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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2018 

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS MAY 2018 

Release Number: CB 18-87 M3-1 (18)-05 

June 27, 2018 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the May advance report on manufacturers’ shipments, 

inventories and orders: 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased $1.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $248.8 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down two consecutive months, followed a 1.0 

percent April decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.3 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders decreased 1.5 percent. Transportation equipment, also down two consecutive months, led the 

decrease, $0.9 billion or 1.0 percent to $86.1 billion. 

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, down following nine consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $246.9 billion. This followed a virtually unchanged April increase. 

Transportation equipment, down two consecutive months, drove the decrease, $0.5 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$82.1 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in May, up six of the last seven months, increased $5.9 

billion or 0.5 percent to $1,160.6 billion. This followed a 0.6 percent April increase. Transportation 

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

MAY 2018 $248.8 billion             ‐0.6%°   

APRIL 2018  

(revised) $250.2 billion             ‐1.0%°

Next release: July 26, 2018

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes. 

°Statistical significance is not measurable for this survey. The Manufacturers' 

Shipments, Inventories, and Orders estimates are not based on a probability sample, 

so the sampling error of these estimates cannot be measured nor can the 

confidence intervals be computed. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders, 

June 27, 2018.

Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Mar-18 Apr-18 May-18

% Change 7.1% -7.4% 2.7% 4.7% -4.1% 2.2% 3.2% -4.2% 4.5% 2.7% -1.0% -0.6%

-8.0%

-7.0%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2017-2018

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders,

June 27, 2018.
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equipment, also up six of the last seven months, led the increase, $4.0 billion or 0.5 percent to $800.3 

billion. 

Inventories 

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, up eighteen of the last nineteen months, increased $1.1 

billion or 0.3 percent to $403.0 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent April increase. Transportation 

equipment, up five of the last six months, led the increase $0.5 billion or 0.4 percent to $129.0 billion. 

Capital Goods 

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May decreased $1.6 billion or 2.0 percent to $77.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $2.3 billion or 3.0 percent to $76.4 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.7 billion or 

0.1 percent to $714.5 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 billion or 0.2 percent to $176.6 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in May increased $1.7 billion or 15.1 percent to $13.3 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.5 billion or 4.4 percent to $11.5 billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.8 billion or 1.2 percent to 

$147.0 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or 0.5 percent to $22.4 billion. 

Revised April Data

Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $496.0 billion 

(revised from $494.4 billion); shipments, $492.9 billion (revised from $492.8 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,154.6 billion (revised from $1,153.1 billion) and total inventories, $666.9 billion (unchanged). 

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on July 3, 2018, at 

10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for June is scheduled for release on July 26, 2018 

at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room:<www.census.gov/economicindicators/>. The full text and tables of this release can be found at <www.census.gov/m3>. 

EXPLANATORY NOTES 

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders exclude 

data for semiconductor manufacturing. 

“Virtually unchanged” indicates that the change is less than 0.05 percent for a percent increase or decrease. 
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Description of the survey 

This report is compiled from results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, 

and Orders (M3) survey, which is a voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. This 

survey provides statistics on a calendar-month basis for 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). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting 

units that represent approximately 3,100 companies and provide an indication of month-to-month change for 

the Manufacturing Sector. These reporting units may be divisions of diversified large companies, large 

homogenous companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 92 industry categories, which are combined into 65 

publication levels due to the small monthly panel size. The survey methodology assumes that the month-tomonth changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel effectively represent the monthto-month movements of all establishments that make up the category. The companies for which shipments 

data are currently reported or imputed in the M3 survey represent approximately 64 percent of the total 

value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 Economic Census, and these companies 

include almost two-thirds of the manufacturing companies with $500 million or more in shipments in the 

2012 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments data are currently reported in the M3 survey 

represent approximately 57 percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 

2012 Economic Census. Statistics based on the M3 panel differ from the results that would be obtained 

from a complete enumeration of all manufacturing companies. The M3 panel is not based on 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: 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 

RESOURCES 

API 

The Census Bureau’s application programming interface (API) lets developers create custom apps to reach 

new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever 

before. 

<www.census.gov/developers/> 
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NEW TIME SERIES 

Beginning with the release of June 2018 data on July 26, 2018, historical estimates of the Monthly Advance 

Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders will be available on a seasonally adjusted 

basis as well as a not seasonally adjusted basis at: <https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/>. Also, 

monthly data for the Advance report will be available in the Census Application Programming Interface 

(API). 

FRED Mobile App 

Receive the latest updates on the nation’s key economic indicators by downloading 

the FRED App <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/fred-mobile/> for both Apple and 

Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. 

Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau’s 13 economic indicators. 

Benchmark notice 

Revised historical data from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey were 

issued on May 17, 2018. These revisions result from: 

• benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2016 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) and revised 2015 ASM data on a 2012 NAICS basis; 

• incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2016/2015 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders (M3UFO) Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments data, as 

well as incorporating revised unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years by applying them to the 

respective ASM shipments data; 

• adjusting the new orders data to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and unfilled orders data; 

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

reported data; 

• updating the seasonally adjusted data based on the results of benchmarking and the recent annual review 

of the seasonal adjustment models. 

