FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (06)-3 

CB06-63

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

March 2006 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in March 

increased $13.3 billion or 6.1 percent to $230.6 billion, 

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

fifth increase in the last six months and followed a 3.4 

percent February increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders increased 2.8 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 6.0 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up five of the last six 

months, had the largest increase, $9.0 billion or 14.0 

percent to $73.3 billion. The increase was led by 

nondefense aircraft and parts, which increased $8.8 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up five of the last six months, increased $0.6 billion or 

0.3 percent to $219.9 billion. This followed a 0.4 

percent February increase. 

 Machinery, up following two consecutive monthly 

decreases, had the largest increase, $0.9 billion or 3.2 

percent to $28.9 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

March, up ten of the last eleven months, increased $18.0 

billion or 2.8 percent to $661.6 billion. This was at the 

highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 1.0 percent February 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up ten of the last eleven 

months, had the largest increase, $13.9 billion or 4.2 

percent to $347.1 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up six of the last seven months, increased $2.0 billion or 

0.7 percent to $289.4 billion. This followed a 0.4 

percent February decrease. 

 Computer and electronic products, up two of the last 

three months, had the largest increase, $1.0 billion or 2.3 

percent to $46.5 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in March 

increased $9.0 billion or 12.1 percent to $83.2 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $71.4 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $11.8 billion or 3.4 

percent to $362.4 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 

billion or 0.2 percent to $115.0 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in March 

increased $1.2 billion or 12.6 percent to $10.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 2.7 percent to $8.2 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $2.4 billion or 1.8 

percent to $131.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 1.0 percent to $15.7 billion. 

Revised February Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted February figures for all 

manufacturing industries are: new orders, $403.0 billion 

(revised from $401.9 billion); shipments, $405.0 billion 

(unchanged from last month); unfilled orders, $643.6 

billion (revised from $642.4 billion); and total 

inventories, $473.6 billion (revised from $473.8 billion). 

Figures in text, other than year-to-date, 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 May 3, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 24, 2006, 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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar Change

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2006 2005 06/05

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 219,919 219,369 218,461 0.3 0.4 -1.8 245,367 209,098 222,582 648,480 599,441 8.2

 New Orders4.............................. 230,606 217,284 210,119 6.1 3.4 -8.9 257,363 211,259 215,006 664,007 592,038 12.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 160,455 160,390 159,827 0.0 0.4 0.5 175,640 150,534 160,195 469,430 431,409 8.8

 New Orders4.............................. 157,265 152,940 154,564 2.8 -1.1 1.5 172,662 147,937 154,856 464,084 424,217 9.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 210,106 209,791 208,415 0.2 0.7 -2.0 234,335 199,981 212,440 620,313 573,023 8.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 218,552 206,127 203,843 6.0 1.1 -7.8 241,791 200,497 203,757 631,185 565,312 11.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 150,375 149,447 149,778 0.6 -0.2 -2.0 167,529 142,161 151,910 442,977 407,644 8.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 168,376 156,075 148,479 7.9 5.1 -12.1 187,377 153,013 151,489 481,379 421,296 14.3

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 16,878 16,790 16,948 0.5 -0.9 3.2 18,650 16,647 17,027 52,130 48,080 8.4

 New Orders.............................. 16,879 16,702 17,002 1.1 -1.8 1.3 18,859 17,137 17,066 53,730 48,659 10.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,499 25,376 25,451 0.5 -0.3 1.6 27,094 24,270 24,716 74,871 68,885 8.7

 New Orders.............................. 25,728 25,410 26,025 1.3 -2.4 3.1 28,050 24,966 25,608 77,814 71,884 8.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 28,935 28,046 28,652 3.2 -2.1 -1.6 32,561 26,281 28,577 84,075 75,946 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 30,037 27,929 30,247 7.5 -7.7 -3.2 33,470 28,405 28,158 90,003 80,619 11.6

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 38,277 39,595 37,877 -3.3 4.5 -1.9 43,627 36,430 41,247 112,398 106,056 6.0

 New Orders4.............................. 33,909 31,530 29,638 7.5 6.4 -1.4 38,916 29,182 35,559 94,462 90,110 4.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 8,416 8,326 8,325 1.1 0.0 -5.7 10,027 6,967 9,131 24,070 23,012 4.6

