FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-5 

CB 16-111

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

May 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in May 

decreased $5.3 billion or 2.2 percent to $230.7 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

decrease, down following two consecutive monthly 

increases, followed a 3.3 percent April increase. 

Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.3 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.9 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $4.8 

billion or 5.6 percent to $81.9 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, 

down three of the last four months, decreased $0.5 

billion or 0.2 percent to $231.7 billion. This followed a 

0.4 percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also down three of the last 

four months, led the decrease, $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent 

to $80.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

May, up four of the last five months, increased $2.0 

billion or 0.2 percent to $1,139.4 billion. This followed 

a 0.6 percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up three consecutive months, 

led the increase, $1.9 billion or 0.2 percent to $785.2 

billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, 

down ten of the last eleven months, decreased $1.1 

billion or 0.3 percent to $382.5 billion. This followed a 

0.4 percent April decrease. 

 Machinery, down nine of the last ten months, led the 

decrease, $0.5 billion or 0.8 percent to $65.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May 

decreased $0.6 billion or 0.8 percent to $73.8 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.8 billion or 1.2 percent to $72.8 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.1 billion or 0.2 

percent to $708.6 billion. Inventories decreased $0.6 

billion or 0.3 percent to $171.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in May 

decreased $3.7 billion or 28.0 percent to $9.5 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 2.1 percent to $9.8 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2 

percent to $140.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 

billion or 0.3 percent to $20.8 billion. 

Revised April Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $460.1 

billion (revised from $460.5 billion); shipments, $456.4 

billion (revised from $456.8 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,137.4 billion (revised from $1,137.3 billion); and 

total inventories, $619.8 billion (revised from $620.8 

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, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for June is scheduled 

for release on July 27, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. 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. To learn more about this 

release and the other indicators the U.S. Census Bureau publishes, join us for the Investigating Economic Indicators Webinar Series. For 

more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar. 

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

2016 2 2016 r 2016 May 2 Apr r Mar 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 231,744 232,234 231,225 -0.2 0.4 -0.7 233,942 229,009 233,361 1,145,936 1,146,881 -0.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 230,701 235,971 228,499 -2.2 3.3 2.0 227,761 228,389 217,137 1,130,114 1,111,657 1.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 151,702 151,829 151,308 -0.1 0.3 0.2 153,440 150,348 153,419 745,390 756,766 -1.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 148,758 149,200 148,523 -0.3 0.5 0.3 150,322 148,995 148,779 744,625 748,450 -0.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 219,772 220,856 218,706 -0.5 1.0 -0.8 222,365 218,662 221,915 1,087,942 1,091,702 -0.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 219,410 221,336 213,435 -0.9 3.7 -0.5 218,561 214,883 208,483 1,070,671 1,063,235 0.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 165,196 164,015 163,193 0.7 0.5 -0.2 167,016 159,964 165,508 807,561 813,548 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 167,182 170,691 163,609 -2.1 4.3 3.7 163,288 162,596 151,968 806,792 794,271 1.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,582 17,667 17,674 -0.5 0.0 0.2 18,055 17,898 19,652 89,415 101,496 -11.9

 New Orders.............................. 17,777 18,034 18,162 -1.4 -0.7 1.9 17,917 18,415 19,184 92,104 101,868 -9.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,031 29,996 29,512 0.1 1.6 -0.2 30,753 30,050 29,870 147,421 146,365 0.7

 New Orders.............................. 30,106 30,196 29,150 -0.3 3.6 -1.6 31,237 30,601 29,921 151,855 147,787 2.8

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,328 30,564 30,630 -0.8 -0.2 0.2 31,091 30,990 32,835 152,984 161,029 -5.0

 New Orders.............................. 29,335 29,393 29,991 -0.2 -2.0 0.1 29,549 30,206 30,989 152,264 159,683 -4.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,532 26,384 26,280 0.6 0.4 -0.2 25,248 24,328 24,356 125,349 120,778 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 24,331 24,362 23,703 -0.1 2.8 0.3 23,122 22,290 22,044 115,248 110,400 4.4

