FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (13)-07 

CB13-147

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

July 2013 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

decreased $17.8 billion or 7.3 percent to $226.6 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

decrease, down following three consecutive monthly 

increases and followed a 3.9 percent June increase. 

Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.6 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 6.7 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $16.7 

billion or 19.4 percent to $69.7 billion. This was led by 

nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased $14.5 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, 

down three of the last four months, decreased $0.8 

billion or 0.3 percent to $228.8 billion. This followed a 

0.1 percent June decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, also down three of 

the last four months, drove the decrease, $0.9 billion or 

3.2 percent to $26.6 billion. This followed a 1.1 percent 

June increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up five of the last six months, increased $4.4 

billion or 0.4 percent to $1,034.3 billion. This was at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis in 1992, and followed a 2.1 percent June 

increase. 

 Computers and electronic products, up four 

consecutive months, led the increase, $1.2 billion or 0.9 

percent to $135.9 billion.

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

three of the last four months, increased $1.3 billion or 

0.4 percent to $379.1 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis, and followed a 0.2 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up fourteen of the last 

fifteen months, led the increase, $0.7 billion or 0.6 

percent to $117.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

decreased $14.2 billion or 15.4 percent to $78.0 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.0 billion or 1.4 percent to $73.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $4.4 billion or 0.7 

percent to $610.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.6 

billion or 0.3 percent to $171.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$2.6 billion or 21.7 percent to $9.2 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.6 billion or 5.9 percent to $9.4 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to 

$169.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or 0.3 

percent to $23.1 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $496.4 

billion (revised from $496.7 billion); shipments, $481.6 

billion (revised from $481.8 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,029.9 billion (unchanged); and total inventories, 

$628.0 billion (revised from $627.7 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 September 5, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable 

goods for August is scheduled for release on September 25, 2013, 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 2013 Economic Indicator Webinar Series. For more information go to www.census.gov/econ/webinar.
 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

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

2013 2 2013 r 2013 Jul 2 Jun r May 2013 2 2013 r 2012 2013 2012 2013/2012

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 228,829 229,594 229,878 -0.3 -0.1 1.3 214,707 243,806 207,661 1,582,634 1,542,289 2.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 226,620 244,380 235,162 -7.3 3.9 5.5 206,515 255,963 205,279 1,575,410 1,524,766 3.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 160,061 160,771 160,662 -0.4 0.1 0.3 158,179 169,507 155,319 1,119,399 1,109,980 0.8

 New Orders

4

.............................. 156,955 157,973 157,796 -0.6 0.1 1.3 151,181 163,649 141,359 1,097,913 1,070,759 2.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 217,119 217,298 217,778 -0.1 -0.2 1.2 204,536 230,095 197,175 1,500,783 1,459,756 2.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 214,814 230,355 223,952 -6.7 2.9 5.1 198,435 239,189 193,962 1,504,277 1,437,004 4.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 160,699 161,475 161,970 -0.5 -0.3 2.1 150,681 172,646 146,036 1,110,642 1,098,815 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 165,078 182,970 173,760 -9.8 5.3 7.4 150,934 190,914 153,968 1,151,355 1,131,222 1.8

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 25,294 24,919 24,406 1.5 2.1 -1.2 24,908 25,310 24,131 177,385 180,970 -2.0

 New Orders.............................. 25,522 25,517 25,893 0.0 -1.5 2.3 24,901 25,333 23,490 180,858 177,417 1.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 28,907 28,877 29,071 0.1 -0.7 -0.1 28,492 29,886 27,613 201,302 199,351 1.0

 New Orders.............................. 29,838 29,721 29,630 0.4 0.3 -0.3 28,317 29,196 27,498 211,755 205,858 2.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 33,867 34,203 34,798 -1.0 -1.7 1.6 33,168 36,157 32,215 240,376 231,326 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 35,000 35,005 34,578 0.0 1.2 0.5 34,334 35,988 29,673 245,481 232,024 5.8

