FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (12)-5 

CB12-116

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

May 2012 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in May 

increased $2.3 billion or 1.1 percent to $217.2 billion, 

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

up following two consecutive monthly decreases, 

followed a 0.2 percent April decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.4 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up three of the last four 

months, had the largest increase, $1.7 billion or 2.7 

percent to $63.1 billion. This was led by nondefense 

aircraft and parts, which increased $0.4 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, up 

five of the last six months, increased $1.5 billion or 0.7 

percent to $224.1 billion. This followed a 0.7 percent 

April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up five of the last six 

months, had the largest increase, $1.0 billion or 1.6 

percent to $65.1 billion. This followed a 3.5 percent 

April increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

May, down two consecutive months, decreased $0.4 

billion to $984.5 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent 

April decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down three consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.0 billion or 0.4 

percent to $563.5 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, up 

twenty-eight of the last twenty-nine months, increased 

$1.8 billion or 0.5 percent to $365.8 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 April 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty-eight of the 

last twenty-nine months, had the largest increase, $1.5 

billion or 1.4 percent to $108.2 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 May 

increased $0.9 billion or 1.3 percent to $70.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.3 billion or 0.4 percent to $69.8 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.5 billion or 0.1 

percent to $584.6 billion. Inventories increased $1.4 

billion or 0.8 percent to $167.4 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in May increased 

$0.5 billion or 7.8 percent to $6.9 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.7 billion or 8.9 percent to $8.4 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased $1.5 billion or 0.9 percent to 

$162.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or 0.7 

percent to $20.9 billion. 

Revised April Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $465.5 

billion (revised from $466.0 billion); shipments, $473.2 

billion (unchanged); unfilled orders, $984.9 billion 

(revised from $985.4 billion); and total inventories, 

$606.9 billion (revised from $607.2 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 3, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for June is scheduled for release on July 26, 2012, 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 Percent

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

2012 2 2012 r 2012 May 2 Apr r Mar 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2012 2011 12/11

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 224,071 222,590 221,050 0.7 0.7 0.9 230,042 221,006 207,619 1,101,447 1,005,957 9.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 217,154 214,831 215,281 1.1 -0.2 -3.7 219,111 208,982 206,884 1,095,520 1,013,719 8.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 159,009 158,528 159,152 0.3 -0.4 0.3 162,888 159,276 151,453 787,848 725,914 8.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 154,075 153,411 154,372 0.4 -0.6 -0.8 156,937 152,880 149,415 777,597 722,219 7.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 213,194 212,487 210,043 0.3 1.2 0.5 219,062 211,500 196,456 1,049,445 949,289 10.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 207,834 206,376 204,474 0.7 0.9 -3.9 211,909 201,981 196,335 1,045,348 948,819 10.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 157,252 155,672 156,846 1.0 -0.7 1.2 162,149 152,767 148,120 777,280 710,734 9.4

 New Orders.............................. 156,896 154,383 157,098 1.6 -1.7 -5.4 157,255 149,099 153,304 803,613 751,255 7.0

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 28,487 28,484 28,387 0.0 0.3 -1.9 30,323 29,448 25,715 147,453 119,402 23.5

 New Orders.............................. 28,161 28,596 28,352 -1.5 0.9 0.6 28,976 29,394 25,466 147,111 121,073 21.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,555 27,549 27,535 0.0 0.1 -0.2 28,687 27,352 26,970 136,496 127,028 7.5

 New Orders.............................. 27,824 27,884 28,415 -0.2 -1.9 0.7 29,228 27,980 27,552 143,044 133,023 7.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 31,456 31,567 32,592 -0.4 -3.1 4.8 32,198 32,131 29,364 157,431 141,600 11.2

 New Orders.............................. 32,091 30,828 31,876 4.1 -3.3 -5.1 32,894 32,143 33,883 164,874 160,485 2.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 28,348 27,894 27,528 1.6 1.3 -2.5 27,002 27,746 26,886 135,217 136,158 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 22,747 22,963 22,597 -0.9 1.6 -0.8 20,880 20,683 19,554 109,126 102,972 6.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,890 2,853 2,877 1.3 -0.8 -6.3 2,386 2,217 2,524 12,781 12,902 -0.9

 New Orders.............................. 2,944 2,850 2,921 3.3 -2.4 -3.9 2,440 2,214 2,533 12,805 12,825 -0.2

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,296 3,059 3,075 7.7 -0.5 -1.8 3,141 2,634 3,135 14,624 15,755 -7.2

 New Orders.............................. 3,644 3,562 3,839 2.3 -7.2 5.7 3,131 3,097 2,426 16,927 14,057 20.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,005 9,947 10,016 0.6 -0.7 1.4 10,219 9,758 9,769 49,015 47,059 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 10,177 10,071 10,065 1.1 0.1 2.6 10,386 9,593 10,043 50,123 48,763 2.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 65,062 64,062 61,898 1.6 3.5 2.4 67,154 61,730 56,166 313,599 280,043 12.0

 New Orders.............................. 63,079 61,420 60,909 2.7 0.8 -10.5 62,174 56,102 57,469 317,923 291,500 9.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 44,340 44,164 41,622 0.4 6.1 1.9 46,557 43,502 38,127 216,190 190,049 13.8

 New Orders.............................. 44,295 44,072 41,677 0.5 5.7 1.8 46,186 43,351 37,955 215,689 189,935 13.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 9,663 9,447 8,929 2.3 5.8 -2.7 9,487 8,307 6,898 44,268 34,585 28.0

 New Orders.............................. 9,355 8,918 8,908 4.9 0.1 -46.6 8,119 5,416 9,299 53,933 41,587 29.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,663 4,156 5,063 12.2 -17.9 20.3 4,547 3,757 4,422 22,028 22,413 -1.7

