FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (12)-11 

CB12-248

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

November 2012 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November increased $1.6 billion or 0.7 percent to 

$220.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This increase, up six of the last seven months, 

followed a 1.1 percent October increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 1.6 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.8 percent. 

 

 Machinery, up three consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $1.0 billion or 3.3 percent to $32.0 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up four of the last five months, increased 

$3.4 billion or 1.5 percent to $227.1 billion. This 

followed a 0.1 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $1.4 billion or 2.2 

percent to $65.6 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent 

October decrease. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November, up five of the last six months, increased $1.1 

billion or 0.1 percent to $984.4 billion. This increase 

followed a 0.3 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up five of the last six 

months, had the largest increase, $1.8 billion or 0.3 

percent to $579.5 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up thirty-four of the last thirty-five months, 

increased $0.7 billion or 0.2 percent to $374.7 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.3 

percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up thirty-four of the 

last thirty-five months, had the largest increase, $0.8 

billion or 0.7 percent to $114.3 billion. This was also at 

the highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November 

decreased $2.1 billion or 2.8 percent to $70.8 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.9 billion or 1.3 percent to $71.3 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.5 billion or 0.1 

percent to $583.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.6 

billion or 0.3 percent to $174.0 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in November 

decreased $0.1 billion or 0.7 percent to $7.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 2.4 percent to $8.5 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.0 billion or 0.6 

percent to $163.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 1.1 percent to $21.1 billion. 

Revised October Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $478.9 

billion (revised from $477.6 billion); shipments, $483.2 

billion (revised from $482.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$983.4 billion (revised from $982.9 billion); and total 

inventories, $615.3 billion (revised from $616.0 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 January 4, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for December is scheduled for release on January 28, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for

survey description. To receive the latest updates on the Nation's key economic indicators, download the America's Economy app 

for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders 1

[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 Percent

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov Change

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2012 2011 12/11

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 227,050 223,612 223,480 1.5 0.1 0.5 220,045 233,169 207,252 2,468,395 2,299,849 7.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 220,941 219,305 216,865 0.7 1.1 9.1 210,119 222,517 208,997 2,389,415 2,285,968 4.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 161,419 159,413 159,070 1.3 0.2 0.4 154,502 165,551 149,437 1,763,228 1,665,780 5.8

 New Orders

4

.............................. 153,542 151,126 148,299 1.6 1.9 1.7 144,330 153,476 144,318 1,674,541 1,629,176 2.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 216,040 212,760 212,633 1.5 0.1 0.5 208,793 222,811 196,801 2,350,483 2,178,346 7.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 210,190 208,477 205,843 0.8 1.3 8.5 200,888 213,822 200,932 2,276,535 2,161,230 5.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 160,380 157,895 157,169 1.6 0.5 0.7 154,959 160,449 146,073 1,734,508 1,623,624 6.8

 New Orders.............................. 161,431 161,167 157,989 0.2 2.0 13.3 151,719 160,127 154,438 1,735,423 1,684,559 3.0

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 29,231 28,081 28,242 4.1 -0.6 0.8 27,012 28,428 25,795 317,093 278,800 13.7

 New Orders.............................. 29,327 28,642 27,966 2.4 2.4 3.9 27,329 28,683 27,382 311,501 279,353 11.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,431 27,278 27,193 0.6 0.3 -0.2 26,339 28,909 26,093 304,487 291,763 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 27,725 27,197 27,013 1.9 0.7 -1.5 25,775 27,930 26,214 307,938 297,567 3.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 33,653 32,622 32,204 3.2 1.3 -0.8 31,697 33,075 28,481 355,301 324,265 9.6

 New Orders.............................. 31,984 30,968 29,936 3.3 3.4 7.8 29,333 31,923 29,411 342,954 353,774 -3.1

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,590 28,045 28,069 -1.6 -0.1 2.3 26,879 30,068 27,722 308,374 310,479 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 20,785 20,764 20,318 0.1 2.2 -0.5 19,144 19,630 19,546 233,455 234,135 -0.3