 New Orders.............................. 8,429 8,263 7,896 2.0 4.6 -12.4 10,040 6,904 8,474 23,591 22,138 6.6 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 6,298 6,270 6,399 0.4 -2.0 8.5 7,328 5,524 6,886 18,258 16,315 11.9

 New Orders.............................. 7,003 6,612 5,786 5.9 14.3 13.6 8,252 6,495 7,658 20,136 18,838 6.9

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 7,314 8,713 7,043 -16.1 23.7 -9.6 7,852 8,691 7,155 22,875 21,055 8.6

 New Orders4.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,268 10,093 10,244 1.7 -1.5 4.2 11,068 9,400 9,783 29,493 26,630 10.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,387 10,574 11,027 -1.8 -4.1 8.1 10,910 10,427 9,545 31,502 27,572 14.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 59,464 58,979 58,634 0.8 0.6 -7.6 69,727 58,564 62,387 179,050 168,032 6.6

 New Orders.............................. 73,341 64,344 55,555 14.0 15.8 -29.2 84,701 63,322 60,150 199,923 167,821 19.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 41,907 40,648 41,559 3.1 -2.2 -3.3 48,845 41,285 44,098 128,214 124,094 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 41,935 40,778 41,894 2.8 -2.7 -3.3 48,708 41,671 43,792 129,357 124,215 4.1 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,193 9,003 7,815 -9.0 15.2 -28.7 10,227 8,415 8,226 23,999 17,520 37.0

 New Orders.............................. 21,098 12,332 7,712 71.1 59.9 -70.1 22,504 10,934 6,238 40,434 17,540 130.5

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,705 3,942 3,721 -6.0 5.9 -3.7 4,294 3,606 4,107 10,770 10,513 2.4

 New Orders.............................. 3,872 3,898 4,786 -0.7 -18.6 -10.2 5,641 3,562 3,481 14,199 9,115 55.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 40,598 40,490 40,655 0.3 -0.4 1.9 42,640 37,506 38,845 116,463 105,812 10.1

 New Orders.............................. 40,325 40,795 40,625 -1.2 0.4 4.9 42,457 37,820 38,920 116,573 105,373 10.6

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 79,636 78,915 78,553 0.9 0.5 -3.5 90,471 72,992 80,262 230,190 207,163 11.1

 New Orders.............................. 93,783 83,618 75,938 12.2 10.1 -21.0 105,722 79,836 80,218 255,371 217,107 17.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,437 70,934 70,057 0.7 1.3 -4.4 81,390 65,306 71,715 206,563 184,798 11.8

 New Orders.............................. 83,213 74,234 71,392 12.1 4.0 -20.1 92,075 70,858 70,115 228,046 193,827 17.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,885 64,857 65,292 1.6 -0.7 0.0 74,217 59,652 67,189 191,089 176,351 8.4

 New Orders.......................... 68,185 66,212 66,750 3.0 -0.8 0.0 76,357 64,334 67,376 201,639 185,059 9.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,199 7,981 8,496 2.7 -6.1 4.1 9,081 7,686 8,547 23,627 22,365 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 10,570 9,384 4,546 12.6 106.4 -33.6 13,647 8,978 10,103 27,325 23,280 17.4

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 no

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, whic

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(04), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2004

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; vendin

laundry, and other machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material handling equipment; a

other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, an

control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; an

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 equipme

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 separatel
 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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar 2006/

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2005

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 661,591 643,590 636,962 2.8 1.0 -0.2 672,736 652,888 557,218 20.7

 Total Inventories....................... 289,397 287,398 288,690 0.7 -0.4 1.0 289,069 290,407 280,560 3.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 314,449 310,325 309,062 1.3 0.4 0.6 320,295 315,421 288,816 10.9

 Total Inventories....................... 222,252 220,697 221,376 0.7 -0.3 1.2 222,108 223,147 214,668 3.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 516,407 500,647 495,598 3.1 1.0 0.5 523,541 508,233 402,801 30.0

 Total Inventories....................... 269,791 268,065 269,266 0.6 -0.4 1.1 269,533 270,944 261,787 3.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 661,591 643,590 636,962 2.8 1.0 -0.2 672,736 652,888 557,218 20.7

