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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017 

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS JULY 2017 

Release Number: CB 17-136 M3-1 (17)-07 

August 25, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the July advance report on manufacturers’ 

shipments, inventories and orders: 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in July decreased $16.7 billion or 6.8 percent to $229.2 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down three of the last four months, followed a 6.4 

percent June increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.5 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 7.8 percent. Transportation equipment, also down three of the last four months, drove the 

decrease, $17.4 billion or 19.0 percent to $74.3 billion. 

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up three consecutive months, increased $1.0 billion or 

0.4 percent to $237.4 billion. This followed a virtually unchanged June increase. Transportation 

equipment, up two of the last three months, led the increase, $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $79.2 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in July, down two of the last three months, decreased $3.8 

billion or 0.3 percent to $1,131.8 billion. This followed a 1.3 percent June increase. Transportation 

equipment, also down two of the last three months, drove the decrease, $4.8 billion or 0.6 percent to $772.2 

billion. 

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

JULY 2017 $229.2 billion             ‐6.8%°   

JUNE 2017  

(revised) $245.9 billion             +6.4%°

Next release: September 27, 2017

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes. 

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

°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.

Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17

% Change 0.6% -0.5% 6.1% -4.6% 0.3% 0.3% 1.4% 2.4% -0.8% 0.0% 6.4% -6.8%

-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%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2016-2017

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

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

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up twelve of the last thirteen months, increased $1.3 

billion or 0.3 percent to $398.8 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent June increase. Transportation 

equipment, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $0.6 billion or 0.5 percent to 

$129.6 billion. 

Capital Goods 

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July decreased $17.1 billion or 20.2 percent to $67.5 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.4 billion or 2.0 percent to $72.6 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.0 billion or 

0.7 percent to $704.5 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 billion or 0.2 percent to $177.5 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in July increased $1.5 billion or 14.7 percent to $11.7 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.3 billion or 3.2 percent to $10.3 billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.4 billion or 1.0 percent to 

$142.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 billion or 3.2 percent to $23.2 billion. 

Revised June Data

Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $481.4 billion 

(revised from $481.1 billion); shipments, $471.9 billion (revised from $471.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,135.6 billion (revised from $1,135.7 billion) and total inventories, $649.4 billion (revised from $649.1 

billion). 

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on September 5, 2017, 

at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on 

September 27, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing 

Room:<www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. 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. 

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 
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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>. 

America’s Economy Mobile App

The America’s Economy app provides real-time updates for 19 key economic indicators released from the 

Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

<www.census.gov/mobile/economy/> 

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/> 

‐X‐ 
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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul Change

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Jul 2 Jun r May 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2017 2016 2017/2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 237,381 236,407 236,344 0.4 0.0 1.3 217,489 258,119 208,126 1,627,332 1,576,577 3.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 229,161 245,866 230,976 -6.8 6.4 0.0 209,154 267,540 199,999 1,608,482 1,531,277 5.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 158,229 157,657 157,093 0.4 0.4 0.7 152,066 171,085 143,299 1,088,104 1,038,916 4.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 154,829 154,092 153,950 0.5 0.1 0.8 148,055 165,492 138,476 1,075,481 1,021,774 5.3

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 225,071 224,354 224,062 0.3 0.1 1.3 206,698 244,788 197,747 1,545,084 1,499,545 3.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 215,638 233,813 219,669 -7.8 6.4 0.6 198,249 252,659 192,457 1,527,511 1,456,801 4.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 167,877 166,460 166,358 0.9 0.1 1.2 154,681 182,773 146,409 1,145,015 1,097,690 4.3

 New Orders.............................. 164,052 180,575 165,434 -9.2 9.2 -0.5 150,855 196,150 142,857 1,156,197 1,079,675 7.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,400 19,284 19,395 0.6 -0.6 1.2 18,633 20,385 16,903 135,883 123,267 10.2

