FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2007, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (07)-8 

CB07-134

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

August 2007 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in August 

decreased $11.3 billion or 4.9 percent to $219.5 billion, 

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

followed two consecutive monthly increases, including a 

6.1 percent July increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders decreased 1.8 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 5.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$8.5 billion or 11.2 percent to $67.5 billion. This was 

due to nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased 

$9.0 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, 

down two of the last three months, decreased $3.4 

billion or 1.6 percent to $216.7 billion. This followed a 

4.0 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down two of the last three 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.7 billion or 4.3 

percent to $60.2 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

August, up twenty-seven of the last twenty-eight 

months, increased $9.3 billion or 1.2 percent to $763.9 

billion. This was at the highest level since the series was 

first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 2.4 

percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up nineteen consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $7.3 billion or 1.7 

percent to $441.5 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, 

down two of the last three months, decreased $0.3 

billion or 0.1 percent to $312.6 billion. This followed a 

0.1 percent July increase. 

 Fabricated metal products, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $0.1 billion or 0.2 

percent to $41.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August 

decreased $10.2 billion or 12.6 percent to $70.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $66.9 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $4.1 billion or 1.0 

percent to $427.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 

billion or 0.3 percent to $122.4 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in August 

increased $0.6 billion or 5.8 percent to $10.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.3 billion or 3.0 percent to $8.4 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $2.4 billion or 1.7 

percent to $146.4 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 0.9 percent to $16.8 billion. 

Revised July Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $436.6 

billion (revised from $436.7 billion); shipments, $425.9 

billion (unchanged); unfilled orders, $754.7 billion 

(revised from $754.5 billion); and total inventories, 

$517.0 billion (revised from $517.3 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 October 4, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for September is scheduled for release on October 25, 2007, 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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug Change

2007 2 2007 r 2007 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2007 2 2007 r 2006 2007 2006 07/06

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 216,659 220,087 211,616 -1.6 4.0 -1.1 224,716 192,410 220,975 1,691,707 1,686,438 0.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 219,532 230,809 217,598 -4.9 6.1 1.8 222,814 199,722 212,157 1,714,482 1,685,688 1.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 156,497 157,210 154,408 -0.5 1.8 -1.5 160,706 147,253 160,014 1,233,234 1,228,423 0.4

 New Orders 4

........................... 152,024 154,780 149,637 -1.8 3.4 -1.3 152,982 144,567 150,537 1,200,568 1,202,202 -0.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 206,536 209,693 202,152 -1.5 3.7 -0.9 214,735 183,128 211,334 1,615,319 1,613,393 0.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 205,872 218,689 208,864 -5.9 4.7 2.2 210,491 191,397 202,224 1,639,552 1,613,044 1.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 151,033 152,981 148,331 -1.3 3.1 -0.9 155,873 136,365 153,511 1,180,112 1,157,327 2.0

 New Orders 4

........................... 160,299 170,551 159,772 -6.0 6.7 2.4 160,484 150,007 151,484 1,254,479 1,209,978 3.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 20,099 20,576 20,339 -2.3 1.2 -2.0 20,953 19,513 21,536 163,711 157,116 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 19,932 20,521 19,214 -2.9 6.8 -6.0 20,837 19,155 21,165 163,525 158,786 3.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 26,666 26,654 25,995 0.0 2.5 -0.8 28,634 25,489 27,452 209,895 205,153 2.3

 New Orders.............................. 27,063 27,083 26,449 -0.1 2.4 1.0 28,398 25,878 27,314 214,418 211,273 1.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 27,826 28,312 27,714 -1.7 2.2 -0.8 27,538 26,856 27,477 220,719 219,041 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 28,752 30,272 28,685 -5.0 5.5 3.5 27,712 28,232 27,053 227,299 227,760 -0.2

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 33,033 32,954 32,089 0.2 2.7 -4.1 32,343 28,705 32,197 254,754 254,877 0.0

 New Orders 4

........................... 27,756 28,364 26,688 -2.1 6.3 -4.9 25,773 24,304 24,942 207,094 208,299 -0.6

