FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-6 

CB 16-128

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

June 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in June 

decreased $9.3 billion or 4.0 percent to $219.8 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

decrease, down two consecutive months, followed a 2.8 

percent May decrease. Excluding transportation, new 

orders decreased 0.5 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 3.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down two consecutive 

months, led the decrease, $8.5 billion or 10.5 percent to 

$72.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in June, up 

two of the last three months, increased $0.9 billion or 0.4 

percent to $232.5 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent 

May decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three 

months, drove the increase, $1.1 billion or 1.4 percent to 

$81.2 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

June, down following three consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $9.7 billion or 0.9 percent to 

$1,127.9 billion. This followed a virtually unchanged 

May increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $9.0 

billion or 1.1 percent to $774.9 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in June, 

down eleven of the last twelve months, decreased $0.7 

billion or 0.2 percent to $381.5 billion. This followed a 

0.4 percent May decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down five consecutive 

months, drove the decrease, $1.1 billion or 0.9 percent to 

$123.0 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in June 

decreased $8.2 billion or 11.3 percent to $64.8 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.0 billion or 1.3 percent to $71.8 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $7.0 billion or 1.0 

percent to $700.5 billion. Inventories decreased $1.1 

billion or 0.6 percent to $169.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in June 

decreased $1.9 billion or 20.7 percent to $7.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 3.8 percent to $10.3 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $3.0 billion or 2.1 

percent to $136.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 

billion or 1.8 percent to $20.4 billion. 

Revised May Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted May figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $454.1 

billion (revised from $455.2 billion); shipments, $456.6 

billion (revised from $456.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,137.6 billion (revised from $1,138.9 billion); and 

total inventories, $619.6 billion (revised from $619.7 

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 August 4, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for July is

scheduled for release on August 25, 2016 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 Investigating Economic Indicators Webinar 

Series. For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar. 

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

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

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Jun 2 May r Apr 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 232,464 231,589 232,208 0.4 -0.3 0.4 254,086 233,716 259,029 1,399,840 1,405,910 -0.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 219,754 229,014 235,729 -4.0 -2.8 3.2 241,569 227,099 258,679 1,370,880 1,370,336 0.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 151,302 151,550 151,813 -0.2 -0.2 0.3 164,401 153,282 170,052 909,684 926,818 -1.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 147,596 148,390 148,984 -0.5 -0.4 0.3 159,468 150,053 165,611 903,690 914,061 -1.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 219,982 219,519 220,824 0.2 -0.6 1.0 240,092 222,037 244,990 1,327,750 1,336,692 -0.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 209,110 217,658 221,094 -3.9 -1.6 3.6 226,961 217,884 242,864 1,296,815 1,306,099 -0.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 165,698 165,172 163,915 0.3 0.8 0.4 182,167 166,815 182,832 989,415 996,380 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 156,012 165,581 170,375 -5.8 -2.8 4.1 172,274 162,649 185,164 978,130 979,435 -0.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,745 17,610 17,631 0.8 -0.1 -0.2 18,734 18,000 20,336 108,056 121,832 -11.3

 New Orders.............................. 17,561 17,788 18,016 -1.3 -1.3 -0.8 18,343 17,870 20,355 110,389 122,223 -9.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,771 29,990 29,997 -0.7 0.0 1.6 31,782 30,753 31,690 179,208 178,055 0.6

 New Orders.............................. 29,810 29,904 30,091 -0.3 -0.6 3.2 31,209 31,067 31,405 182,805 179,192 2.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,139 30,253 30,536 -0.4 -0.9 -0.3 32,780 31,011 35,662 185,651 196,691 -5.6

 New Orders.............................. 29,372 29,392 29,255 -0.1 0.5 -2.5 31,334 29,660 34,012 183,546 193,695 -5.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,523 26,537 26,391 -0.1 0.6 0.4 30,155 25,315 29,849 155,564 150,627 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 23,606 24,143 24,379 -2.2 -1.0 2.9 27,468 23,049 27,274 142,648 137,674 3.6

