FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (10)-09 

CB10-163

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

September 2010 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

September increased $6.3 billion or 3.3 percent to 

$199.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. Up two of the last three months, this increase 

followed a 1.0 percent August decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 0.8 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $7.4 billion or 15.7 

percent to $54.8 billion. This was due to nondefense 

aircraft and parts, which increased $6.6 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

September, down two consecutive months, decreased 

$0.9 billion or 0.4 percent to $197.4 billion. This 

followed a 1.4 percent August decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, down four of the 

last five months, had the largest decrease, $0.8 billion or 

2.3 percent to $33.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

September, up six consecutive months, increased $7.9 

billion or 1.0 percent to $813.2 billion. This followed a 

0.1 percent August increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up following four 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$5.8 billion or 1.2 percent to $480.0 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

September, up nine consecutive months, increased $1.7 

billion or 0.5 percent to $314.7 billion. This followed a 

0.6 percent August increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up nine consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $1.2 billion or 1.5 

percent to $82.7 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in September 

increased $5.7 billion or 8.6 percent to $71.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $64.7 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $7.2 billion or 1.5 

percent to $496.0 billion. Inventories increased $1.8 

billion or 1.3 percent to $133.0 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in September 

increased $0.8 billion or 8.0 percent to $10.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.5 billion or 5.7 percent to $9.7 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.4 billion or 0.3 

percent to $140.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 

billion or 0.5 percent to $17.5 billion. 

Revised August Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $410.3 

billion (revised from $408.9 billion); shipments, $415.8 

billion (revised from $415.1 billion); unfilled orders, 

$805.3 billion (revised from $804.0 billion); and total 

inventories, $526.9 billion (revised from $526.4 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 November 3, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for October is scheduled for release on November 24, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for survey description and 2011 release schedule. 
 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 

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

2010 2 2010 r 2010 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2010 2009 10/09

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments ................................ 197,412 198,294 201,103 -0.4 -1.4 2.5 210,563 203,648 198,742 1,759,996 1,628,672 8.1

 New Orders 4

.............................. 199,155 192,846 194,700 3.3 -1.0 1.2 211,989 195,418 188,156 1,724,246 1,498,817 15.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 148,463 149,090 148,480 -0.4 0.4 1.1 156,815 152,649 142,723 1,323,445 1,206,285 9.7

 New Orders 4

.............................. 144,384 145,498 142,805 -0.8 1.9 -2.1 153,612 147,960 140,638 1,295,468 1,134,569 14.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 185,237 186,438 188,926 -0.6 -1.3 2.7 197,242 192,157 183,339 1,646,083 1,510,752 9.0

 New Orders 4

.............................. 186,077 180,830 182,463 2.9 -0.9 1.3 198,416 184,944 174,655 1,612,083 1,391,364 15.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 143,612 143,628 145,407 0.0 -1.2 1.1 154,369 147,517 146,380 1,282,489 1,185,634 8.2

 New Orders .............................. 151,475 144,750 145,683 4.6 -0.6 0.7 160,802 145,333 139,526 1,297,921 1,097,244 18.3

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 20,116 19,909 19,789 1.0 0.6 -0.2 21,206 21,181 16,363 180,479 133,319 35.4

 New Orders.............................. 19,800 19,896 20,249 -0.5 -1.7 5.0 20,280 21,463 16,087 182,576 130,062 40.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,220 27,288 27,034 -0.2 0.9 -1.4 29,047 29,539 27,688 246,588 234,785 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 27,029 27,461 27,107 -1.6 1.3 -1.4 28,347 29,211 27,139 247,938 225,536 9.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 25,549 25,163 24,346 1.5 3.4 -3.2 26,653 24,530 23,109 221,338 208,294 6.3

 New Orders.............................. 27,455 26,911 25,566 2.0 5.3 -9.8 29,114 25,905 24,500 235,962 195,677 20.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 33,373 34,174 34,383 -2.3 -0.6 8.6 35,551 32,643 32,191 290,485 259,069 12.1

 New Orders .............................. 27,263 28,387 27,398 -4.0 3.6 -0.3 31,252 26,934 30,019 239,650 214,974 11.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,598 6,554 6,352 0.7 3.2 4.8 7,158 5,955 5,429 53,054 46,038 15.2