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,644 27,533 27,238 -3.2 1.1 -1.2 26,276 30,216 28,919 187,826 197,314 -4.8

 New Orders.............................. 21,262 22,063 22,236 -3.6 -0.8 3.2 18,392 24,931 18,629 144,885 152,773 -5.2

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,851 2,393 2,327 -22.6 2.8 -0.4 1,501 3,327 2,058 14,849 16,564 -10.4

 New Orders.............................. 1,870 2,334 2,333 -19.9 0.0 -1.2 1,520 3,268 2,049 15,046 16,481 -8.7

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,958 4,019 4,117 -1.5 -2.4 4.0 3,438 4,660 3,268 26,735 25,384 5.3

 New Orders.............................. 4,312 4,563 5,232 -5.5 -12.8 15.2 3,407 5,193 3,364 29,904 27,593 8.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,316 10,321 10,401 0.0 -0.8 2.0 9,871 10,984 9,723 71,495 71,852 -0.5

 New Orders.............................. 10,256 10,712 10,707 -4.3 0.0 3.4 9,749 11,288 9,317 73,036 72,515 0.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 68,768 68,823 69,216 -0.1 -0.6 3.8 56,528 74,299 52,342 463,235 432,309 7.2

 New Orders.............................. 69,665 86,407 77,366 -19.4 11.7 15.1 55,334 92,314 63,920 477,497 454,007 5.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 45,117 44,813 44,499 0.7 0.7 -1.5 36,841 46,693 33,748 307,612 282,344 8.9

 New Orders.............................. 45,021 44,787 44,712 0.5 0.2 -0.9 36,627 46,469 33,622 307,267 281,219 9.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,146 11,994 12,593 1.3 -4.8 29.7 10,009 14,003 8,637 74,139 68,112 8.8

 New Orders.............................. 13,200 27,690 20,697 -52.3 33.8 67.6 10,781 28,928 19,292 99,838 87,981 13.5

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,402 4,615 4,669 -4.6 -1.2 1.1 3,591 5,486 3,795 31,332 32,213 -2.7

 New Orders.............................. 5,129 5,243 4,303 -2.2 21.8 4.8 3,845 5,970 3,535 25,475 33,312 -23.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 35,033 34,918 34,748 0.3 0.5 1.0 35,464 36,954 32,718 241,015 229,167 5.2

 New Orders.............................. 35,077 34,955 34,752 0.3 0.6 0.8 35,488 36,913 32,752 241,898 230,172 5.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,955 84,550 85,632 -1.9 -1.3 5.8 77,280 91,988 75,729 572,274 561,974 1.8

 New Orders.............................. 87,190 103,963 95,264 -16.1 9.1 13.7 77,575 110,472 83,782 608,329 593,874 2.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 73,605 74,619 75,864 -1.4 -1.6 6.3 69,039 81,206 67,088 505,919 495,687 2.1

 New Orders.............................. 77,990 92,210 86,132 -15.4 7.1 12.8 71,124 96,463 73,577 550,610 522,107 5.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 64,976 65,951 66,493 -1.5 -0.8 2.0 61,941 71,197 60,973 455,106 450,018 1.1

 New Orders.......................... 67,547 69,856 68,955 -3.3 1.3 2.1 62,933 73,194 57,695 475,776 458,568 3.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,350 9,931 9,768 -5.9 1.7 2.2 8,241 10,782 8,641 66,355 66,287 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,200 11,753 9,132 -21.7 28.7 22.9 6,451 14,009 10,205 57,719 71,767 -19.6

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 of shipments for the semiconductor industry are no longer shown separately. 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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2013/

2013 2 2013 r 2013 Jul 2 Jun r May 2013 2 2013 r 2012 2012

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,034,292 1,029,913 1,008,418 0.4 2.1 1.2 1,031,577 1,031,324 987,381 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 379,102 377,770 377,093 0.4 0.2 -0.1 382,098 375,734 372,983 2.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 396,105 392,623 388,712 0.9 1.0 0.9 397,786 396,339 387,878 2.6

