FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2005, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1(05)-04 

CB05-72

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

April 2005 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in April 

increased $3.7 billion or 1.9 percent to $200.3 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

followed a 1.6 percent March decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 0.2 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.3 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up following four 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$4.0 billion or 8.2 percent to $53.1 billion. This was led 

by nondefense aircraft and parts, which increased $1.5 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, up 

six of the last seven months, increased $3.3 billion or 1.6 

percent to $207.9 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent 

March increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up following three 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$1.8 billion or 3.5 percent to $54.2 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

April, down three of the last four months, decreased 

slightly to $553.7 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent 

March decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $1.1 billion or 0.4 

percent to $258.3 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up 

seventeen consecutive months, increased $0.3 billion or 

0.1 percent to $291.8 billion. This followed a 0.5 

percent March increase. 

 Fabricated metal products, up fifteen consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $0.3 billion or 0.9 

percent to $37.3 billion. This was at the highest level 

since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 

1992 and followed a 0.9 percent March increase. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April 

increased $2.6 billion or 3.8 percent to $70.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.4 billion or 2.1 percent to $68.9 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.4 billion or 0.6 

percent to $251.4 billion. Inventories decreased $0.7 

billion or 0.6 percent to $112.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in April 

decreased $1.1 billion or 14.5 percent to $6.7 billion. 

Shipments increased 0.5 percent to $8.2 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased $1.6 billion or 1.1 percent to 

$143.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 billion or 0.4 

percent to $19.5 billion. 

Revised March Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted March figures for all 

manufacturing industries are: new orders, $379.8 billion 

(revised from $378.2 billion); shipments, $387.8 billion 

(revised from $387.3 billion); unfilled orders, $553.9 

billion (revised from $552.9 billion); and total 

inventories, $484.3 billion (revised from $484.1 billion). 

Figures in text, other than year-to-date, are in seasonally adjusted current dollars. 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 June 2, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for May is scheduled for release on June 24, 2005, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for 

survey description. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item Percent

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr Change

2005 2 2005 r 2005 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2005 2 2005 r 2004 2005 2004 05/04

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 207,937 204,621 204,239 1.6 0.2 -1.9 205,220 224,170 193,518 808,576 761,822 6.1

 New Orders 4

.............................. 200,300 196,593 199,750 1.9 -1.6 -0.1 198,152 217,705 190,896 795,339 762,650 4.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 153,730 152,256 151,755 1.0 0.3 -1.4 151,061 165,066 139,579 595,053 540,696 10.1

 New Orders 4.............................. 147,159 147,466 147,204 -0.2 0.2 -0.1 146,581 160,852 136,841 584,583 537,459 8.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 197,936 194,682 194,283 1.7 0.2 -2.0 195,682 213,361 184,568 770,803 723,757 6.5

 New Orders 4

.............................. 192,102 187,714 191,522 2.3 -2.0 -0.1 190,733 205,317 181,584 758,978 717,386 5.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 143,434 141,281 140,483 1.5 0.6 -1.9 141,440 154,709 130,738 557,517 514,495 8.4

 New Orders 4.............................. 143,235 140,330 143,275 2.1 -2.1 0.1 141,377 155,612 134,680 573,010 542,014 5.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 15,093 15,127 15,126 -0.2 0.0 -2.1 15,489 16,301 13,761 61,640 51,855 18.9

 New Orders.............................. 14,843 14,977 14,902 -0.9 0.5 0.6 14,992 16,331 13,557 61,697 54,708 12.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,311 23,766 23,465 2.3 1.3 -1.1 24,136 24,666 22,559 93,090 85,877 8.4

 New Orders.............................. 24,540 24,118 23,907 1.7 0.9 -1.3 24,712 25,779 24,064 97,245 92,512 5.1

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 26,122 25,747 26,353 1.5 -2.3 -3.0 27,473 28,897 25,278 104,874 93,762 11.9

 New Orders.............................. 26,793 26,216 27,557 2.2 -4.9 -0.4 28,852 29,432 25,940 110,562 99,249 11.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 42,077 42,006 41,373 0.2 1.5 -1.7 38,218 47,376 35,041 159,573 145,419 9.7

 New Orders 4.............................. 34,662 36,779 35,136 -5.8 4.7 1.0 31,927 41,759 29,707 137,887 125,273 10.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 10,866 10,263 10,026 5.9 2.4 -1.6 10,035 11,489 7,921 38,776 31,826 21.8

