FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-05 

CB11-115

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

May 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in May 

increased $3.6 billion or 1.9 percent to $195.6 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, 

up two of the last three months, followed a 2.7 percent 

April decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders 

increased 0.6 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 1.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $2.7 billion or 5.8 

percent to $49.6 billion. This was due to nondefense 

aircraft and parts which increased $2.7 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, up 

five of the last six months, increased $0.6 billion or 0.3 

percent to $194.6 billion. This followed a 1.4 percent 

April decrease. 

 Machinery, up three of the last four months, had the 

largest increase, $0.5 billion or 2.0 percent to $28.3 

billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

May, up thirteen of the last fourteen months, increased 

$7.4 billion or 0.9 percent to $860.2 billion. This 

followed a 0.5 percent April increase. 

 Machinery, up sixteen consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $3.5 billion or 3.4 percent to $108.7 

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

first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 

3.7 percent April increase. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, up 

seventeen consecutive months, increased $4.1 billion or 

1.2 percent to $355.4 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 1.2 percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up seventeen 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $1.7 billion 

or 1.6 percent to $107.8 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.9 percent April 

increase. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May 

increased $4.0 billion or 5.8 percent to $72.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.7 billion or 1.0 percent to $66.8 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.1 billion or 1.2 

percent to $502.8 billion. Inventories increased $2.0 

billion or 1.3 percent to $160.2 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in May increased 

$0.3 billion or 3.9 percent to $8.7 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.1 billion or 1.1 percent to $7.9 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $0.8 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$149.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 billion or 1.9 

percent to $20.8 billion. 

Revised April Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $442.1 

billion (revised from $440.4 billion); shipments, $444.1 

billion (revised from $444.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$852.9 billion (revised from $850.7 billion); and total 

inventories, $588.7 billion (revised from $587.8 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 July 5, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for June is scheduled for release on July 27, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. 
 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 

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

2011 2 2011 r 2011 May 2 Apr r Mar 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 194,622 194,031 196,879 0.3 -1.4 3.1 195,548 192,382 182,118 949,278 882,659 7.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 195,565 191,952 197,329 1.9 -2.7 4.6 193,874 186,153 175,009 953,553 869,273 9.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 148,527 147,771 148,816 0.5 -0.7 2.5 149,985 148,409 139,551 723,292 666,123 8.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 145,997 145,081 145,601 0.6 -0.4 2.6 146,959 144,294 135,682 717,921 655,443 9.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 184,580 183,873 186,258 0.4 -1.3 3.2 185,757 182,813 170,434 899,685 820,993 9.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 184,625 181,242 186,578 1.9 -2.9 4.2 184,737 177,189 164,851 897,391 806,263 11.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 140,391 139,458 142,338 0.7 -2.0 3.6 141,803 136,633 131,511 683,052 633,807 7.8

 New Orders.............................. 147,773 144,117 148,388 2.5 -2.9 5.0 145,818 138,985 129,683 720,066 649,927 10.8

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 22,927 22,558 22,519 1.6 0.2 3.7 24,396 23,380 19,158 113,105 89,422 26.5

 New Orders.............................. 23,001 22,603 22,311 1.8 1.3 7.2 24,201 23,006 19,342 115,240 94,499 21.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,598 24,583 24,967 0.1 -1.5 2.4 25,244 24,422 24,198 120,012 113,966 5.3

 New Orders.............................. 24,619 24,609 25,143 0.0 -2.1 -2.0 25,616 24,836 23,987 125,254 117,846 6.3

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 28,257 27,712 29,222 2.0 -5.2 6.3 28,954 28,262 26,915 139,968 126,441 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 31,787 31,423 31,371 1.2 0.2 8.4 32,012 32,648 28,476 155,520 132,123 17.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 30,688 31,071 29,787 -1.2 4.3 -1.5 28,392 30,837 28,069 146,655 141,970 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 24,354 24,269 23,818 0.4 1.9 -3.4 21,617 21,802 22,069 114,432 112,357 1.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,569 5,706 5,631 -2.4 1.3 5.1 4,781 5,424 4,452 25,233 21,968 14.9

 New Orders.............................. 5,714 5,639 5,715 1.3 -1.3 10.3 4,926 5,357 4,645 25,072 21,955 14.2

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,116 3,241 3,132 -3.9 3.5 -7.0 2,966 2,846 3,666 15,025 17,604 -14.7

 New Orders.............................. 2,855 2,755 2,821 3.6 -2.3 -10.0 2,361 2,400 2,831 13,663 16,984 -19.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,181 9,986 10,238 2.0 -2.5 3.6 10,231 9,827 9,449 48,929 45,413 7.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,437 10,117 10,669 3.2 -5.2 3.1 10,521 9,849 9,772 51,455 47,950 7.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 46,095 46,260 48,063 -0.4 -3.8 5.1 45,563 43,973 42,567 225,986 216,536 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 49,568 46,871 51,728 5.8 -9.4 10.6 46,915 41,859 39,327 235,632 213,830 10.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 29,059 28,896 30,518 0.6 -5.3 6.9 28,903 27,870 25,760 143,656 128,639 11.7

 New Orders.............................. 29,026 28,852 30,479 0.6 -5.3 6.6 28,727 27,819 25,589 143,479 128,141 12.0

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 6,654 6,820 6,959 -2.4 -2.0 2.5 6,397 6,131 5,638 32,102 29,892 7.4

 New Orders.............................. 9,985 7,314 10,301 36.5 -29.0 2.3 8,791 4,650 5,189 38,869 30,306 28.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,252 4,196 4,412 1.3 -4.9 3.1 3,960 3,833 4,586 20,032 24,924 -19.6