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,463 2,442 2,692 0.9 -9.3 0.9 2,307 2,320 2,888 29,408 33,127 -11.2

 New Orders.............................. 2,536 2,460 2,718 3.1 -9.5 -0.2 2,380 2,338 2,905 29,532 33,031 -10.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,087 3,289 3,011 -6.1 9.2 -2.4 3,103 3,069 3,169 33,517 35,257 -4.9

 New Orders.............................. 3,521 3,488 2,795 0.9 24.8 -6.2 2,895 3,291 2,296 36,399 33,800 7.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,962 9,852 9,798 1.1 0.6 -0.9 9,805 10,064 9,524 109,694 106,834 2.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,153 9,970 9,445 1.8 5.6 -3.8 9,931 10,144 9,746 109,674 110,096 -0.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 65,631 64,199 64,410 2.2 -0.3 0.8 65,543 67,618 57,815 705,167 634,069 11.2

 New Orders.............................. 67,399 68,179 68,566 -1.1 -0.6 29.7 65,789 69,041 64,679 714,874 656,792 8.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 44,125 42,790 43,053 3.1 -0.6 -1.1 44,032 47,593 39,134 481,946 428,816 12.4

 New Orders.............................. 44,194 42,685 42,746 3.5 -0.1 -1.7 44,375 47,449 39,468 480,618 428,591 12.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 10,505 10,478 10,426 0.3 0.5 13.6 10,559 9,457 8,487 103,630 85,037 21.9

 New Orders.............................. 12,619 14,652 14,616 -13.9 0.2 2,642.2 11,878 12,353 16,739 122,718 107,955 13.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,715 4,526 4,456 4.2 1.6 -2.9 4,807 4,158 4,075 49,804 48,746 2.2

 New Orders.............................. 4,969 5,669 5,923 -12.3 -4.3 31.9 4,761 4,997 4,121 51,750 50,547 2.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,552 33,535 33,564 0.1 -0.1 0.3 32,770 35,007 31,822 368,279 353,639 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 33,568 33,585 33,621 -0.1 -0.1 0.4 32,818 35,166 32,019 369,019 354,251 4.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 79,869 78,770 78,737 1.4 0.0 1.8 77,573 78,028 72,359 856,324 808,917 5.9

 New Orders.............................. 78,368 80,495 79,328 -2.6 1.5 24.2 72,141 77,638 78,401 861,989 862,167 0.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,330 70,433 70,173 1.3 0.4 1.4 68,805 70,028 64,332 764,913 712,003 7.4

 New Orders.............................. 70,818 72,895 70,938 -2.8 2.8 22.8 66,090 71,836 72,594 776,535 761,940 1.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 64,369 63,219 62,850 1.8 0.6 -0.3 61,733 63,498 59,016 696,641 661,661 5.3

 New Orders.......................... 63,604 61,925 60,013 2.7 3.2 -0.5 59,399 62,588 59,193 692,563 691,742 0.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,539 8,337 8,564 2.4 -2.7 5.4 8,768 8,000 8,027 91,411 96,914 -5.7

 New Orders.............................. 7,550 7,600 8,390 -0.7 -9.4 37.4 6,051 5,802 5,807 85,454 100,227 -14.7

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 Inventories 1

[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 Change

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2012/

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2011

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 984,447 983,396 980,124 0.1 0.3 0.1 966,838 970,078 937,209 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 374,651 373,926 372,820 0.2 0.3 0.2 374,791 374,351 358,176 4.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 404,984 405,701 406,409 -0.2 -0.2 -0.8 396,465 399,951 400,217 -0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 260,324 260,410 260,125 0.0 0.1 0.1 260,237 260,343 254,031 2.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 794,840 793,530 790,234 0.2 0.4 0.1 782,355 783,574 749,021 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 348,727 348,304 347,064 0.1 0.4 0.4 348,848 348,742 331,938 5.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 984,447 983,396 980,124 0.1 0.3 0.1 966,838 970,078 937,209 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 303,804 303,218 302,277 0.2 0.3 0.3 303,815 303,486 289,380 5.0

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,063 31,967 31,406 0.3 1.8 -0.9 30,410 30,093 33,703 -9.8