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 5,050 4,611 5,417 9.5 -14.9 -7.6 5,123 4,134 5,313 40,604 43,768 -7.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,277 4,883 5,544 8.1 -11.9 -4.5 5,350 4,406 5,038 41,071 43,293 -5.1 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,683 5,582 5,472 1.8 2.0 -0.8 5,293 4,516 5,141 41,689 42,301 -1.4

 New Orders.............................. 6,176 6,756 5,561 -8.6 21.5 -9.4 5,008 5,504 4,927 43,438 44,024 -1.3

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 6,393 6,848 5,459 -6.6 25.4 -14.9 6,513 6,330 6,791 51,592 53,401 -3.4

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 11,084 10,956 10,766 1.2 1.8 -0.6 11,579 10,159 10,945 86,196 80,717 6.8

 New Orders.............................. 11,002 10,690 10,989 2.9 -2.7 -1.2 11,281 10,199 10,145 88,857 84,523 5.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 60,162 62,877 57,208 -4.3 9.9 0.0 64,010 45,157 60,961 458,473 458,015 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 67,508 76,029 67,961 -11.2 11.9 9.1 69,832 55,155 61,620 513,914 483,486 6.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 40,653 43,186 39,101 -5.9 10.4 0.3 44,467 29,159 44,033 316,431 328,255 -3.6

 New Orders.............................. 40,361 43,015 38,917 -6.2 10.5 -0.8 43,618 29,535 43,449 315,077 329,866 -4.5 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 9,779 9,633 8,792 1.5 9.6 2.8 9,922 7,324 7,320 68,216 56,810 20.1

 New Orders.............................. 12,993 22,013 19,439 -41.0 13.2 37.1 12,757 18,258 6,992 121,729 82,363 47.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 3,446 3,842 3,251 -10.3 18.2 -7.5 3,429 3,214 3,416 26,289 24,898 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 5,690 3,974 3,161 43.2 25.7 14.1 5,430 2,436 2,402 23,658 23,300 1.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,789 37,758 37,505 0.1 0.7 -0.2 39,659 36,531 40,407 297,959 311,519 -4.4

 New Orders.............................. 37,519 37,850 37,612 -0.9 0.6 -1.1 38,981 36,799 39,918 299,375 311,561 -3.9

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 75,271 75,067 73,688 0.3 1.9 -0.8 75,044 67,139 73,508 581,071 578,669 0.4

 New Orders.............................. 81,787 91,389 84,431 -10.5 8.2 4.3 77,794 79,145 73,111 643,749 612,746 5.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 66,850 66,386 65,743 0.7 1.0 -0.5 66,700 59,232 65,442 516,918 517,004 0.0

 New Orders.............................. 70,929 81,124 77,389 -12.6 4.8 6.3 68,038 72,161 64,527 581,199 551,536 5.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 60,840 60,350 60,365 0.8 0.0 -0.8 60,379 55,106 60,800 475,573 481,365 -1.2

 New Orders........................ 62,148 62,601 62,018 -0.7 0.9 -0.2 59,430 56,855 60,182 488,840 495,894 -1.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 8,421 8,681 7,945 -3.0 9.3 -4.0 8,344 7,907 8,066 64,153 61,665 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,858 10,265 7,042 5.8 45.8 -13.9 9,756 6,984 8,584 62,550 61,210 2.2

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(06), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2001-2006."

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 equipmen

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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2007/

2007 2 2007 r 2007 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2007 2 2007 r 2006 2006

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 763,921 754,655 737,085 1.2 2.4 1.6 756,209 751,598 620,056 22.0

 Total Inventories....................... 312,565 312,856 312,622 -0.1 0.1 0.0 315,347 315,042 304,424 3.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 322,410 320,490 316,072 0.6 1.4 0.2 319,770 320,981 290,632 10.0

 Total Inventories....................... 234,952 235,255 235,363 -0.1 0.0 0.0 236,825 236,656 231,170 2.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 603,968 598,239 582,395 1.0 2.7 2.1 599,304 597,035 474,629 26.3

