decrease, $4.8 billion or 

1.1 percent to $426.3 billion. 

 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

September, down nine consecutive months, decreased 

$3.1 billion or 1.0 percent to $305.0 billion. This 

followed a 1.5 percent August decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.0 billion or 2.2 

percent to $89.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in September 

increased $1.3 billion or 2.5 percent to $53.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.2 billion or 2.2 percent to $56.6 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $3.0 billion or 0.7 

percent to $419.6 billion. Inventories decreased $2.3 

billion or 1.7 percent to $132.4 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in September 

increased $1.0 billion or 10.0 percent to $10.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.5 billion or 5.1 percent to $11.3 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.4 billion or 0.3 

percent to $140.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 

billion or 1.8 percent to $19.8 billion. 

Revised August Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $352.8 

billion (revised from $352.9 billion); shipments, $360.0 

billion (unchanged); unfilled orders, $736.8 billion 

(unchanged); and total inventories, $497.9 billion 

(revised from $498.2 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 November 3, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The

advance report on durable goods for October is scheduled for release on November 25, 2009, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for

survey description and 2010 release schedule. 
 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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep Change

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2009 2008 09/08

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 172,574 171,257 173,744 0.8 -1.4 2.3 185,889 174,918 220,680 1,558,940 1,913,950 -18.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 165,668 164,058 168,512 1.0 -2.6 4.8 176,505 165,313 213,741 1,452,894 1,914,474 -24.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 127,710 128,773 130,680 -0.8 -1.5 2.8 137,372 131,583 166,931 1,168,311 1,437,735 -18.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 125,645 124,479 124,964 0.9 -0.4 0.9 135,281 124,851 158,919 1,109,543 1,411,886 -21.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 158,024 157,465 160,091 0.4 -1.6 2.8 170,278 161,291 207,798 1,439,397 1,810,657 -20.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 151,881 151,182 155,207 0.5 -2.6 4.3 162,585 153,715 198,342 1,343,325 1,807,133 -25.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 125,428 123,221 124,566 1.8 -1.1 0.9 136,025 125,860 160,182 1,125,719 1,374,341 -18.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 122,178 120,109 123,803 1.7 -3.0 5.4 129,700 120,238 156,704 1,053,038 1,419,000 -25.8

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 13,675 13,389 13,136 2.1 1.9 7.0 14,735 14,407 22,850 121,351 205,124 -40.8

 New Orders.............................. 13,809 13,766 13,506 0.3 1.9 3.3 14,486 14,998 19,850 118,294 203,258 -41.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 23,505 23,703 23,823 -0.8 -0.5 1.6 25,029 25,431 29,301 217,623 252,858 -13.9

 New Orders.............................. 23,379 23,390 23,282 0.0 0.5 3.4 24,486 24,546 28,335 209,565 254,627 -17.7

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 22,368 22,031 22,405 1.5 -1.7 -4.0 23,249 21,447 30,832 209,747 264,660 -20.7

 New Orders.............................. 23,400 21,692 21,517 7.9 0.8 -7.7 24,412 20,473 30,496 198,689 279,550 -28.9

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 28,192 29,236 30,075 -3.6 -2.8 7.9 31,598 28,206 34,668 252,766 285,077 -11.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 25,182 25,223 25,544 -0.2 -1.3 1.6 29,569 23,246 31,811 218,511 243,153 -10.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 4,266 4,251 4,443 0.4 -4.3 1.8 4,984 3,886 5,542 38,330 45,068 -15.0

 New Orders.............................. 4,382 4,365 4,489 0.4 -2.8 -3.7 5,100 4,000 5,562 38,326 45,275 -15.3

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,813 5,101 5,335 -5.6 -4.4 4.3 5,949 4,973 7,101 43,298 51,003 -15.1

 New Orders.............................. 4,978 5,354 5,385 -7.0 -0.6 9.4 6,417 4,682 6,984 44,280 51,668 -14.3

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 3,656 4,087 4,469 -10.5 -8.5 51.2 3,059 3,983 3,461 33,365 44,135 -24.4

 New Orders4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,185 8,249 8,527 -0.8 -3.3 2.5 9,033 8,512 11,374 76,274 96,356 -20.8

