FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2009, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (09)-06 

CB09-122

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

June 2009 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in June 

decreased $4.1 billion or 2.5 percent to $158.6 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease 

followed two consecutive monthly increases including a 

1.3 percent May increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders increased 1.1 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 0.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$5.3 billion or 12.8 percent to $36.5 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in June, 

down eleven consecutive months, decreased $0.3 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $168.3 billion. This was the longest 

streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series 

was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and 

followed a 2.6 percent May decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, down five of the 

last six months, had the largest decrease, $0.4 billion or 

1.6 percent to $27.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

June, down nine consecutive months, decreased $6.6 

billion or 0.9 percent to $740.1 billion. This followed a 

0.3 percent May decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down nine consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $5.9 billion or 1.3 

percent to $433.3 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in June, 

down six consecutive months, decreased $3.0 billion or 

0.9 percent to $318.8 billion. This followed a 1.1 

percent May decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, down six 

consecutive months, had the largest decrease, $0.8 

billion or 1.7 percent to $44.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in June 

decreased $1.8 billion or 3.4 percent to $51.3 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $55.8 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $4.5 billion or 1.1 

percent to $424.8 billion. Inventories decreased $0.7 

billion or 0.5 percent to $140.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in June 

decreased $3.4 billion or 28.3 percent to $8.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 4.3 percent to $10.8 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.2 billion or 1.5 

percent to $142.2 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 

billion or 0.4 percent to $20.2 billion. 

Revised May Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted May figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $346.9 

billion (revised from $347.9 billion); shipments, $352.9 

billion (revised from $353.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$746.7 billion (revised from $747.3 billion); and total 

inventories, $512.8 billion (revised from $513.3 billion). 

Figures in text 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 August 5, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for July is scheduled for release on August 26, 2009, 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

Jun May Apr May - Apr - Mar - Jun May Jun Change

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Jun 2 May r Apr 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2009 2008 09/08

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 168,330 168,599 173,180 -0.2 -2.6 -0.7 184,255 168,362 229,644 1,032,675 1,282,702 -19.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 158,571 162,623 160,510 -2.5 1.3 1.4 171,322 159,275 228,345 953,538 1,300,357 -26.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 125,882 126,489 128,231 -0.5 -1.4 -0.9 137,337 125,791 171,670 769,453 953,636 -19.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 122,032 120,739 119,742 1.1 0.8 -0.2 131,502 119,863 168,936 725,467 947,081 -23.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 154,192 155,090 159,795 -0.6 -2.9 -0.9 169,166 154,940 217,059 954,737 1,214,837 -21.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 146,513 147,572 146,298 -0.7 0.9 0.2 158,945 146,552 213,706 879,489 1,227,964 -28.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 122,154 121,454 124,037 0.6 -2.1 -2.1 134,308 121,165 167,415 745,158 916,754 -18.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 115,582 119,085 115,426 -2.9 3.2 1.7 124,006 115,477 169,528 687,162 964,616 -28.8

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 12,015 12,071 12,473 -0.5 -3.2 -4.9 13,084 12,475 24,441 78,728 135,117 -41.7

 New Orders.............................. 12,678 11,647 11,668 8.9 -0.2 0.2 13,726 11,997 24,296 74,921 137,680 -45.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 23,304 23,229 23,804 0.3 -2.4 -2.7 24,929 23,659 29,564 143,194 165,681 -13.6

 New Orders.............................. 22,399 22,448 23,009 -0.2 -2.4 3.4 23,493 23,528 28,949 137,367 170,173 -19.3

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 23,243 23,127 22,812 0.5 1.4 -3.8 25,146 23,195 31,657 142,829 177,649 -19.6

 New Orders.............................. 23,267 22,297 20,772 4.4 7.3 0.2 24,012 21,892 31,707 132,052 188,601 -30.0

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 27,350 27,793 28,449 -1.6 -2.3 3.0 30,683 25,828 34,809 164,221 190,965 -14.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 24,081 24,707 24,177 -2.5 2.2 -3.5 27,304 22,004 31,915 142,230 163,413 -13.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 4,375 4,352 4,376 0.5 -0.5 -0.4 5,368 3,744 6,193 25,558 30,862 -17.2

