FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-12 

CB 17-12

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

December 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December decreased $1.0 billion or 0.4 percent to 

$227.0 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This decrease, down two consecutive months, 

followed a 4.8 percent November decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.5 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 1.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down two consecutive 

months, drove the decrease, $1.7 billion or 2.2 percent to 

$73.7 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up three of the last four months, increased 

$3.3 billion or 1.4 percent to $238.0 billion. This 

followed a 0.3 percent November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $2.0 

billion or 2.5 percent to $82.3 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December, down six of the last seven months, decreased 

$7.2 billion or 0.6 percent to $1,119.4 billion. This 

followed a 0.3 percent November decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also down six of the last 

seven months, drove the decrease, $8.6 billion or 1.1 

percent to $759.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up five of the last six months, increased less 

than $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to $384.4 

billion. This followed a 0.2 percent November increase. 

 Machinery, up four of the last five months, drove the 

increase, $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $66.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in December 

increased $2.4 billion or 3.8 percent to $66.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.2 billion or 1.8 percent to $71.7 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.1 billion or 0.7 

percent to $691.8 billion. Inventories increased $0.6 

billion or 0.3 percent to $171.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in December 

decreased $4.8 billion or 33.4 percent to $9.5 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.1 billion or 1.2 percent to $10.9 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.3 billion or 0.9 

percent to $140.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 0.7 percent to $20.7 billion. 

Revised November Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted November figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $457.5 

billion (revised from $458.3 billion); shipments, $464.3 

billion (revised from $463.8 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,126.5 billion (revised from $1,127.8 billion) and total 

inventories, $623.3 billion (revised from $623.1 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 February 3, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for January is 

scheduled for release on February 27, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EST. 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. 

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

With the release of the January 2017 Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders on February 

27, 2017, the presentation of the release will change. The text portion of the release will be removed from Excel and reformatted. The 

layout and format of the tables are not currently changing, though some explanatory notes may move to the text portion of the document. 

The full text and tables will be available as a PDF, with the tables available separately in Excel. 
 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

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec Change

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 238,049 234,749 233,989 1.4 0.3 -0.2 235,924 227,313 230,858 2,806,101 2,820,620 -0.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 227,018 227,987 239,530 -0.4 -4.8 5.0 236,035 222,613 237,841 2,745,970 2,754,511 -0.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 155,758 154,498 153,417 0.8 0.7 0.6 154,000 148,516 151,813 1,833,408 1,850,934 -0.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 153,363 152,639 151,198 0.5 1.0 1.1 150,178 144,175 146,983 1,800,228 1,806,060 -0.3

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 224,996 221,636 221,422 1.5 0.1 -0.2 221,081 213,712 216,366 2,655,773 2,672,737 -0.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 215,305 211,698 227,044 1.7 -6.8 5.2 219,205 206,911 221,721 2,592,570 2,616,539 -0.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 168,982 166,788 166,255 1.3 0.3 -0.5 170,388 161,316 165,054 1,990,467 1,997,276 -0.3

 New Orders.............................. 161,831 163,880 175,390 -1.3 -6.6 6.7 174,093 160,952 174,754 1,970,694 1,969,407 0.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 18,448 18,204 17,752 1.3 2.5 0.0 16,738 17,234 16,320 214,343 230,646 -7.1

 New Orders.............................. 18,547 18,719 18,191 -0.9 2.9 1.3 17,201 18,159 16,666 216,825 228,144 -5.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,785 30,827 30,445 -0.1 1.3 1.2 28,556 29,707 27,549 361,935 355,334 1.9

 New Orders.............................. 30,952 31,191 30,997 -0.8 0.6 3.1 28,011 29,134 27,140 363,045 352,667 2.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,727 30,255 29,959 1.6 1.0 -0.4 31,729 28,151 32,380 364,212 386,253 -5.7