These revisions spanned the seasonally adjusted data for January 2002 through March 2018 and the data not 

seasonally adjusted for January 2007 through March 2018. An updated Press Release contains revised 

monthly tables for January 2018 through March 2018. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 with any 

questions. 

###
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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May Change

2018 2 2018 r 2018 May 2 Apr r Mar 2018 2 2018 r 2017 2018 2017 2018/2017

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 246,886 247,100 247,016 -0.1 0.0 0.8 254,171 244,141 240,593 1,214,570 1,134,937 7.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 248,755 250,169 252,760 -0.6 -1.0 2.7 252,381 245,376 229,437 1,223,215 1,113,124 9.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 164,777 164,501 162,374 0.2 1.3 -0.1 169,234 163,164 157,734 802,299 743,494 7.9

 New Orders

4

.............................. 162,627 163,137 160,063 -0.3 1.9 0.5 167,168 163,553 155,056 802,601 742,058 8.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 233,362 233,214 234,494 0.1 -0.5 1.1 241,037 231,623 228,808 1,151,270 1,077,298 6.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 233,266 236,792 240,341 -1.5 -1.5 4.3 239,065 233,769 221,277 1,160,085 1,061,775 9.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 173,581 171,706 172,312 1.1 -0.4 1.1 179,240 167,602 167,154 844,541 784,716 7.6

 New Orders.............................. 179,519 178,561 181,891 0.5 -1.8 3.6 180,829 172,466 159,152 871,912 782,050 11.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 21,165 21,292 20,792 -0.6 2.4 2.8 22,433 21,728 19,608 105,415 92,370 14.1

 New Orders.............................. 21,835 21,921 21,415 -0.4 2.4 4.7 22,448 22,374 19,214 108,455 93,680 15.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 32,783 32,653 31,937 0.4 2.2 -0.1 34,305 32,685 31,368 159,842 144,343 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 33,442 33,848 32,775 -1.2 3.3 1.3 35,564 34,649 32,252 167,697 149,945 11.8

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,260 32,227 32,079 0.1 0.5 -1.4 33,539 32,591 31,959 160,976 148,997 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 32,536 32,447 31,903 0.3 1.7 -3.1 33,255 33,111 32,134 164,391 154,268 6.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,610 26,476 26,071 0.5 1.6 -0.8 25,113 24,353 23,483 124,308 117,515 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 22,933 22,951 22,513 -0.1 1.9 1.5 22,029 21,150 19,946 108,413 100,937 7.4

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,800 1,818 1,631 -1.0 11.5 -5.8 1,618 1,595 1,814 7,818 9,048 -13.6

 New Orders.............................. 1,802 1,822 1,721 -1.1 5.9 -1.8 1,620 1,599 1,810 7,942 9,126 -13.0

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,415 3,482 3,380 -1.9 3.0 1.8 3,183 3,113 2,953 15,636 14,077 11.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,688 3,489 3,357 5.7 3.9 0.5 3,288 3,242 2,822 16,693 15,635 6.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 11,339 11,380 11,179 -0.4 1.8 0.9 11,581 11,132 10,848 54,547 51,508 5.9

 New Orders.............................. 11,335 11,511 11,279 -1.5 2.1 2.5 11,586 11,282 10,910 55,379 52,726 5.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 82,109 82,599 84,642 -0.6 -2.4 2.5 84,937 80,977 82,859 412,271 391,443 5.3

 New Orders.............................. 86,128 87,032 92,697 -1.0 -6.1 6.9 85,213 81,823 74,381 420,614 371,066 13.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,418 57,956 57,087 -4.4 1.5 0.5 57,570 58,859 57,200 288,144 272,362 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 55,555 58,001 57,340 -4.2 1.2 0.6 57,807 58,426 57,390 288,899 273,616 5.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,342 10,885 14,927 22.6 -27.1 16.5 13,848 9,182 13,049 60,515 59,543 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 14,807 15,928 22,845 -7.0 -30.3 60.8 12,999 11,526 8,260 68,239 44,798 52.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,567 4,412 4,180 3.5 5.6 -8.4 4,539 3,653 4,310 20,594 19,839 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,863 4,017 3,581 21.1 12.2 -7.7 4,404 3,418 3,274 17,897 22,022 -18.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 40,620 40,473 40,316 0.4 0.4 -0.2 42,263 40,675 40,468 197,211 188,761 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 40,546 40,459 40,178 0.2 0.7 -0.5 42,286 40,987 40,600 198,266 190,502 4.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 87,972 86,257 88,306 2.0 -2.3 2.1 88,524 82,093 82,303 421,684 389,397 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 90,459 90,285 94,837 0.2 -4.8 4.2 86,886 84,398 74,229 434,063 378,376 14.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 76,441 74,191 77,654 3.0 -4.5 2.7 77,288 70,983 72,468 367,481 341,314 7.7

 New Orders.............................. 77,147 78,722 84,205 -2.0 -6.5 8.7 75,570 74,359 67,837 379,718 338,310 12.2