 New Orders.............................. 4,578 4,635 3,999 -1.2 15.9 -7.3 5,571 4,027 6,539 25,187 31,102 -19.0 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,722 4,528 4,672 4.3 -3.1 -2.4 5,810 4,224 7,197 27,380 33,803 -19.0

 New Orders.............................. 4,379 4,911 4,982 -10.8 -1.4 6.8 5,072 4,481 6,720 28,076 34,744 -19.2

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 3,187 3,607 4,059 -11.6 -11.1 40.4 2,631 3,399 3,412 21,141 30,207 -30.0

 New Orders4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,275 8,303 8,613 -0.3 -3.6 1.5 8,969 8,312 11,375 50,398 63,578 -20.7

 New Orders.............................. 8,014 7,943 8,111 0.9 -2.1 -0.9 8,485 8,090 12,027 48,958 66,173 -26.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 42,448 42,110 44,949 0.8 -6.3 -0.2 46,918 42,571 57,974 263,222 329,066 -20.0

 New Orders.............................. 36,539 41,884 40,768 -12.8 2.7 6.3 39,820 39,412 59,409 228,071 353,276 -35.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 22,527 22,766 25,030 -1.0 -9.0 2.0 24,462 23,242 35,145 146,582 212,732 -31.1

 New Orders.............................. 22,419 22,637 24,781 -1.0 -8.7 1.3 24,133 22,896 34,762 145,315 211,418 -31.3 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,301 7,218 7,764 1.1 -7.0 -2.5 8,795 7,249 10,191 46,407 50,587 -8.3

 New Orders.............................. 3,925 6,384 3,980 -38.5 60.4 -1.3 4,972 5,100 11,214 21,669 73,799 -70.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 6,182 5,693 5,302 8.6 7.4 -4.1 6,743 5,567 5,198 31,712 25,878 22.5

 New Orders.............................. 7,065 5,432 5,417 30.1 0.3 1.2 7,456 4,500 5,062 31,845 27,523 15.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 31,695 31,966 32,080 -0.8 -0.4 0.3 34,526 32,322 39,824 190,083 220,646 -13.9

 New Orders.............................. 31,593 31,697 32,005 -0.3 -1.0 -0.2 34,482 32,352 40,042 189,939 221,041 -14.1

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 66,613 66,235 66,759 0.6 -0.8 -1.9 73,719 64,768 84,965 401,085 458,777 -12.6

 New Orders.............................. 59,885 65,117 59,890 -8.0 8.7 1.3 64,549 60,258 87,829 354,103 497,474 -28.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 55,770 55,835 56,467 -0.1 -1.1 -2.8 62,389 54,265 75,516 340,965 406,139 -16.0

 New Orders.............................. 51,256 53,080 48,648 -3.4 9.1 -3.5 56,024 49,971 76,478 297,189 441,681 -32.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 52,011 51,963 52,243 0.1 -0.5 -2.9 57,789 50,181 69,938 316,291 378,721 -16.5

 New Orders.......................... 51,011 50,307 48,241 1.4 4.3 -3.5 55,137 48,155 69,878 299,566 392,813 -23.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,843 10,400 10,292 4.3 1.0 2.7 11,330 10,503 9,449 60,120 52,638 14.2

 New Orders.............................. 8,629 12,037 11,242 -28.3 7.1 28.8 8,525 10,287 11,351 56,914 55,793 2.0

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: M3-3(07), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2004-2007."

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

Jun May Apr May - Apr - Mar - Jun May Jun 2009/

2009 2 2009 r 2009 Jun2 May r Apr 2009 2 2009 r 2008 2008

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 740,140 746,712 749,081 -0.9 -0.3 -1.1 740,757 751,059 819,678 -9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 318,802 321,766 325,404 -0.9 -1.1 -1.2 314,817 322,943 330,660 -4.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 306,845 307,508 309,651 -0.2 -0.7 -1.4 308,073 311,277 358,673 -14.1

 Total Inventories....................... 225,383 228,532 231,949 -1.4 -1.5 -1.8 222,425 229,050 244,121 -8.9

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 581,822 586,314 590,225 -0.8 -0.7 -1.6 582,090 589,680 663,841 -12.3