 Total Inventories....................... 34,464 34,542 34,285 -0.2 0.7 0.5 33,981 34,298 34,679 -2.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 83,079 82,785 82,866 0.4 -0.1 -0.2 80,822 81,386 77,204 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 46,146 46,191 46,069 -0.1 0.3 0.2 45,707 45,995 45,263 1.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,326 125,995 127,649 -1.3 -1.3 -1.7 122,115 124,479 132,435 -7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 66,603 66,833 66,990 -0.3 -0.2 0.0 67,115 66,747 62,662 7.1

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 137,076 136,721 136,423 0.3 0.2 -0.2 135,088 136,137 129,384 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 46,723 46,486 46,575 0.5 -0.2 0.2 47,187 46,866 46,202 2.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,280 1,207 1,189 6.0 1.5 2.2 1,280 1,207 1,168 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 3,845 3,880 3,806 -0.9 1.9 -3.4 4,013 3,974 4,325 -7.2

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,159 33,725 33,526 1.3 0.6 -0.6 33,843 34,051 30,945 9.4

 Total Inventories....................... 8,270 8,427 8,609 -1.9 -2.1 0.7 8,535 8,534 9,074 -5.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,062 20,871 20,753 0.9 0.6 -1.7 20,708 20,582 20,391 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 15,680 15,728 15,554 -0.3 1.1 0.8 15,518 15,658 14,968 3.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 579,463 577,695 573,715 0.3 0.7 0.7 570,373 570,127 536,992 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 114,327 113,516 112,695 0.7 0.7 0.5 114,554 114,008 104,145 10.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,088 16,019 16,124 0.4 -0.7 -1.9 15,790 15,447 16,318 -3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 25,534 25,541 25,290 0.0 1.0 0.5 25,833 25,868 24,682 4.7

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 410,040 407,926 403,752 0.5 1.0 1.0 404,845 403,526 364,472 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 62,325 61,857 61,158 0.8 1.1 1.5 62,168 61,946 53,944 15.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 63,101 62,847 61,704 0.4 1.9 2.4 61,302 61,348 57,938 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,628 13,178 13,170 3.4 0.1 -3.3 13,653 13,264 13,315 2.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,378 7,362 7,312 0.2 0.7 0.8 7,322 7,274 7,100 3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 50,708 50,630 50,652 0.2 0.0 -0.2 50,729 50,779 50,257 0.9

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 747,347 748,848 747,123 -0.2 0.2 0.1 735,111 740,543 707,465 3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 195,121 194,301 193,808 0.4 0.3 0.1 196,383 194,736 183,273 7.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 583,609 584,121 581,659 -0.1 0.4 0.1 575,737 578,452 542,622 6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 174,007 173,414 172,744 0.3 0.4 0.5 175,275 173,948 162,184 8.1

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 232,940 233,705 234,999 -0.3 -0.6 -1.2 229,329 231,663 231,191 -0.8

 Total Inventories................... 121,729 121,641 121,484 0.1 0.1 0.0 123,184 122,240 117,175 5.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 163,738 164,727 165,464 -0.6 -0.4 -0.1 159,374 162,091 164,843 -3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 21,114 20,887 21,064 1.1 -0.8 -2.5 21,108 20,788 21,089 0.1

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 65 

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. 

 

2013 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time) 

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time) 

October 2012 November 27, 2012 December 5, 2012 

November 2012 December 21, 2012 January 4, 2013 

December 2012 January 28, 2013 February 4, 2013 

January 2013 February 27, 2013 March 6, 2013 

February 2013 March 26, 2013 April 2, 2013 

March 2013 April 24, 2013 May 3, 2013 

April 2013 May 24, 2013 June 5, 2013 

May 2013 June 25, 2013 July 2, 2013 

June 2013 July 25, 2013 August 2, 2013 

July 2013 August 26, 2013 September 5, 2013 

August 2013 September 25, 2013 October 3, 2013 

September 2013 October 25, 2013 November 4, 2013 

October 2013 November 27, 2013 December 5, 2013 

November 2013 December 24, 2013 Not available at this time