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,311 67,408 66,728 -0.1 1.0 -0.7 67,566 65,581 63,721 327,713 303,517 8.0

 New Orders.......................... 67,865 67,976 66,478 -0.2 2.3 -1.0 67,867 66,749 63,649 334,175 312,799 6.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 11,531 12,066 10,652 -4.4 13.3 -2.1 11,236 11,110 9,835 54,203 48,083 12.7

 New Orders.............................. 13,312 11,563 10,632 15.1 8.8 -21.2 11,316 10,039 6,392 54,345 40,066 35.6

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 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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, May Advance Report, June 27, 2018. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website at 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 
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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May 2018/

2018 2 2018 r 2018 May 2 Apr r Mar 2018 2 2018 r 2017 2017

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,160,562 1,154,624 1,147,769 0.5 0.6 0.8 1,163,783 1,162,194 1,112,001 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 402,977 401,861 400,538 0.3 0.3 0.2 406,321 404,137 386,991 5.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 360,213 358,294 355,872 0.5 0.7 0.4 365,601 364,288 347,395 5.2

 Total Inventories....................... 273,995 273,398 272,421 0.2 0.4 0.5 276,184 274,765 261,393 5.7

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 980,096 976,123 968,759 0.4 0.8 1.0 983,772 982,365 935,328 5.2

 Total Inventories....................... 376,284 375,212 373,588 0.3 0.4 0.2 379,400 377,430 360,418 5.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,160,562 1,154,624 1,147,769 0.5 0.6 0.8 1,163,783 1,162,194 1,112,001 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 327,761 327,025 325,827 0.2 0.4 0.2 330,705 328,962 314,906 5.0

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 30,454 29,784 29,155 2.2 2.2 2.2 30,918 30,903 27,185 13.7

 Total Inventories....................... 34,690 34,346 34,056 1.0 0.9 1.0 34,660 34,256 31,832 8.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 83,256 82,597 81,402 0.8 1.5 1.0 85,229 83,970 77,299 10.3

 Total Inventories....................... 52,158 52,050 51,592 0.2 0.9 0.7 52,591 52,493 48,680 8.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 103,955 103,679 103,459 0.3 0.2 -0.2 104,752 105,036 101,178 3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 67,719 67,771 67,751 -0.1 0.0 0.7 68,236 68,099 65,201 4.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 114,224 113,832 113,571 0.3 0.2 0.2 115,301 115,006 112,053 2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 43,254 43,288 43,211 -0.1 0.2 -0.1 44,010 43,619 42,467 3.6

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,002 2,000 1,996 0.1 0.2 4.7 2,002 2,000 1,657 20.8

 Total Inventories....................... 3,675 3,653 3,676 0.6 -0.6 -1.0 3,776 3,610 3,798 -0.6

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,809 25,536 25,529 1.1 0.0 -0.1 26,116 26,011 23,958 9.0

 Total Inventories....................... 5,445 5,396 5,271 0.9 2.4 -0.5 5,559 5,369 5,391 3.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 19,363 19,367 19,236 0.0 0.7 0.5 19,864 19,859 19,866 0.0

 Total Inventories....................... 18,547 18,447 18,400 0.5 0.3 0.3 18,890 18,689 17,638 7.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 800,349 796,330 791,897 0.5 0.6 1.0 798,182 797,906 764,606 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 128,982 128,463 128,117 0.4 0.3 -0.5 130,137 129,372 125,598 3.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,836 26,699 26,654 0.5 0.2 1.0 27,262 27,025 25,736 5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 35,989 35,651 35,671 0.9 -0.1 0.4 36,022 35,607 33,388 7.9

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 602,863 601,398 596,355 0.2 0.8 1.3 600,834 601,683 572,967 4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 65,597 65,548 64,913 0.1 1.0 -1.2 66,669 66,556 64,999 2.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 69,551 69,255 69,650 0.4 -0.6 -0.9 69,797 69,932 73,979 -5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 12,784 12,724 12,910 0.5 -1.4 0.1 12,882 12,748 12,654 1.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,961 9,035 9,049 -0.8 -0.2 -1.5 9,537 9,514 9,814 -2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 57,627 57,496 57,411 0.2 0.1 0.3 57,797 57,609 55,575 4.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 861,499 859,012 854,984 0.3 0.5 0.8 861,472 863,110 827,693 4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 198,938 198,473 197,966 0.2 0.3 -0.1 201,291 199,643 193,492 4.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 714,506 713,800 709,269 0.1 0.6 0.9 715,049 716,767 687,268 4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 176,577 176,219 175,394 0.2 0.5 -0.1 178,800 177,355 171,633 4.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 218,403 217,849 217,281 0.3 0.3 -0.1 220,952 220,651 216,866 1.9

 Total Inventories................... 122,831 122,649 122,438 0.1 0.2 0.4 124,022 122,939 118,886 4.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 146,993 145,212 145,715 1.2 -0.3 0.0 146,423 146,343 140,425 4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 22,361 22,254 22,572 0.5 -1.4 0.1 22,491 22,288 21,859 2.9

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 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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, May Advance Report, June 27, 2018. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on 

our website at <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.