 Total Inventories....................... 262,041 261,435 261,259 0.2 0.1 0.0 263,715 260,283 263,893 -0.1

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 833,624 829,341 809,575 0.5 2.4 1.6 831,941 829,597 782,997 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 350,587 349,490 349,244 0.3 0.1 -0.1 353,527 347,589 346,358 2.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,034,292 1,029,913 1,008,418 0.4 2.1 1.2 1,031,577 1,031,324 987,381 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 310,318 308,745 308,025 0.5 0.2 -0.1 313,333 307,380 303,884 3.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,772 35,544 34,946 0.6 1.7 4.4 35,600 35,607 34,404 3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 35,097 34,966 34,819 0.4 0.4 -0.5 35,181 34,997 36,471 -3.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 88,499 87,568 86,724 1.1 1.0 0.6 89,405 89,580 80,110 11.6

 Total Inventories....................... 47,219 47,103 47,097 0.2 0.0 -0.3 47,779 47,264 47,678 0.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 106,258 105,125 104,323 1.1 0.8 -0.2 106,895 105,729 115,144 -7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 65,828 65,505 66,082 0.5 -0.9 -0.3 66,072 64,801 67,132 -1.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 135,910 134,704 133,465 0.9 0.9 1.1 135,658 135,097 128,804 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 46,656 46,835 46,554 -0.4 0.6 1.0 47,176 46,342 46,559 1.3

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,424 3,405 3,464 0.6 -1.7 0.2 3,424 3,405 2,660 28.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,562 4,693 4,626 -2.8 1.4 5.8 4,603 4,583 4,512 2.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,899 33,545 33,001 1.1 1.6 3.5 33,599 33,630 28,748 16.9

 Total Inventories....................... 7,333 7,454 7,439 -1.6 0.2 -0.5 7,360 7,338 7,825 -5.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,344 22,404 22,013 -0.3 1.8 1.4 22,515 22,637 21,696 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 16,844 16,819 16,605 0.1 1.3 -0.3 17,045 16,820 16,533 3.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 638,187 637,290 619,706 0.1 2.8 1.3 633,791 634,985 599,503 5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 117,061 116,335 115,834 0.6 0.4 -0.2 118,383 115,451 109,090 8.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,707 16,803 16,829 -0.6 -0.2 1.3 16,440 16,654 16,752 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 25,014 25,025 25,117 0.0 -0.4 -0.3 25,259 24,311 25,725 -1.8

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 460,232 459,178 443,482 0.2 3.5 1.9 457,055 456,283 417,177 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 63,232 62,743 62,416 0.8 0.5 0.0 64,145 62,884 55,790 15.0

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 67,349 66,622 65,994 1.1 1.0 -0.6 66,502 66,248 66,621 -0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 13,997 13,703 13,880 2.1 -1.3 1.3 14,065 13,646 13,000 8.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,322 7,278 7,241 0.6 0.5 0.1 7,713 7,689 7,720 -0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 50,397 50,207 50,102 0.4 0.2 0.2 50,462 50,059 49,520 1.9

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 779,748 775,513 756,100 0.5 2.6 1.3 777,269 776,974 737,843 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 194,455 193,814 193,304 0.3 0.3 -0.1 195,851 193,054 187,593 4.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 610,165 605,780 588,189 0.7 3.0 1.8 607,962 605,877 563,906 7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 171,335 170,769 170,854 0.3 0.0 -0.1 172,743 170,087 166,227 3.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 227,366 224,795 220,890 1.1 1.8 1.1 228,509 227,517 218,605 4.5

 Total Inventories................... 119,543 119,425 119,707 0.1 -0.2 -0.1 120,194 118,266 121,114 -0.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 169,583 169,733 167,911 -0.1 1.1 -0.4 169,307 171,097 173,937 -2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 23,120 23,045 22,450 0.3 2.7 0.2 23,108 22,967 21,366 8.2

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-inprocess, 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 65 

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 4,300 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-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.