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,686 1,844 1,914 -8.6 -3.7 7.6 2,441 1,623 3,364 10,696 13,023 -17.9

 New Orders.............................. 1,682 1,850 1,907 -9.1 -3.0 7.4 2,437 1,629 3,423 10,656 13,168 -19.1

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,580 3,378 3,267 6.0 3.4 -2.6 4,357 3,249 4,147 19,886 20,096 -1.0

 New Orders.............................. 3,646 3,730 3,546 -2.3 5.2 3.1 4,287 3,333 4,180 21,806 22,408 -2.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,418 9,433 9,458 -0.2 -0.3 1.5 10,248 9,505 11,016 56,281 61,295 -8.2

 New Orders.............................. 9,492 9,413 9,434 0.8 -0.2 -0.3 10,413 9,501 11,079 57,730 61,733 -6.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 81,162 80,039 80,395 1.4 -0.4 0.6 89,685 80,434 88,977 490,156 479,092 2.3

 New Orders.............................. 72,158 80,624 86,745 -10.5 -7.1 8.5 82,101 77,046 93,068 467,190 456,275 2.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,041 53,594 55,550 2.7 -3.5 2.2 59,169 54,522 58,061 337,443 321,743 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 55,074 53,676 55,408 2.6 -3.1 1.8 58,703 54,643 57,492 335,917 321,105 4.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,818 14,532 13,615 -4.9 6.7 4.0 16,768 14,031 16,647 80,635 83,027 -2.9

 New Orders.............................. 6,745 16,354 17,309 -58.8 -5.5 69.3 9,215 13,358 20,434 59,845 67,881 -11.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,128 4,298 3,561 -4.0 20.7 -23.2 4,894 4,115 6,193 24,946 27,391 -8.9

 New Orders.............................. 3,652 3,945 5,628 -7.4 -29.9 -9.1 5,664 2,504 6,667 27,264 23,407 16.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,706 37,727 37,800 -0.1 -0.2 -0.2 40,702 38,698 41,499 224,924 218,318 3.0

 New Orders.............................. 37,755 37,750 37,809 0.0 -0.2 -0.6 40,701 38,906 41,486 226,572 219,544 3.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,063 82,640 81,520 -0.7 1.4 0.4 91,727 81,871 95,866 488,342 506,814 -3.6

 New Orders.............................. 72,027 82,148 87,303 -12.3 -5.9 7.5 83,203 78,310 99,329 476,483 493,185 -3.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,798 72,749 71,914 -1.3 1.2 1.0 80,482 72,194 84,803 429,475 451,816 -4.9

 New Orders.............................. 64,766 72,988 74,184 -11.3 -1.6 8.3 73,153 70,369 86,075 415,063 440,552 -5.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,762 63,029 63,367 -0.4 -0.5 0.6 69,334 62,829 73,576 378,923 396,733 -4.5

 New Orders.......................... 62,330 62,221 62,546 0.2 -0.5 -0.9 68,336 61,377 71,346 383,239 398,255 -3.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,265 9,891 9,606 3.8 3.0 -3.9 11,245 9,677 11,063 58,867 54,998 7.0

 New Orders.............................. 7,261 9,160 13,119 -20.7 -30.2 3.3 10,050 7,941 13,254 61,420 52,633 16.7

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

Jun May Apr May - Apr - Mar - Jun May Jun 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Jun2 May r Apr 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,127,885 1,137,571 1,137,162 -0.9 0.0 0.6 1,128,415 1,138,308 1,150,624 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 381,504 382,222 383,677 -0.2 -0.4 -0.4 378,948 385,603 393,334 -3.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 353,029 353,711 353,887 -0.2 0.0 0.0 356,523 358,832 357,348 -0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 258,535 258,117 258,742 0.2 -0.2 -0.4 257,205 260,468 268,318 -4.1