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,857 1,914 1,778 -3.0 7.6 -7.0 1,617 1,503 1,886 8,249 9,659 -14.6

 New Orders.............................. 1,860 1,907 1,775 -2.5 7.4 -7.1 1,620 1,496 1,818 8,210 9,745 -15.8

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,323 3,271 3,353 1.6 -2.4 1.4 3,250 2,906 3,220 15,535 15,949 -2.6

 New Orders.............................. 3,718 3,550 3,441 4.7 3.2 -3.6 3,336 3,380 3,339 17,527 18,228 -3.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,438 9,459 9,319 -0.2 1.5 -0.4 9,514 9,203 10,161 46,042 50,279 -8.4

 New Orders.............................. 9,436 9,449 9,467 -0.1 -0.2 -0.8 9,558 9,200 9,951 47,374 50,654 -6.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 80,042 80,405 79,917 -0.5 0.6 -2.5 80,502 78,661 79,942 400,546 390,115 2.7

 New Orders.............................. 81,943 86,771 79,976 -5.6 8.5 5.3 77,439 79,394 68,358 385,489 363,207 6.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 53,675 55,563 54,378 -3.4 2.2 -3.4 54,684 56,159 54,118 278,443 263,682 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 53,881 55,414 54,415 -2.8 1.8 -3.2 54,912 55,508 54,019 277,490 263,613 5.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 14,512 13,611 13,087 6.6 4.0 0.0 14,000 11,873 13,410 63,836 66,380 -3.8

 New Orders.............................. 17,484 17,318 10,226 1.0 69.4 -2.0 13,415 10,650 5,139 50,687 47,447 6.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,254 3,560 4,638 19.5 -23.2 4.5 4,054 3,088 4,507 19,991 21,198 -5.7

 New Orders.............................. 3,713 5,637 6,193 -34.1 -9.0 63.1 2,559 5,187 3,136 21,655 16,740 29.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,791 37,759 37,893 0.1 -0.4 1.1 38,779 37,879 36,545 184,179 176,819 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 37,773 37,766 38,050 0.0 -0.7 1.3 38,939 38,283 36,690 185,780 178,058 4.3

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,574 81,543 81,188 1.3 0.4 0.0 81,808 77,449 83,109 396,593 410,948 -3.5

 New Orders.............................. 83,301 87,601 81,189 -4.9 7.9 7.8 78,481 81,095 72,198 393,771 393,856 0.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 72,776 71,943 71,191 1.2 1.1 0.1 72,233 68,607 73,936 349,073 367,013 -4.9

 New Orders.............................. 73,849 74,480 68,490 -0.8 8.7 0.3 70,543 68,816 65,577 342,403 354,477 -3.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,088 63,396 63,001 -0.5 0.6 0.0 62,868 61,344 65,058 309,669 323,157 -4.2

 New Orders.......................... 62,407 62,842 63,109 -0.7 -0.4 0.3 61,551 61,703 63,208 315,396 326,909 -3.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,798 9,600 9,997 2.1 -4.0 -0.4 9,575 8,842 9,173 47,520 43,935 8.2

 New Orders.............................. 9,452 13,121 12,699 -28.0 3.3 80.7 7,938 12,279 6,621 51,368 39,379 30.4

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. 
 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 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 May 2 Apr r Mar 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,139,364 1,137,378 1,130,702 0.2 0.6 0.0 1,138,931 1,142,659 1,148,292 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 382,511 383,578 385,062 -0.3 -0.4 -0.2 385,308 385,603 395,588 -2.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 354,172 354,087 353,777 0.0 0.1 0.1 359,130 359,795 359,107 0.0

 Total Inventories....................... 257,997 258,633 259,897 -0.2 -0.5 -0.1 260,353 259,903 270,286 -3.7