 New Orders.............................. 19,464 19,460 19,399 0.0 0.3 0.0 18,722 20,350 16,868 137,269 124,435 10.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 32,145 31,999 31,887 0.5 0.4 2.3 31,098 34,269 28,650 219,639 204,680 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 32,802 32,472 32,357 1.0 0.4 1.6 31,851 33,964 28,758 226,324 208,097 8.8

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 31,027 31,023 30,914 0.0 0.4 0.5 29,148 34,143 27,060 215,959 209,954 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 31,386 31,817 31,641 -1.4 0.6 2.6 29,567 34,020 27,223 220,775 207,927 6.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,769 26,601 26,412 0.6 0.7 0.4 25,201 29,443 24,379 179,777 172,021 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 22,353 22,011 22,068 1.6 -0.3 -0.3 20,620 24,964 19,723 152,035 149,108 2.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,088 1,936 1,953 7.9 -0.9 -1.5 1,772 2,794 1,689 13,267 13,421 -1.1

 New Orders.............................. 2,088 1,979 1,952 5.5 1.4 -2.4 1,772 2,837 1,713 13,393 13,416 -0.2

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 2,962 2,973 2,987 -0.4 -0.5 1.1 2,616 3,677 2,524 19,960 19,322 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 3,021 3,056 3,011 -1.1 1.5 -3.6 2,664 3,586 2,686 21,429 21,111 1.5

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,129 10,170 10,063 -0.4 1.1 0.2 9,621 11,114 9,377 69,335 67,898 2.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,944 9,693 10,178 2.6 -4.8 0.7 8,974 10,644 9,307 69,847 69,709 0.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 79,152 78,750 79,251 0.5 -0.6 2.4 65,423 87,034 64,827 539,228 537,661 0.3

 New Orders.............................. 74,332 91,774 77,026 -19.0 19.1 -1.6 61,099 102,048 61,523 533,001 509,503 4.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 53,481 54,133 54,546 -1.2 -0.8 1.7 43,562 58,649 43,275 373,841 370,905 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 53,624 54,283 54,688 -1.2 -0.7 1.6 43,457 58,234 43,002 374,464 368,919 1.5

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,991 12,033 11,946 8.0 0.7 5.5 11,117 14,332 11,018 79,517 83,411 -4.7

 New Orders.............................. 7,373 25,134 10,961 -70.7 129.3 -1.4 7,160 28,490 10,501 75,087 62,313 20.5

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,136 4,107 4,085 0.7 0.5 6.9 3,388 4,854 3,167 26,460 26,023 1.7

 New Orders.............................. 5,504 3,725 3,528 47.8 5.6 -34.3 4,422 4,624 3,095 29,438 28,282 4.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,759 38,580 38,422 0.5 0.4 -0.1 38,365 41,731 36,930 267,511 261,096 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 38,880 38,639 38,307 0.6 0.9 -0.2 38,321 41,550 36,597 269,231 262,498 2.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,883 81,174 80,831 2.1 0.4 0.9 76,029 90,660 71,507 553,912 540,555 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 79,237 94,795 79,342 -16.4 19.5 -0.9 73,016 105,323 68,212 558,124 522,692 6.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 72,564 71,174 70,565 2.0 0.9 1.0 66,887 79,819 62,721 484,985 477,380 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 67,525 84,588 69,976 -20.2 20.9 -0.1 63,147 93,045 62,641 491,694 461,957 6.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,900 63,297 62,931 1.0 0.6 0.3 59,618 70,261 55,719 434,962 424,902 2.4

 New Orders.......................... 63,784 63,512 63,523 0.4 0.0 0.8 59,031 69,045 55,847 442,577 428,618 3.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,319 10,000 10,266 3.2 -2.6 0.5 9,142 10,841 8,786 68,927 63,175 9.1

 New Orders.............................. 11,712 10,207 9,366 14.7 9.0 -6.2 9,869 12,278 5,571 66,430 60,735 9.4

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, July Advance Report, August 25, 2017. 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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2017/