 New Orders.............................. 4,729 4,482 4,500 5.5 -0.4 7.0 3,896 3,570 3,935 22,480 25,551 -12.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 31,876 31,861 32,083 0.0 -0.7 1.9 32,768 31,681 31,762 154,623 148,911 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 31,799 32,060 32,289 -0.8 -0.7 2.5 32,992 32,153 32,036 156,020 150,668 3.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 74,613 74,048 75,565 0.8 -2.0 3.6 73,474 71,652 69,634 359,703 343,589 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 81,546 77,239 81,655 5.6 -5.4 6.1 77,881 72,449 68,771 386,654 350,048 10.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 66,758 66,104 67,097 1.0 -1.5 3.6 65,711 64,033 60,141 320,269 293,087 9.3

 New Orders.............................. 72,869 68,885 72,979 5.8 -5.6 5.0 70,415 65,343 60,472 340,678 298,901 14.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,022 62,175 63,151 1.4 -1.5 3.7 62,051 60,516 56,962 302,468 275,799 9.7

 New Orders.......................... 66,121 65,060 65,571 1.6 -0.8 5.4 64,551 63,659 57,785 317,463 280,958 13.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,855 7,944 8,468 -1.1 -6.2 3.5 7,763 7,619 9,493 39,434 50,502 -21.9

 New Orders.............................. 8,677 8,354 8,676 3.9 -3.7 16.1 7,466 7,106 8,299 45,976 51,147 -10.1

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 

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2011 May 2 Apr r Mar 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 860,243 852,861 848,202 0.9 0.5 0.7 866,472 862,457 814,793 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 355,428 351,364 347,292 1.2 1.2 1.7 359,251 353,642 317,170 13.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 363,036 359,127 355,079 1.1 1.1 0.7 367,566 364,903 323,585 13.6

 Total Inventories....................... 247,657 245,325 242,184 1.0 1.3 1.4 249,892 246,348 224,260 11.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 692,480 685,996 681,889 0.9 0.6 0.9 696,499 691,830 649,486 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 329,316 325,636 321,379 1.1 1.3 1.6 333,086 327,767 291,986 14.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 860,243 852,861 848,202 0.9 0.5 0.7 866,472 862,457 814,793 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 291,204 287,615 283,901 1.2 1.3 2.0 294,403 289,684 257,580 14.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,221 33,147 33,102 0.2 0.1 -0.6 33,796 33,991 28,778 17.4

 Total Inventories....................... 33,858 33,328 32,589 1.6 2.3 2.2 34,434 33,586 29,240 17.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,689 62,668 62,642 0.0 0.0 0.3 64,530 64,158 62,535 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 44,760 44,113 43,442 1.5 1.5 1.4 44,992 44,347 40,248 11.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 108,739 105,209 101,498 3.4 3.7 2.2 109,830 106,772 81,964 34.0

 Total Inventories....................... 57,058 56,290 55,560 1.4 1.3 2.0 57,628 56,720 50,529 14.0

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,163 124,058 124,122 0.1 -0.1 -0.3 124,387 125,473 120,534 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 48,016 47,903 47,294 0.2 1.3 1.8 48,424 47,720 44,073 9.9

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,493 3,348 3,415 4.3 -2.0 2.5 3,493 3,348 3,531 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 5,772 5,803 5,424 -0.5 7.0 -0.6 6,033 5,709 5,888 2.5

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,141 28,402 28,888 -0.9 -1.7 -1.1 28,229 28,834 28,951 -2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 9,710 9,638 9,584 0.7 0.6 4.0 9,757 9,601 8,698 12.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,514 25,258 25,127 1.0 0.5 1.7 25,778 25,488 21,168 21.8

 Total Inventories....................... 15,466 15,393 15,247 0.5 1.0 0.8 15,649 15,560 14,254 9.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 497,207 493,734 493,123 0.7 0.1 0.7 498,906 497,554 491,208 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 107,771 106,039 105,108 1.6 0.9 2.4 109,359 107,294 92,910 17.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,466 13,499 13,543 -0.2 -0.3 -0.3 13,619 13,795 13,402 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 24,850 24,584 24,436 1.1 0.6 0.3 25,292 24,904 22,594 11.9

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 344,328 340,997 340,503 1.0 0.1 1.0 344,183 341,789 331,493 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 57,819 56,600 55,454 2.2 2.1 3.3 58,873 57,388 45,398 29.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,991 53,514 53,228 0.9 0.5 0.2 54,553 54,617 51,698 5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,574 14,259 14,371 2.2 -0.8 3.7 14,639 14,280 14,157 3.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,710 8,787 8,588 -0.9 2.3 2.5 9,245 9,021 8,606 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 48,499 48,298 48,052 0.4 0.5 0.3 48,765 48,415 45,916 6.2

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 651,909 644,976 641,785 1.1 0.5 1.0 655,163 650,756 616,660 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 181,014 178,632 176,148 1.3 1.4 2.5 183,263 179,871 158,216 15.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 502,756 496,645 493,864 1.2 0.6 1.2 503,949 499,245 468,654 7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 160,236 158,249 155,538 1.3 1.7 2.3 162,497 159,362 138,109 17.7

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 199,470 196,371 193,486 1.6 1.5 1.3 201,089 198,589 174,780 15.1

 Total Inventories................... 110,613 109,775 108,225 0.8 1.4 1.6 111,953 110,185 100,709 11.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 149,153 148,331 147,921 0.6 0.3 0.1 151,214 151,511 148,006 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 20,778 20,383 20,610 1.9 -1.1 4.2 20,766 20,509 20,107 3.3

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.