 New Orders.............................. 8,210 8,287 8,413 -0.9 -1.5 4.1 8,693 8,375 10,651 74,558 97,659 -23.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 44,864 42,484 43,064 5.6 -1.3 0.9 48,517 43,335 53,749 390,629 476,215 -18.0

 New Orders.............................. 40,023 39,579 43,548 1.1 -9.1 17.8 41,224 40,462 54,822 343,351 502,588 -31.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 23,528 23,446 23,651 0.3 -0.9 3.6 25,167 24,759 32,634 215,250 301,429 -28.6

 New Orders.............................. 23,410 23,437 23,062 -0.1 1.6 1.9 24,874 24,477 32,079 213,249 299,501 -28.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,483 7,091 7,486 19.6 -5.3 2.5 9,280 6,669 7,979 68,734 74,119 -7.3

 New Orders.............................. 4,800 4,902 8,790 -2.1 -44.2 98.1 4,532 5,129 8,764 37,840 99,055 -61.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 6,529 5,636 5,463 15.8 3.2 -11.8 7,212 5,573 5,623 49,336 40,613 21.5

 New Orders.............................. 5,563 4,945 5,622 12.5 -12.0 -20.6 5,503 4,365 5,617 46,517 42,496 9.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 31,785 32,165 32,714 -1.2 -1.7 2.5 33,728 33,580 37,906 290,550 333,660 -12.9

 New Orders.............................. 31,665 32,121 32,702 -1.4 -1.8 3.0 33,635 33,213 37,776 289,926 333,639 -13.1

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 67,882 66,112 67,293 2.7 -1.8 -0.2 73,868 64,473 82,737 602,764 686,608 -12.2

 New Orders.............................. 64,534 62,260 66,564 3.7 -6.5 8.2 68,318 58,529 82,827 541,293 726,129 -25.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 56,592 55,371 56,844 2.2 -2.6 0.6 61,938 53,752 73,180 510,345 606,921 -15.9

 New Orders.............................. 53,640 52,352 56,725 2.5 -7.7 7.0 57,559 49,548 71,141 457,511 643,590 -28.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 51,631 51,751 52,921 -0.2 -2.2 0.3 56,484 50,403 69,075 473,736 567,224 -16.5

 New Orders.......................... 52,144 51,135 51,566 2.0 -0.8 -1.3 56,580 47,975 67,017 453,906 581,297 -21.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 11,290 10,741 10,449 5.1 2.8 -4.0 11,930 10,721 9,557 92,419 79,687 16.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,894 9,908 9,839 10.0 0.7 15.9 10,759 8,981 11,686 83,782 82,539 1.5

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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep 2009/

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2008

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 733,560 736,810 739,922 -0.4 -0.4 -0.1 726,072 732,397 816,475 -11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 305,037 308,165 312,884 -1.0 -1.5 -1.2 303,762 309,954 338,638 -10.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 307,242 305,651 305,858 0.5 -0.1 -0.4 305,515 304,547 353,307 -13.5

 Total Inventories....................... 215,949 217,054 218,889 -0.5 -0.8 -2.0 214,900 217,915 249,997 -14.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 577,341 579,828 582,024 -0.4 -0.4 -0.1 573,490 578,124 661,118 -13.3

 Total Inventories....................... 279,149 281,965 286,630 -1.0 -1.6 -1.4 277,871 283,742 314,255 -11.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 733,560 736,810 739,922 -0.4 -0.4 -0.1 726,072 732,397 816,475 -11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 245,078 247,844 252,037 -1.1 -1.7 -1.0 244,272 249,449 271,925 -10.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,214 15,080 14,703 0.9 2.6 2.6 15,270 15,519 25,397 -39.9

 Total Inventories....................... 25,392 25,339 25,475 0.2 -0.5 -2.7 25,679 25,581 35,268 -27.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,855 48,981 49,294 -0.3 -0.6 -1.1 48,677 49,220 61,188 -20.4

 Total Inventories....................... 36,913 37,352 37,888 -1.2 -1.4 -2.1 36,806 37,317 44,847 -17.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,362 86,330 86,669 1.2 -0.4 -1.0 86,853 85,690 105,277 -17.5