 New Orders.............................. 6,738 6,608 5,946 2.0 11.1 -6.4 7,298 6,009 6,331 53,155 45,297 17.3

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,499 3,470 3,560 0.8 -2.5 2.8 4,188 3,364 4,537 31,823 32,538 -2.2

 New Orders.............................. 3,231 3,971 3,610 -18.6 10.0 11.8 4,144 4,024 4,990 31,070 33,386 -6.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,516 9,637 9,598 -1.3 0.4 0.9 10,122 10,049 9,430 85,385 80,698 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 9,982 9,943 9,625 0.4 3.3 -4.5 10,173 10,116 9,055 89,308 78,962 13.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 48,949 49,204 52,623 -0.5 -6.5 6.8 53,748 50,999 56,019 436,551 422,387 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 54,771 47,348 51,895 15.7 -8.8 11.6 58,377 47,458 47,518 428,778 364,248 17.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 30,442 30,627 32,629 -0.6 -6.1 4.6 33,227 32,984 31,335 269,387 240,308 12.1

 New Orders.............................. 30,537 30,668 32,318 -0.4 -5.1 4.6 33,278 32,690 31,030 268,064 238,362 12.5

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,022 7,454 8,616 -5.8 -13.5 29.7 7,544 7,320 9,777 61,653 70,594 -12.7

 New Orders.............................. 12,849 6,268 8,949 105.0 -30.0 69.1 13,190 5,343 4,126 63,650 31,920 99.4

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,093 4,979 5,010 2.3 -0.6 -4.0 5,884 4,727 7,089 47,271 47,871 -1.3

 New Orders.............................. 6,278 4,829 4,795 30.0 0.7 -9.4 6,629 3,786 5,343 47,276 45,077 4.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,689 32,919 33,330 -0.7 -1.2 0.2 34,236 34,707 33,942 299,170 290,120 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 32,855 32,900 32,860 -0.1 0.1 -0.8 34,446 34,331 33,838 300,034 289,358 3.7

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 74,406 74,335 75,228 0.1 -1.2 2.4 79,721 72,918 77,296 655,064 627,129 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 82,037 75,568 75,051 8.6 0.7 -0.8 86,564 71,495 70,989 665,633 552,194 20.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 64,698 65,149 65,641 -0.7 -0.7 3.0 69,368 63,872 64,930 563,728 531,591 6.0

 New Orders.............................. 71,890 66,173 65,505 8.6 1.0 -0.7 76,428 63,102 60,160 576,663 466,051 23.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 60,861 60,634 59,876 0.4 1.3 0.0 65,280 59,474 58,285 527,825 486,985 8.4

 New Orders.......................... 62,408 62,813 59,953 -0.6 4.8 -5.3 66,856 60,594 59,012 538,741 461,991 16.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,708 9,186 9,587 5.7 -4.2 -1.5 10,353 9,046 12,366 91,336 95,538 -4.4

 New Orders.............................. 10,147 9,395 9,546 8.0 -1.6 -1.2 10,136 8,393 10,829 88,970 86,143 3.3

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 of shipments for the semiconductor industry are no longer shown separately. 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. 
 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 

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep 2010/

2010 2 2010 r 2010 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2009

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 813,158 805,295 804,173 1.0 0.1 0.0 808,118 801,685 804,260 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 314,715 313,047 311,100 0.5 0.6 0.6 313,649 315,100 295,754 6.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 333,166 331,125 328,147 0.6 0.9 0.3 332,934 331,130 312,440 6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 232,049 231,630 230,723 0.2 0.4 0.6 231,209 233,037 220,567 4.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 658,622 651,662 650,700 1.1 0.1 0.0 656,316 650,135 646,413 1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 291,924 290,193 287,873 0.6 0.8 0.6 290,888 292,301 272,973 6.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 813,158 805,295 804,173 1.0 0.1 0.0 808,118 801,685 804,260 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 256,048 254,401 252,753 0.6 0.7 0.6 255,357 256,121 238,241 7.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,171 18,487 18,500 -1.7 -0.1 2.5 18,468 19,394 16,679 10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 30,529 30,607 30,826 -0.3 -0.7 -0.2 30,942 30,918 27,144 14.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,861 54,052 53,879 -0.4 0.3 0.1 53,424 54,124 52,864 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 41,948 42,068 41,972 -0.3 0.2 0.6 41,854 42,085 39,694 5.4