 New Orders.............................. 11,033 9,529 10,065 15.8 -5.3 0.4 10,162 10,540 7,274 37,640 30,406 23.8 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 6,583 7,300 7,149 -9.8 2.1 1.0 5,806 8,852 6,326 26,927 26,055 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 6,747 8,305 7,532 -18.8 10.3 0.7 6,787 9,941 7,885 31,362 28,753 9.1

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 7,438 7,077 7,281 5.1 -2.8 -7.9 7,005 7,368 6,564 28,730 26,691 7.6

 New Orders 4.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,265 9,090 9,231 1.9 -1.5 -1.6 9,072 9,730 8,563 35,543 33,386 6.5

 New Orders.............................. 9,271 8,962 9,309 3.4 -3.7 -5.7 9,120 9,474 9,181 36,519 35,013 4.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 54,207 52,365 52,484 3.5 -0.2 -3.1 54,159 59,104 53,939 213,523 221,126 -3.4

 New Orders.............................. 53,141 49,127 52,546 8.2 -6.5 -0.3 51,571 56,853 54,055 210,756 225,191 -6.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 37,090 36,009 37,029 3.0 -2.8 -2.8 38,190 40,036 40,174 151,047 161,713 -6.6

 New Orders.............................. 37,074 35,854 37,071 3.4 -3.3 -2.0 37,891 39,735 40,297 150,862 162,811 -7.3 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,109 6,475 5,552 9.8 16.6 -7.1 6,334 8,240 4,801 24,319 21,551 12.8

 New Orders.............................. 6,978 5,442 6,998 28.2 -22.2 28.8 5,161 6,371 4,360 23,100 20,668 11.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,721 3,786 3,635 -1.7 4.2 -4.1 3,454 4,076 3,230 13,883 14,839 -6.4

 New Orders.............................. 2,674 2,117 2,735 26.3 -22.6 -7.3 2,509 3,366 2,610 11,514 13,194 -12.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 36,862 36,520 36,207 0.9 0.9 0.1 36,673 38,096 34,377 140,333 130,397 7.6

 New Orders.............................. 37,050 36,414 36,393 1.7 0.1 1.2 36,978 38,077 34,392 140,673 130,704 7.6

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 77,182 75,726 75,046 1.9 0.9 -2.1 74,549 85,505 67,912 295,532 271,826 8.7

 New Orders.............................. 76,999 75,579 77,227 1.9 -2.1 0.2 74,457 86,732 69,821 306,112 286,608 6.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 68,949 67,535 66,771 2.1 1.1 -2.7 66,575 76,586 60,104 264,131 239,070 10.5

 New Orders.............................. 70,338 67,786 70,028 3.8 -3.2 -0.4 68,513 75,676 61,751 275,278 246,437 11.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,399 64,680 64,691 1.1 0.0 -2.6 63,546 72,776 58,180 253,991 229,907 10.5

 New Orders......................... 66,813 65,736 66,776 1.6 -1.6 -2.1 66,551 73,507 60,220 265,911 239,096 11.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,233 8,191 8,275 0.5 -1.0 2.5 7,974 8,919 7,808 31,401 32,756 -4.1

 New Orders.............................. 6,661 7,793 7,199 -14.5 8.3 6.5 5,944 11,056 8,070 30,834 40,171 -23.2

NA Not Available r Revised

1

 Shipments and new orders are the totals for the period and are adjusted for trading-day and calendar-month variations; unfilled orders and total inventories are as of the end of the period and are not 

adjusted for trading-day or calendar-month variations.

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. Further details on survey design, 

methodology, and data limitations are contained in our most recent annual benchmark publication, Current Industrial Reports: M3-1(02), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2002."

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 Data on new and unfilled orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Inventories for semiconductor industry data are included in computers and electronic products and total durable goods industries, but are not shown separately.
 3

Table 2. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders and Total Inventories

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr 2005/

2005 2 2005 r 2005 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2005 2 2005 r 2004 2004

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders

4

........................ 553,657 553,856 554,807 0.0 -0.2 0.5 562,337 562,400 529,935 6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 291,763 291,495 289,964 0.1 0.5 0.7 293,397 290,964 269,079 9.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders

4

........................ 295,386 294,519 292,232 0.3 0.8 0.9 301,305 298,780 274,589 9.7

 Total Inventories....................... 220,154 219,348 218,506 0.4 0.4 0.5 221,502 219,162 200,517 10.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders

4

........................ 394,139 392,535 392,426 0.4 0.0 1.2 398,905 396,849 364,779 9.4

 Total Inventories....................... 266,761 266,440 265,070 0.1 0.5 0.9 268,418 266,161 244,872 9.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders