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 964,204 961,537 958,118 0.3 0.4 -0.2 964,265 965,616 971,921 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 356,774 357,802 359,619 -0.3 -0.5 -0.1 359,469 359,835 369,598 -2.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,139,364 1,137,378 1,130,702 0.2 0.6 0.0 1,138,931 1,142,659 1,148,292 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 311,432 312,264 313,531 -0.3 -0.4 0.0 313,989 314,158 323,436 -2.9

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,747 32,552 32,185 0.6 1.1 1.5 33,302 33,440 33,487 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 31,141 31,264 31,870 -0.4 -1.9 -0.5 31,022 31,128 36,358 -14.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,064 73,989 73,789 0.1 0.3 -0.5 75,881 75,397 75,536 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 48,571 48,554 48,722 0.0 -0.3 -0.1 48,975 49,011 50,005 -2.1

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 93,373 94,366 95,537 -1.1 -1.2 -0.7 94,236 95,778 102,371 -7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 65,395 65,917 66,637 -0.8 -1.1 -0.1 66,302 66,309 69,464 -4.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 128,334 127,506 126,589 0.6 0.7 0.4 129,143 128,816 121,938 5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 42,745 42,785 42,741 -0.1 0.1 0.6 43,407 43,022 43,786 -0.9

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,408 2,405 2,412 0.1 -0.3 -0.1 2,408 2,405 2,366 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 3,578 3,595 3,656 -0.5 -1.7 1.2 3,687 3,559 4,111 -10.3

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,468 34,073 33,794 1.2 0.8 0.3 34,754 34,668 31,282 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 4,702 4,681 4,626 0.4 1.2 -0.7 4,740 4,634 5,192 -8.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,344 17,346 17,356 0.0 -0.1 0.9 17,635 17,591 17,127 3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 16,359 16,343 16,261 0.1 0.5 0.1 16,577 16,536 16,984 -2.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 785,192 783,291 776,925 0.2 0.8 0.0 779,801 782,864 789,185 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 124,514 124,945 125,165 -0.3 -0.2 -0.3 124,955 125,700 125,302 -0.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,546 22,340 22,489 0.9 -0.7 0.2 22,606 22,378 23,926 -5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 33,433 33,805 34,484 -1.1 -2.0 -0.5 33,332 33,915 35,074 -5.0

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 602,154 599,182 595,475 0.5 0.6 -0.5 597,487 598,072 596,966 0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 64,407 64,397 64,292 0.0 0.2 0.3 65,041 65,184 63,326 2.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 70,697 71,238 69,161 -0.8 3.0 2.3 70,282 71,777 65,548 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 11,147 11,463 11,118 -2.8 3.1 -6.0 11,208 11,515 12,364 -9.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,310 8,328 8,321 -0.2 0.1 1.9 8,933 8,773 8,648 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 53,786 53,770 53,666 0.0 0.2 -0.6 54,070 53,897 53,689 0.7

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 848,936 848,209 842,151 0.1 0.7 0.0 848,054 851,381 865,518 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 192,091 192,737 193,177 -0.3 -0.2 0.0 194,199 193,752 197,484 -1.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 708,615 707,542 705,005 0.2 0.4 -0.4 707,802 709,492 724,113 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 171,269 171,861 172,615 -0.3 -0.4 0.2 173,336 172,936 176,418 -1.7

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 220,797 221,478 222,032 -0.3 -0.2 0.0 223,413 224,730 229,531 -2.7

 Total Inventories................... 118,033 118,583 119,245 -0.5 -0.6 0.1 119,559 118,863 123,883 -3.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,321 140,667 137,146 -0.2 2.6 2.0 140,252 141,889 141,405 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 20,822 20,876 20,562 -0.3 1.5 -1.6 20,863 20,816 21,066 -1.0

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, 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-inprocess, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 

4,800 reporting units that represent approximately 3,000 companies and provide an indication of monthto-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-to-month changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the 

M3 panel effectively represent the month-to-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 61 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 54 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: http://www.census.gov/m3.