 New Orders.............................. 30,686 30,561 29,972 0.4 2.0 0.3 30,633 28,404 29,528 360,078 377,492 -4.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,920 27,775 27,516 0.5 0.9 0.9 31,166 27,454 29,594 325,048 312,851 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 24,905 24,328 24,116 2.4 0.9 0.2 28,790 22,333 28,226 290,151 282,433 2.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,688 1,767 1,811 -4.5 -2.4 9.5 2,486 1,508 2,740 21,632 25,423 -14.9

 New Orders.............................. 1,673 1,780 1,813 -6.0 -1.8 8.1 2,471 1,521 2,713 21,606 25,590 -15.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,578 3,490 3,348 2.5 4.2 -5.2 4,438 3,223 4,236 41,282 41,043 0.6

 New Orders.............................. 3,951 3,768 3,489 4.9 8.0 -1.4 4,812 3,076 4,386 43,901 44,802 -2.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,673 9,514 9,632 1.7 -1.2 0.7 9,677 9,378 9,757 114,600 121,697 -5.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,010 9,950 9,776 0.6 1.8 1.6 10,037 9,569 9,833 116,415 121,248 -4.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 82,291 80,251 80,572 2.5 -0.4 -1.6 81,924 78,797 79,045 972,693 969,686 0.3

 New Orders.............................. 73,655 75,348 88,332 -2.2 -14.7 12.3 85,857 78,438 90,858 945,742 948,451 -0.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 56,825 55,535 55,277 2.3 0.5 -0.8 51,763 54,136 50,493 664,883 646,521 2.8

 New Orders.............................. 56,757 55,637 54,945 2.0 1.3 -1.1 52,298 54,858 50,725 663,269 646,085 2.7

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,048 12,274 13,479 6.3 -8.9 -4.5 16,558 12,069 14,261 161,995 168,041 -3.6

 New Orders.............................. 6,122 4,298 21,903 42.4 -80.4 94.5 18,788 8,535 25,485 135,854 162,778 -16.5

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,199 4,175 3,931 0.6 6.2 -4.9 5,138 4,334 5,899 50,757 59,037 -14.0

 New Orders.............................. 2,745 7,612 3,823 -63.9 99.1 37.7 5,308 7,732 5,631 54,666 57,649 -5.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,205 37,923 38,113 0.7 -0.5 0.9 36,134 36,592 36,213 453,270 444,153 2.1

 New Orders.............................. 38,263 37,890 38,146 1.0 -0.7 0.6 35,506 36,576 35,590 453,714 444,076 2.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,582 81,474 81,832 1.4 -0.4 -0.6 91,676 78,906 90,452 984,049 1,024,839 -4.0

 New Orders.............................. 76,099 78,432 91,266 -3.0 -14.1 12.5 95,238 76,788 91,989 968,463 993,105 -2.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,712 70,467 71,162 1.8 -1.0 -1.1 79,646 67,425 79,187 860,112 906,887 -5.2

 New Orders.............................. 66,577 64,132 80,210 3.8 -20.0 14.8 81,663 63,510 79,001 840,571 884,710 -5.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,365 62,759 62,394 1.0 0.6 -0.3 68,081 59,845 70,005 755,747 793,564 -4.8

 New Orders.......................... 64,493 63,972 63,044 0.8 1.5 0.5 67,492 59,712 66,704 759,101 785,471 -3.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,870 11,007 10,670 -1.2 3.2 3.2 12,030 11,481 11,265 123,937 117,952 5.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,522 14,300 11,056 -33.4 29.3 -1.8 13,575 13,278 12,988 127,892 108,395 18.0