 Total Inventories....................... 48,723 49,118 49,528 -0.8 -0.8 -2.4 48,119 48,961 54,225 -11.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 124,699 124,053 123,979 0.5 0.1 0.0 123,689 122,659 123,978 -0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 43,456 43,370 43,562 0.2 -0.4 -1.6 43,236 44,091 46,739 -7.5

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,086 3,970 3,856 2.9 3.0 1.2 4,086 3,970 3,924 4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 4,087 4,191 4,240 -2.5 -1.2 -2.1 4,045 4,438 5,021 -19.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,933 37,768 37,515 0.4 0.7 0.1 37,736 37,268 37,082 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 9,309 9,260 9,303 0.5 -0.5 -2.4 9,176 9,287 9,510 -3.5

 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......................... 20,055 20,030 19,992 0.1 0.2 -0.6 19,883 20,223 24,367 -18.4

 Total Inventories....................... 12,395 12,577 12,759 -1.4 -1.4 -1.2 12,103 12,571 14,918 -18.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 426,318 431,159 434,064 -1.1 -0.7 0.1 420,557 427,850 463,168 -9.2

 Total Inventories....................... 89,088 91,111 93,995 -2.2 -3.1 0.8 88,862 92,039 88,641 0.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,852 13,970 13,979 -0.8 -0.1 -4.0 13,648 13,941 16,637 -18.0

 Total Inventories....................... 18,208 18,401 18,594 -1.0 -1.0 -0.9 18,225 18,558 22,867 -20.3

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 279,862 283,545 285,734 -1.3 -0.8 0.5 277,216 281,964 305,551 -9.3

 Total Inventories....................... 44,463 45,873 48,199 -3.1 -4.8 1.1 44,328 46,476 40,657 9.0

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 46,699 47,665 48,356 -2.0 -1.4 0.3 45,408 47,117 45,185 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 15,434 15,900 15,797 -2.9 0.7 1.7 15,482 15,972 14,035 10.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,057 11,177 11,221 -1.1 -0.4 -0.1 11,143 11,236 13,100 -14.9

 Total Inventories....................... 49,070 49,298 49,677 -0.5 -0.8 -1.9 48,957 49,394 54,000 -9.3

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 559,873 563,221 567,073 -0.6 -0.7 -0.1 552,464 558,014 614,978 -10.2

 Total Inventories....................... 152,191 154,844 157,648 -1.7 -1.8 -1.1 151,147 155,962 158,534 -4.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 419,615 422,567 425,586 -0.7 -0.7 0.0 415,436 419,815 475,484 -12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 132,430 134,720 137,421 -1.7 -2.0 -1.4 131,431 135,898 139,664 -5.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 175,047 174,534 175,150 0.3 -0.4 -0.8 173,352 173,256 202,857 -14.5

 Total Inventories................... 97,705 98,383 99,142 -0.7 -0.8 -2.1 96,744 99,048 107,804 -10.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,258 140,654 141,487 -0.3 -0.6 -0.4 137,028 138,199 139,494 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 19,761 20,124 20,227 -1.8 -0.5 0.9 19,716 20,064 18,870 4.5

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.

2010 Release Dates for M3 Survey 

Survey Month Advance 8:30 A.M. Preliminary 10:00 A.M.

November 2009 Dec. 24, 2009 Jan. 5, 2010 

December 2009 Jan. 28, 2010 Feb. 4, 2010 

January 2010 Feb. 25, 2010 Mar. 4, 2010 

February 2010 Mar. 24, 2010 Mar. 31, 2010 

March 2010 Apr. 23, 2010 May 4, 2010 

April 2010 May 26, 2010 Jun. 3, 2010 

May 2010 Jun. 24, 2010 Jul. 2, 2010 

June 2010 Jul. 28, 2010 Aug. 3, 2010 

July 2010 Aug. 25, 2010 Sep. 2, 2010 

August 2010 Sep. 24, 2010 Oct. 4, 2010 

September 2010 Oct. 27, 2010 Nov. 3, 2010 

October 2010 Nov. 24, 2010 Dec. 3, 2010 

November 2010 Dec. 23, 2010