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Jul 2 Jun r May 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,131,794 1,135,619 1,121,504 -0.3 1.3 -0.1 1,133,924 1,137,750 1,125,922 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 398,848 397,508 395,544 0.3 0.5 0.2 401,526 394,631 392,391 2.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 359,617 358,622 357,531 0.3 0.3 0.4 362,072 361,574 348,955 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 269,207 268,483 266,308 0.3 0.8 0.4 271,609 267,441 260,700 4.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 953,945 958,983 944,868 -0.5 1.5 0.0 955,313 959,253 952,214 0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 371,404 370,687 368,679 0.2 0.5 0.2 373,989 367,797 365,585 2.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,131,794 1,135,619 1,121,504 -0.3 1.3 -0.1 1,133,924 1,137,750 1,125,922 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 324,103 323,117 321,803 0.3 0.4 0.2 326,548 321,148 320,153 2.0

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 30,103 30,039 29,863 0.2 0.6 0.0 30,328 30,239 28,747 5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 33,137 33,070 33,005 0.2 0.2 0.6 33,438 32,832 31,115 7.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 78,613 77,956 77,483 0.8 0.6 0.6 79,944 79,191 77,309 3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 49,686 49,350 48,822 0.7 1.1 0.8 50,143 49,304 48,247 3.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 100,402 100,043 99,249 0.4 0.8 0.7 100,465 100,046 96,898 3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 68,531 68,446 67,557 0.1 1.3 0.2 69,025 67,945 65,854 4.8

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 117,715 117,736 117,670 0.0 0.1 0.1 118,198 118,270 115,201 2.6

 Total Inventories....................... 44,556 44,490 44,294 0.1 0.4 0.3 45,165 44,256 44,119 2.4

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,815 1,815 1,772 0.0 2.4 -0.1 1,815 1,815 1,674 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,314 4,350 4,355 -0.8 -0.1 -0.9 4,441 4,313 4,222 5.2

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,093 27,034 26,951 0.2 0.3 0.1 27,242 27,194 25,274 7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 4,644 4,637 4,657 0.2 -0.4 0.5 4,640 4,573 4,560 1.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,210 22,395 22,872 -0.8 -2.1 0.5 22,149 22,796 20,653 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 17,638 17,634 17,434 0.0 1.1 0.3 17,943 17,728 17,436 2.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 772,177 776,997 763,973 -0.6 1.7 -0.3 771,852 776,176 776,967 -0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 129,641 129,025 129,236 0.5 -0.2 -0.2 129,917 127,190 131,691 -1.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,030 23,887 23,737 0.6 0.6 0.6 23,523 23,628 22,325 5.4

 Total Inventories....................... 34,742 34,323 34,456 1.2 -0.4 0.7 35,177 33,357 35,622 -1.2

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 579,789 585,407 572,306 -1.0 2.3 -0.2 579,349 583,306 589,195 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 65,873 66,269 66,210 -0.6 0.1 -0.8 65,586 65,573 67,803 -3.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,022 72,654 73,036 1.9 -0.5 -0.8 74,378 73,344 69,343 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 13,149 12,717 12,830 3.4 -0.9 -0.5 13,178 12,689 12,445 5.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 10,574 10,453 10,394 1.2 0.6 -1.1 10,988 11,032 10,147 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 55,659 55,493 55,196 0.3 0.5 0.3 55,895 55,376 53,929 3.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 846,708 850,354 836,733 -0.4 1.6 -0.2 848,389 851,402 842,409 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 200,659 200,295 199,083 0.2 0.6 -0.1 201,730 199,388 198,508 1.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 704,498 709,537 696,123 -0.7 1.9 -0.1 705,398 709,138 703,513 0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 177,498 177,853 176,623 -0.2 0.7 -0.1 178,505 176,905 176,684 1.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 226,187 226,303 226,088 -0.1 0.1 0.3 227,180 227,767 220,380 3.1

 Total Inventories................... 123,158 123,057 121,845 0.1 1.0 0.1 124,341 122,447 120,227 3.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 142,210 140,817 140,610 1.0 0.1 -0.6 142,991 142,264 138,896 2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 23,161 22,442 22,460 3.2 -0.1 0.1 23,225 22,483 21,824 6.4

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, July Advance Report, August 25, 2017. 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>.