 New Orders.............................. 3,999 3,740 5,855 6.9 -36.1 19.5 3,234 3,107 4,923 22,920 25,481 -10.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,158 33,087 33,094 0.2 0.0 0.7 34,459 32,841 32,749 162,236 154,667 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 33,075 33,069 33,067 0.0 0.0 0.2 34,573 33,087 32,917 163,319 155,903 4.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 78,253 77,256 78,410 1.3 -1.5 2.0 78,361 74,387 72,549 380,356 353,334 7.6

 New Orders.............................. 77,273 75,850 78,481 1.9 -3.4 -10.7 74,178 70,429 77,411 402,312 384,717 4.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 69,819 69,510 69,901 0.4 -0.6 1.3 69,754 66,968 63,468 339,831 307,115 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 70,359 69,438 70,030 1.3 -0.8 -12.2 68,990 65,137 69,158 363,688 330,960 9.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,590 63,315 64,293 0.4 -1.5 1.8 63,499 61,478 59,444 311,534 287,543 8.3

 New Orders.......................... 65,056 64,032 64,967 1.6 -1.4 -2.3 64,625 62,548 62,973 326,774 306,081 6.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,434 7,746 8,509 8.9 -9.0 8.8 8,607 7,419 9,081 40,525 46,219 -12.3

 New Orders.............................. 6,914 6,412 8,451 7.8 -24.1 4.0 5,188 5,292 8,253 38,624 53,757 -28.2

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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May 2012/

2012 2 2012 r 2012 May 2 Apr r Mar 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2011

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 984,541 984,897 986,186 0.0 -0.1 0.0 992,256 997,150 916,795 8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 365,817 363,994 362,921 0.5 0.3 0.4 370,011 366,255 349,320 5.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 421,088 419,461 418,108 0.4 0.3 0.3 427,266 427,180 391,069 9.3

 Total Inventories....................... 257,654 257,320 256,263 0.1 0.4 0.4 260,552 258,837 249,574 4.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 798,394 797,193 796,834 0.2 0.0 0.1 804,571 805,687 723,610 11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 340,153 338,453 337,681 0.5 0.2 0.5 344,312 340,605 322,666 6.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 984,541 984,897 986,186 0.0 -0.1 0.0 992,256 997,150 916,795 8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 296,736 295,019 294,235 0.6 0.3 0.2 300,428 297,166 282,201 6.5

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,184 35,510 35,398 -0.9 0.3 -0.1 35,660 37,007 34,821 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 34,546 34,689 35,060 -0.4 -1.1 -1.3 35,292 35,187 34,878 1.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 81,572 81,303 80,968 0.3 0.4 1.1 83,919 83,378 77,395 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 45,987 45,843 45,717 0.3 0.3 0.3 46,299 46,054 44,807 3.3

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 139,855 139,220 139,959 0.5 -0.5 -0.5 141,905 141,209 121,811 16.5

 Total Inventories....................... 65,723 65,127 64,156 0.9 1.5 0.3 66,637 65,712 59,096 12.8

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 135,694 134,734 133,195 0.7 1.2 0.8 136,281 136,366 130,485 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 45,949 46,240 46,119 -0.6 0.3 1.6 46,392 46,205 46,371 0.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,180 1,126 1,129 4.8 -0.3 4.1 1,180 1,126 1,187 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 4,079 4,145 4,142 -1.6 0.1 3.1 4,201 4,104 4,021 4.5

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,292 32,944 32,441 1.1 1.6 2.4 33,264 33,274 30,704 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 8,332 8,554 8,584 -2.6 -0.3 -0.1 8,352 8,476 9,006 -7.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,713 21,541 21,417 0.8 0.6 0.2 21,836 21,669 18,833 15.9

 Total Inventories....................... 15,485 15,437 15,365 0.3 0.5 -0.3 15,724 15,626 15,281 2.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 563,453 565,436 568,078 -0.4 -0.5 -0.2 564,990 569,970 525,726 7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 108,163 106,674 106,658 1.4 0.0 0.4 109,459 107,418 99,746 9.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,617 16,662 16,754 -0.3 -0.5 0.3 16,617 16,988 16,429 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 24,479 24,257 24,630 0.9 -1.5 0.4 24,748 24,407 23,656 4.6

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 394,983 395,291 395,820 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 395,422 396,790 348,556 13.4

 Total Inventories....................... 57,727 56,747 56,540 1.7 0.4 1.1 58,715 57,267 50,531 16.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 59,456 60,120 60,536 -1.1 -0.7 1.3 60,248 61,561 59,205 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,228 13,023 12,838 1.6 1.4 -3.7 13,229 12,993 13,175 0.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,070 7,153 7,171 -1.2 -0.3 -0.4 7,665 7,551 7,724 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 49,964 49,984 49,846 0.0 0.3 0.7 50,208 50,053 49,141 2.2

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 746,814 747,794 749,200 -0.1 -0.2 0.0 751,402 755,585 685,598 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 188,265 186,726 185,340 0.8 0.7 0.4 190,752 187,932 175,794 8.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 584,553 584,013 584,085 0.1 0.0 0.0 587,972 588,736 516,530 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 167,409 166,019 164,971 0.8 0.6 0.7 169,862 167,086 154,288 10.1

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 245,385 243,919 243,202 0.6 0.3 0.3 248,647 247,521 219,648 13.2

 Total Inventories................... 119,180 118,579 117,774 0.5 0.7 0.5 120,737 119,108 112,090 7.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 162,261 163,781 165,115 -0.9 -0.8 0.0 163,430 166,849 169,068 -3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 20,856 20,707 20,369 0.7 1.7 -1.7 20,890 20,846 21,506 -2.9

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-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.