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 101,543 99,637 97,889 1.9 1.8 1.3 101,790 99,329 87,841 15.9

 Total Inventories....................... 51,954 51,709 51,300 0.5 0.8 1.6 51,451 51,772 50,351 2.2

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 122,103 122,093 121,310 0.0 0.6 -0.3 121,856 121,148 122,215 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 45,459 45,439 45,246 0.0 0.4 0.1 44,950 46,188 43,128 4.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 5,472 5,332 5,278 2.6 1.0 -7.1 5,472 5,332 4,777 14.5

 Total Inventories....................... 4,560 4,734 4,862 -3.7 -2.6 -2.0 4,558 5,019 4,353 4.7

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,945 28,213 27,712 -0.9 1.8 0.2 28,021 28,065 29,360 -4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 8,044 8,086 8,054 -0.5 0.4 1.5 7,865 8,120 7,536 4.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,147 24,681 24,375 1.9 1.3 0.1 25,024 24,973 21,553 16.1

 Total Inventories....................... 14,764 14,623 14,444 1.0 1.2 1.6 14,645 14,738 13,554 8.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 479,992 474,170 476,026 1.2 -0.4 -0.2 475,184 470,555 491,820 -3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 82,666 81,417 80,377 1.5 1.3 0.4 82,440 82,063 75,187 9.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,613 13,518 13,477 0.7 0.3 -2.3 13,325 13,274 14,282 -6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 21,044 21,145 20,939 -0.5 1.0 0.9 20,949 21,282 17,825 17.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 327,822 321,995 323,181 1.8 -0.4 0.1 325,562 319,916 327,344 -0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 39,154 37,769 36,682 3.7 3.0 0.5 39,071 38,133 33,384 17.0

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,748 47,563 47,713 2.5 -0.3 -0.4 47,753 47,008 48,239 -1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 11,911 12,031 12,106 -1.0 -0.6 0.6 11,973 12,091 12,063 -0.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,341 12,175 12,194 1.4 -0.2 -3.7 12,372 12,162 11,288 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 47,395 47,184 46,935 0.4 0.5 0.2 47,367 47,336 46,696 1.4

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 636,304 628,673 627,440 1.2 0.2 0.0 631,021 624,178 630,530 0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 150,485 148,820 147,637 1.1 0.8 0.7 149,402 149,935 140,773 6.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 495,968 488,776 487,752 1.5 0.2 0.0 493,104 486,044 486,255 1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 133,034 131,275 129,702 1.3 1.2 0.7 132,043 132,505 123,422 7.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 198,527 196,980 194,801 0.8 1.1 0.0 197,778 196,202 188,872 4.7

 Total Inventories................... 102,113 101,832 101,304 0.3 0.5 0.8 101,144 102,800 98,329 2.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,336 139,897 139,688 0.3 0.1 0.0 137,917 138,134 144,275 -4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 17,451 17,545 17,935 -0.5 -2.2 0.2 17,359 17,430 17,351 0.0

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 64 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 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-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.

2011 Release Dates for M3 Survey

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

November 2010 Dec. 23, 2010 Jan. 4, 2011

December 2010 Jan. 27, 2011 Feb. 3, 2011

January 2011 Feb. 24, 2011 Mar. 4, 2011

February 2011 Mar. 24, 2011 Mar. 31, 2011

March 2011 Apr. 27, 2011 May 3, 2011

April 2011 May 25, 2011 Jun. 2, 2011

May 2011 Jun. 24, 2011 Jul. 5, 2011

June 2011 Jul. 27, 2011 Aug. 3, 2011

July 2011 Aug. 24, 2011 Aug. 31, 2011

August 2011 Sep. 28, 2011 Oct. 4, 2011

September 2011 Oct. 26, 2011 Nov. 3, 2011

October 2011 Nov. 23, 2011 Dec. 5, 2011

November 2011 Dec. 23, 2011