 Total Inventories....................... 291,531 291,681 291,528 -0.1 0.1 0.0 294,140 293,689 282,639 4.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 763,921 754,655 737,085 1.2 2.4 1.6 756,209 751,598 620,056 22.0

 Total Inventories....................... 246,808 246,665 246,276 0.1 0.2 0.0 248,807 248,393 236,742 5.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,724 26,891 26,946 -0.6 -0.2 -4.0 26,506 26,622 27,910 -5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 31,763 31,851 31,921 -0.3 -0.2 1.3 31,776 32,053 29,872 6.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 57,314 56,917 56,488 0.7 0.8 0.8 57,648 57,884 54,248 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 41,407 41,497 41,440 -0.2 0.1 -0.4 41,425 41,781 40,276 2.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 84,920 83,994 82,034 1.1 2.4 1.2 83,468 83,294 70,990 17.6

 Total Inventories....................... 51,074 50,966 50,668 0.2 0.6 0.5 51,394 50,908 48,114 6.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 115,509 114,393 112,135 1.0 2.0 0.1 114,124 114,181 103,913 9.8

 Total Inventories....................... 42,818 42,906 43,486 -0.2 -1.3 -0.6 43,859 43,436 44,649 -1.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,874 3,647 3,375 6.2 8.1 3.9 3,874 3,647 3,135 23.6

 Total Inventories....................... 4,440 4,397 4,436 1.0 -0.9 -0.3 4,716 4,454 4,646 1.5

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,379 34,886 33,712 1.4 3.5 0.3 34,639 34,924 31,856 8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 7,279 7,212 7,189 0.9 0.3 -1.1 7,382 7,203 7,533 -2.0

 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......................... 24,300 24,382 24,648 -0.3 -1.1 0.9 24,397 24,695 21,445 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,387 14,443 14,335 -0.4 0.8 0.0 14,387 14,498 14,180 1.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 441,511 434,165 421,013 1.7 3.1 2.6 436,439 430,617 329,424 32.5

 Total Inventories....................... 77,613 77,601 77,259 0.0 0.4 -0.2 78,522 78,386 73,254 7.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 20,200 20,492 20,663 -1.4 -0.8 -0.9 19,613 20,462 19,536 0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 24,387 24,652 24,567 -1.1 0.3 -1.8 24,465 24,850 25,253 -3.1 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 274,341 271,127 258,747 1.2 4.8 4.3 272,063 269,228 181,954 49.5

 Total Inventories....................... 31,075 30,785 30,521 0.9 0.9 1.0 31,661 31,180 25,233 25.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 43,052 40,808 40,676 5.5 0.3 -0.2 42,392 40,391 41,370 2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 12,816 12,833 12,711 -0.1 1.0 -0.1 12,895 12,946 12,563 2.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,643 13,913 13,821 -1.9 0.7 0.8 13,627 14,305 12,126 12.4

 Total Inventories....................... 53,503 53,592 53,513 -0.2 0.1 -0.2 53,984 53,980 54,079 -0.2

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 574,148 567,632 551,310 1.1 3.0 2.0 566,568 563,818 445,164 27.3

 Total Inventories....................... 139,227 139,059 138,416 0.1 0.5 0.2 140,969 139,745 132,366 6.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 427,705 423,626 408,888 1.0 3.6 2.9 422,972 421,634 311,670 35.7

 Total Inventories....................... 122,416 122,097 121,539 0.3 0.5 0.1 124,064 122,718 115,138 7.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 180,572 179,264 177,013 0.7 1.3 0.9 178,187 179,136 153,586 16.0

 Total Inventories................... 98,495 98,357 97,900 0.1 0.5 0.2 99,698 98,689 95,448 4.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 146,443 144,006 142,422 1.7 1.1 -0.6 143,596 142,184 133,494 7.6

 Total Inventories....................... 16,811 16,962 16,877 -0.9 0.5 0.4 16,905 17,027 17,228 -1.9

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 4,200 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 62 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 4,200 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 4,200 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.