4

........................ 553,657 553,856 554,807 0.0 -0.2 0.5 562,337 562,400 529,935 6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 228,801 228,705 227,473 0.0 0.5 0.8 229,734 227,869 209,626 9.6

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,412 18,662 18,812 -1.3 -0.8 -1.2 18,922 19,419 18,855 0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 23,670 23,418 22,915 1.1 2.2 1.7 23,647 23,383 18,276 29.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 47,594 47,365 47,013 0.5 0.7 0.9 48,773 48,197 44,656 9.2

 Total Inventories....................... 37,326 36,990 36,653 0.9 0.9 1.4 37,556 37,275 32,191 16.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 54,367 53,696 53,227 1.2 0.9 2.3 56,089 54,710 48,369 16.0

 Total Inventories....................... 47,673 47,375 47,151 0.6 0.5 0.6 48,018 47,631 42,949 11.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders

4

........................ 145,611 145,588 143,738 0.0 1.3 0.7 147,930 147,216 135,701 9.0

 Total Inventories....................... 48,774 49,119 49,505 -0.7 -0.8 -0.7 48,799 47,927 47,769 2.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,434 8,267 9,001 2.0 -8.2 0.4 8,139 8,012 7,385 10.2

 Total Inventories....................... 6,724 6,653 6,586 1.1 1.0 0.5 6,550 6,290 5,761 13.7 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 57,012 56,848 55,843 0.3 1.8 0.7 58,427 57,446 52,467 11.4

 Total Inventories....................... 10,113 10,456 10,801 -3.3 -3.2 -3.1 10,111 10,195 10,822 -6.6

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders

4

........................ (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Total Inventories4...................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,652 15,646 15,774 0.0 -0.8 0.5 15,828 15,780 15,042 5.2

 Total Inventories....................... 13,369 13,300 13,167 0.5 1.0 0.2 13,715 13,471 12,704 8.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 258,271 259,337 262,575 -0.4 -1.2 0.0 261,032 263,620 255,346 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 71,609 72,147 71,458 -0.7 1.0 1.5 71,895 71,802 68,562 4.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,239 14,255 14,410 -0.1 -1.1 0.3 14,480 14,779 14,718 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 22,855 22,697 22,385 0.7 1.4 0.9 23,106 22,776 21,301 8.5 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 116,159 116,290 117,323 -0.1 -0.9 1.2 115,919 117,092 104,188 11.3

 Total Inventories....................... 23,569 24,363 24,423 -3.3 -0.2 3.1 23,597 24,146 23,841 -1.0

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,179 50,226 51,895 -2.1 -3.2 -1.7 50,304 51,249 59,125 -14.9

 Total Inventories....................... 12,716 12,724 12,309 -0.1 3.4 -0.2 12,624 12,576 11,542 9.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,750 13,562 13,668 1.4 -0.8 1.4 13,763 13,458 11,966 15.0

 Total Inventories....................... 49,342 49,146 49,115 0.4 0.1 0.4 49,767 49,475 46,628 6.7

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 395,283 395,466 395,613 0.0 0.0 0.6 401,495 401,587 372,579 7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 132,276 133,037 133,111 -0.6 -0.1 0.5 132,536 132,047 125,707 5.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 251,420 250,031 249,780 0.6 0.1 1.3 254,185 252,247 226,914 12.0

 Total Inventories....................... 112,757 113,433 113,142 -0.6 0.3 0.7 113,055 112,626 106,125 6.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 159,224 157,810 156,754 0.9 0.7 1.3 162,229 159,224 148,473 9.3

 Total Inventories.................. 95,995 95,910 95,720 0.1 0.2 0.2 96,316 95,225 88,960 8.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 143,863 145,435 145,833 -1.1 -0.3 -0.7 147,310 149,340 145,665 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 19,519 19,604 19,969 -0.4 -1.8 -0.6 19,481 19,421 19,582 -0.5

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
NOTICE

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on

August 19, 2005. These revisions reflect:

• benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2002 Economic Census and 2003

Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data;

• adjusting new orders and order backlog to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments

and inventory data;

• correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to

previously reported data; and

• updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series.

For revised historical data go to http://www.census.gov/m3/hist/naicshist.htm. An accompanying

press release will include the revised 2005 January through June data. Please call Chris Savage on

(301)763-4832 with questions.

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), and end-of-month total inventory (at current cost or market value). The M3 includes

approximately 4,000 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 59 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 4,000 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 4,000 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.

Additional survey documentation can be found on our web site: http://www.census.gov/m3/.