 Total Inventories....................... 292,671 295,519 299,143 -1.0 -1.2 -1.4 288,688 296,538 306,075 -5.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 740,140 746,712 749,081 -0.9 -0.3 -1.1 740,757 751,059 819,678 -9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 256,301 258,960 261,835 -1.0 -1.1 -1.2 253,338 260,103 265,041 -4.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,199 13,536 13,960 4.9 -3.0 -5.5 14,520 13,878 29,826 -51.3

 Total Inventories....................... 26,347 27,073 27,958 -2.7 -3.2 -3.6 26,108 26,889 33,543 -22.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,885 50,790 51,571 -1.8 -1.5 -1.5 50,908 52,344 63,911 -20.3

 Total Inventories....................... 38,992 39,665 40,410 -1.7 -1.8 -2.4 38,662 39,515 43,445 -11.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,657 87,633 88,463 0.0 -0.9 -2.3 87,134 88,268 101,339 -14.0

 Total Inventories....................... 51,383 51,684 52,349 -0.6 -1.3 -1.5 50,557 51,917 53,300 -5.1

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 123,742 123,824 123,303 -0.1 0.4 -0.2 123,729 124,477 124,422 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 44,787 45,576 45,970 -1.7 -0.9 -0.7 43,742 45,954 45,427 -3.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,719 3,516 3,233 5.8 8.8 -10.4 3,719 3,516 3,957 -6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 4,343 4,406 4,599 -1.4 -4.2 -2.0 4,160 4,568 4,887 -14.9

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,323 37,666 37,283 -0.9 1.0 0.8 37,450 38,188 37,358 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 9,867 10,474 10,327 -5.8 1.4 0.3 9,441 10,588 9,275 1.8

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... (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......................... 20,072 20,333 20,693 -1.3 -1.7 -2.4 20,159 20,643 25,659 -21.4

 Total Inventories....................... 12,970 13,194 13,390 -1.7 -1.5 -2.2 12,857 13,369 15,177 -15.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 433,295 439,204 439,430 -1.3 -0.1 -0.9 432,684 439,782 461,005 -6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 93,419 93,234 93,455 0.2 -0.2 0.3 92,392 93,893 86,539 6.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,616 14,724 14,853 -0.7 -0.9 -1.6 14,382 14,711 17,251 -16.6

 Total Inventories....................... 18,909 18,951 19,315 -0.2 -1.9 -2.4 18,626 18,968 23,369 -20.3 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 283,922 287,298 288,132 -1.2 -0.3 -1.3 283,372 287,195 303,827 -6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 47,617 47,122 47,038 1.1 0.2 0.8 47,005 47,537 37,431 25.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,190 47,307 47,568 1.9 -0.5 0.2 48,360 47,647 44,947 7.6

 Total Inventories....................... 15,525 15,482 15,543 0.3 -0.4 2.2 15,602 15,591 14,594 6.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,290 11,392 11,661 -0.9 -2.3 -0.6 11,623 11,667 13,516 -14.0

 Total Inventories....................... 50,904 51,340 51,872 -0.8 -1.0 -1.5 50,499 51,406 53,229 -5.1

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 566,969 573,697 574,815 -1.2 -0.2 -1.2 566,953 576,123 614,154 -7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 160,743 161,493 162,614 -0.5 -0.7 -0.3 158,418 162,546 154,172 2.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 424,756 429,270 432,025 -1.1 -0.6 -1.8 424,494 430,859 474,357 -10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 140,584 141,246 142,341 -0.5 -0.8 -0.5 138,338 142,250 134,987 2.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 176,092 177,092 178,748 -0.6 -0.9 -2.2 176,457 179,109 202,876 -13.0

 Total Inventories................... 102,502 103,670 104,797 -1.1 -1.1 -1.2 100,760 104,427 105,867 -4.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 142,213 144,427 142,790 -1.5 1.1 0.7 142,459 145,264 139,797 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 20,159 20,247 20,273 -0.4 -0.1 1.0 20,080 20,296 19,185 4.7

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-in-process, 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 59 publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-tomonth changes of the total operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-tomonth 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 61 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-tomonth 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.