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

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,119,363 1,126,514 1,129,422 -0.6 -0.3 0.8 1,119,927 1,116,222 1,139,700 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 384,351 384,349 383,424 0.0 0.2 -0.1 374,061 384,569 377,498 -0.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 359,523 358,038 356,043 0.4 0.6 0.4 352,020 352,248 344,842 2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 260,844 260,368 259,632 0.2 0.3 -0.1 254,489 260,200 256,142 -0.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 943,295 949,106 955,190 -0.6 -0.6 1.0 943,638 941,920 966,483 -2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 359,060 358,823 357,608 0.1 0.3 -0.1 349,109 359,017 352,500 -1.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,119,363 1,126,514 1,129,422 -0.6 -0.3 0.8 1,119,927 1,116,222 1,139,700 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 311,630 312,001 311,370 -0.1 0.2 -0.1 303,103 312,180 307,102 -1.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,748 33,649 33,134 0.3 1.6 1.3 33,095 32,632 30,613 8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 31,595 31,633 31,558 -0.1 0.2 -0.2 31,486 31,534 33,208 -5.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 75,215 75,048 74,684 0.2 0.5 0.7 72,557 73,102 71,447 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 48,727 48,764 48,886 -0.1 -0.2 -0.1 47,987 48,294 48,341 -0.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,650 92,691 92,385 0.0 0.3 0.0 90,822 91,918 94,956 -4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 66,421 66,062 65,390 0.5 1.0 -0.6 64,008 66,545 64,750 -1.1

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 130,760 129,895 129,488 0.7 0.3 0.2 129,652 128,434 124,191 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 42,516 42,567 42,508 -0.1 0.1 0.1 41,053 42,759 41,151 -0.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,421 2,436 2,423 -0.6 0.5 0.1 2,421 2,436 2,447 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 3,883 3,649 3,553 6.4 2.7 -2.6 3,576 3,716 3,255 9.9

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,842 35,469 35,191 1.1 0.8 0.4 35,381 35,007 32,762 8.0

 Total Inventories....................... 4,291 4,459 4,479 -3.8 -0.4 0.1 4,154 4,597 4,579 -9.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,640 18,303 17,867 1.8 2.4 0.8 18,118 17,758 16,303 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 16,240 16,223 16,241 0.1 -0.1 -0.7 15,584 16,128 15,805 -1.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 759,840 768,476 773,379 -1.1 -0.6 1.0 767,907 763,974 794,858 -3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 123,507 123,981 123,792 -0.4 0.2 0.1 119,572 124,369 121,356 -1.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,505 21,573 21,471 -0.3 0.5 -1.5 21,945 21,410 23,559 -6.9

 Total Inventories....................... 34,707 34,853 34,516 -0.4 1.0 -0.1 33,299 35,053 33,680 -1.1

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 577,388 584,314 592,290 -1.2 -1.3 1.4 584,495 582,265 610,636 -4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 62,628 62,805 62,622 -0.3 0.3 -0.2 60,545 62,748 61,877 -2.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 72,044 73,498 70,061 -2.0 4.9 -0.2 72,527 72,357 68,618 5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 11,021 11,140 11,220 -1.1 -0.7 1.2 10,841 11,145 11,084 -2.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,510 8,452 8,485 0.7 -0.4 0.4 7,776 8,404 7,332 6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 55,345 55,119 55,049 0.4 0.1 0.4 54,371 54,940 52,887 2.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 832,690 839,173 842,215 -0.8 -0.4 1.1 835,290 831,728 850,876 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 191,832 191,409 190,727 0.2 0.4 -0.1 185,572 192,592 186,922 -0.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 691,833 696,968 703,303 -0.7 -0.9 1.3 694,931 692,914 714,472 -2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 171,114 170,540 169,604 0.3 0.6 -0.3 165,013 171,702 166,676 -1.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 225,498 224,370 223,157 0.5 0.5 0.3 221,040 221,629 217,686 1.5

 Total Inventories................... 119,539 118,893 118,212 0.5 0.6 -0.3 115,494 120,237 115,938 -0.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,857 142,205 138,912 -0.9 2.4 0.3 140,359 138,814 136,404 2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 20,718 20,869 21,123 -0.7 -1.2 1.6 20,559 20,890 20,246 1.5

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 month-tomonth 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.

Benchmark notice

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

issued on May 18, 2017. These revisions result from:

• benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2015 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) and revised 2014 ASM data on a 2012 NAICS basis;

• incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2015/2014 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 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 will span the seasonally adjusted data for January 2002 through March 2017 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2007 through March 2017. An updated Press Release will contain 

revised monthly tables for January 2017 through March 2017. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 

with any questions.