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 954,602 962,450 961,327 -0.8 0.1 0.3 953,223 963,730 972,477 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 356,279 356,537 357,907 -0.1 -0.4 -0.5 353,481 359,762 366,486 -3.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,127,885 1,137,571 1,137,162 -0.9 0.0 0.6 1,128,415 1,138,308 1,150,624 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 309,637 311,106 312,288 -0.5 -0.4 -0.4 308,145 314,222 320,332 -3.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,564 32,748 32,570 -0.6 0.5 1.2 32,946 33,337 33,506 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 31,267 31,242 31,266 0.1 -0.1 -1.9 30,978 31,043 35,817 -13.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 73,836 73,797 73,883 0.1 -0.1 0.1 75,044 75,617 75,251 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 48,530 48,550 48,590 0.0 -0.1 -0.3 48,505 49,023 49,698 -2.4

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,628 93,395 94,256 -0.8 -0.9 -1.3 92,851 94,297 100,721 -7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 65,798 65,427 65,906 0.6 -0.7 -1.1 65,275 66,300 67,568 -3.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 128,213 128,106 127,516 0.1 0.5 0.7 128,950 129,013 122,045 5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 42,734 42,720 42,786 0.0 -0.2 0.1 42,358 43,410 43,151 -1.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,407 2,411 2,405 -0.2 0.2 -0.3 2,407 2,411 2,425 -0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 3,606 3,579 3,595 0.8 -0.4 -1.7 3,568 3,685 4,045 -11.8

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,491 34,425 34,073 0.2 1.0 0.8 34,682 34,752 31,315 10.8

 Total Inventories....................... 4,672 4,695 4,680 -0.5 0.3 1.2 4,587 4,737 5,021 -8.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,386 17,312 17,332 0.4 -0.1 -0.1 17,752 17,587 17,190 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 16,168 16,291 16,335 -0.8 -0.3 0.5 16,190 16,553 16,831 -3.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 774,856 783,860 783,275 -1.1 0.1 0.8 771,892 779,476 793,276 -2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 122,969 124,105 124,935 -0.9 -0.7 -0.2 121,743 125,135 125,016 -2.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,462 22,429 22,347 0.1 0.4 -0.6 22,033 22,499 23,357 -5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 34,557 33,637 33,799 2.7 -0.5 -2.0 33,567 33,509 34,264 -2.0

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 593,918 600,991 599,169 -1.2 0.3 0.6 589,846 597,399 600,753 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 62,451 63,857 64,399 -2.2 -0.8 0.2 62,049 65,040 62,893 -1.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 70,399 70,875 71,228 -0.7 -0.5 3.0 70,936 70,166 66,022 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 10,781 11,132 11,458 -3.2 -2.8 3.1 10,777 11,214 11,785 -8.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,402 8,353 8,330 0.6 0.3 0.1 8,980 8,981 8,635 4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 54,038 53,887 53,859 0.3 0.1 0.4 53,899 54,139 55,253 -2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 837,406 847,442 847,934 -1.2 -0.1 0.7 839,017 847,541 868,981 -3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 190,063 191,533 192,714 -0.8 -0.6 -0.2 189,526 194,200 196,101 -3.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 700,482 707,514 707,275 -1.0 0.0 0.3 700,060 707,389 725,385 -3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 169,633 170,735 171,839 -0.6 -0.6 -0.4 168,850 173,328 173,985 -3.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 219,971 220,403 221,211 -0.2 -0.4 -0.4 222,002 223,000 227,301 -2.3

 Total Inventories................... 118,341 118,035 118,561 0.3 -0.4 -0.6 117,664 119,551 121,543 -3.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 136,924 139,928 140,659 -2.1 -0.5 2.6 138,957 140,152 143,596 -3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 20,430 20,798 20,875 -1.8 -0.4 1.5 20,676 20,872 22,116 -6.5

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 monthto-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-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.