 Total Inventories....................... 224,378 223,357 223,545 0.5 -0.1 1.0 223,975 225,384 218,039 2.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,219 24,218 24,306 0.0 -0.4 0.2 25,316 25,107 21,065 20.2

 Total Inventories....................... 24,641 24,582 24,274 0.2 1.3 1.6 24,725 24,834 24,493 0.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,250 49,021 48,987 0.5 0.1 1.2 49,939 48,983 44,809 11.4

 Total Inventories....................... 37,701 37,660 37,541 0.1 0.3 1.0 38,230 38,193 37,860 1.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 89,057 87,955 88,072 1.3 -0.1 1.8 91,396 90,487 79,273 15.3

 Total Inventories....................... 48,445 48,231 48,284 0.4 -0.1 1.0 48,531 48,942 46,159 5.1

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 118,052 115,106 114,458 2.6 0.6 -1.0 119,736 116,595 113,860 5.2

 Total Inventories....................... 46,506 45,479 46,664 2.3 -2.5 1.7 45,362 45,723 43,718 3.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 5,637 5,624 5,687 0.2 -1.1 -7.0 5,637 5,624 5,543 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 5,150 5,086 5,098 1.3 -0.2 -4.0 4,824 5,086 4,992 -3.4

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,610 36,905 36,563 1.9 0.9 -1.6 38,347 37,423 37,748 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 10,144 10,451 10,435 -2.9 0.2 3.4 9,871 10,605 10,193 -3.2

 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......................... 20,318 20,199 19,718 0.6 2.4 4.1 20,528 20,686 16,353 25.5

 Total Inventories....................... 13,400 13,379 13,403 0.2 -0.2 1.8 13,595 13,686 12,788 6.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 347,142 333,265 327,900 4.2 1.6 -0.9 352,441 337,467 268,402 31.3

 Total Inventories....................... 67,145 66,701 67,314 0.7 -0.9 0.2 66,961 67,260 65,892 1.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,495 17,467 17,337 0.2 0.7 2.0 18,164 18,301 15,391 18.0

 Total Inventories....................... 24,213 24,307 24,394 -0.4 -0.4 0.0 24,293 24,412 24,553 -1.1 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 207,238 194,333 191,004 6.6 1.7 -0.1 208,852 196,575 122,606 70.3

 Total Inventories....................... 23,230 23,009 23,340 1.0 -1.4 2.7 23,036 23,267 22,463 2.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,558 53,391 53,435 0.3 -0.1 2.0 55,008 53,661 53,999 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 11,696 11,583 11,678 1.0 -0.8 -1.0 11,657 11,677 11,082 5.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,553 13,826 13,521 -2.0 2.3 -0.2 13,380 13,563 13,456 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 51,559 51,366 51,210 0.4 0.3 0.8 51,665 51,769 49,650 4.1

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 494,055 479,908 475,205 2.9 1.0 -0.5 502,020 486,769 408,388 22.9

 Total Inventories....................... 130,643 130,233 130,421 0.3 -0.1 1.0 129,620 131,464 124,754 3.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 362,372 350,596 347,296 3.4 1.0 0.4 366,707 356,022 266,993 37.3

 Total Inventories....................... 114,955 114,696 114,865 0.2 -0.1 1.2 113,963 115,891 109,636 3.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 180,178 177,878 176,523 1.3 0.8 0.8 183,305 181,165 165,659 10.7

 Total Inventories................... 96,041 96,029 95,935 0.0 0.1 1.0 95,174 96,976 91,765 3.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 131,683 129,312 127,909 1.8 1.1 -3.0 135,313 130,747 141,395 -4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 15,688 15,537 15,556 1.0 -0.1 -0.7 15,657 15,573 15,118 3.6

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
NOTICE

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on 

May 19, 2006. These revisions reflect:

• benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2004 Annual Survey of Manufactures

(ASM) data;

• adjusting new orders and order backlog to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments

and inventory data;

• correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to

previously reported data; and

• updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series.

For revised historical data go to http://www.census.gov/m3/hist/naicshist.htm. An accompanying

press release will include the revised 2006 January through March data. Please call Chris Savage on

(301)763-4832 with questions.

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), and end-of-month total inventory (at current cost or market value). 

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-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 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.

Additional survey documentation can be found on our web site: http://www.census.gov/m3/.