FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2008, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (08)-08 

CB08-144

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

August 2008 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in August 

decreased $9.9 billion or 4.5 percent to $208.5 billion, 

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

largest percent decrease in new orders since January 

2008 and followed three consecutive monthly increases 

including a 0.8 percent July increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 3.0 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 5.0 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down two of the last three 

months, had the largest decrease, $5.1 billion or 8.9 

percent to $52.3 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $7.7 billion or 3.5 percent to $210.1 billion. 

This was the largest percent decrease in shipments since 

December 2002 and followed a 2.3 percent July 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$4.2 billion or 7.7 percent to $50.0 billion. This was the 

largest percent decrease in shipments of transportation 

equipment since December 2002. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

August, up thirty of the last thirty-one months, increased 

$3.0 billion or 0.4 percent to $827.2 billion. This was at 

the highest level since the series was first stated on a 

NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.8 percent July 

increase. 

Transportation equipment, up twenty-six of the last 

twenty-seven months, had the largest increase, $2.2 

billion or 0.5 percent to $466.5 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, 

up thirteen of the last fourteen months, increased $2.4 

billion or 0.7 percent to $338.5 billion. This was also at 

the highest level since the series was first stated on a 

NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.9 percent July 

increase. 

 Primary metals, up nine consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $0.9 billion or 2.5 percent to $34.9 

billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August 

decreased $5.6 billion or 7.5 percent to $68.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased $2.0 billion or 2.8 percent to $67.2 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.7 billion or 0.4 

percent to $481.3 billion. Inventories increased $1.2 

billion or 0.9 percent to $139.7 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in August 

increased $0.9 billion or 9.4 percent to $9.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased 0.2 percent to $9.1 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $0.8 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$140.1 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 billion or 1.2 

percent to $19.1 billion. 

Revised July Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $464.3 

billion (revised from $465.4 billion); shipments, $463.7 

billion (revised from $465.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$824.2 billion (revised from $824.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $558.8 billion (revised from $558.2 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 October 2, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for September is scheduled for release on October 29, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for 

survey description and 2009 release dates. 
 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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug Change

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2008 2007 08/07

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 210,122 217,815 212,947 -3.5 2.3 0.9 212,562 199,744 225,962 1,695,008 1,705,334 -0.6

 New Orders 4

........................... 208,504 218,374 216,650 -4.5 0.8 1.4 206,894 195,445 225,174 1,702,696 1,729,928 -1.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 160,083 163,575 159,982 -2.1 2.2 0.5 161,175 157,471 161,455 1,272,282 1,242,658 2.4

 New Orders 4

........................... 156,245 161,007 160,845 -3.0 0.1 2.6 153,885 153,534 155,234 1,254,500 1,216,510 3.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 198,408 205,716 201,191 -3.6 2.2 1.0 201,042 188,678 216,264 1,604,557 1,631,544 -1.7

 New Orders 4

........................... 196,044 206,316 202,448 -5.0 1.9 0.7 195,962 186,663 213,097 1,610,589 1,657,169 -2.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 151,782 157,213 154,343 -3.5 1.9 1.6 153,524 145,057 156,229 1,215,335 1,186,111 2.5

 New Orders 4

........................... 154,804 163,369 162,073 -5.2 0.8 1.7 152,230 146,966 160,690 1,263,812 1,254,494 0.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 23,497 23,941 23,124 -1.9 3.5 3.7 23,938 23,312 20,940 182,367 163,752 11.4

 New Orders.............................. 22,146 24,428 23,734 -9.3 2.9 7.8 22,366 23,505 20,691 183,551 163,324 12.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 28,263 28,685 28,025 -1.5 2.4 1.2 30,049 28,285 30,028 224,015 220,377 1.7

 New Orders.............................. 28,197 28,354 28,041 -0.6 1.1 1.0 29,124 27,587 29,569 226,884 224,282 1.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 28,949 29,162 29,469 -0.7 -1.0 2.2 28,115 28,214 27,712 233,978 220,396 6.2

 New Orders.............................. 30,675 32,714 31,553 -6.2 3.7 2.6 28,866 31,651 28,067 249,118 226,908 9.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 31,593 33,187 31,257 -4.8 6.2 -3.6 29,782 29,943 30,981 250,690 248,891 0.7

 New Orders 4

........................... 27,612 27,088 28,372 1.9 -4.5 1.0 24,993 22,902 25,991 211,308 208,957 1.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 4,825 4,943 5,193 -2.4 -4.8 -2.4 4,345 4,341 5,108 39,548 40,745 -2.9

 New Orders.............................. 4,907 4,809 5,539 2.0 -13.2 0.3 4,427 4,207 5,342 39,736 41,248 -3.7 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,551 6,016 6,104 -7.7 -1.4 5.4 5,222 4,888 5,465 43,913 43,195 1.7

 New Orders.............................. 6,154 5,881 5,937 4.6 -0.9 -2.2 5,178 4,631 4,934 44,553 44,146 0.9

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 4,640 5,597 4,027 -17.1 39.0 -14.3 4,374 6,208 5,249 40,789 43,789 -6.9

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 10,592 11,060 10,699 -4.2 3.4 0.1 10,840 10,575 11,167 84,993 84,252 0.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,452 10,685 11,629 -2.2 -8.1 5.0 10,414 10,551 10,861 87,138 86,760 0.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 50,039 54,240 52,965 -7.7 2.4 2.2 51,387 42,273 64,507 422,726 462,676 -8.6

 New Orders.............................. 52,259 57,367 55,805 -8.9 2.8 -1.8 53,009 41,911 69,940 448,196 513,418 -12.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 30,335 33,217 32,904 -8.7 1.0 2.0 32,034 24,237 45,730 269,003 325,768 -17.4

 New Orders.............................. 30,429 33,097 32,855 -8.1 0.7 2.1 31,728 24,577 44,500 267,723 324,189 -17.4 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 8,201 9,183 8,456 -10.7 8.6 3.0 7,958 7,607 9,379 66,152 64,957 1.8

 New Orders.............................. 7,612 12,292 10,055 -38.1 22.2 -21.3 7,872 8,624 12,205 90,295 112,809 -20.0

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 4,713 5,054 4,647 -6.7 8.8 3.2 4,691 4,443 3,343 35,012 25,396 37.9

 New Orders.............................. 5,140 5,877 4,723 -12.5 24.4 -8.7 4,536 4,799 5,276 36,858 23,090 59.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,189 37,540 37,408 -0.9 0.4 0.3 38,451 37,142 40,627 296,239 304,990 -2.9

 New Orders.............................. 37,163 37,738 37,516 -1.5 0.6 1.1 38,122 37,338 40,055 296,501 306,279 -3.2

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 76,240 78,226 77,267 -2.5 1.2 0.7 74,170 71,472 74,903 604,419 580,022 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 78,822 83,582 83,256 -5.7 0.4 -0.2 73,962 72,349 77,749 643,785 638,133 0.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 67,153 69,117 68,194 -2.8 1.4 0.7 65,105 63,015 66,951 534,259 519,311 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 68,890 74,502 71,958 -7.5 3.5 -2.3 65,101 65,989 68,398 572,771 578,594 -1.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,825 63,922 63,663 -1.7 0.4 0.6 60,947 58,995 61,414 498,663 483,090 3.2

 New Orders........................ 64,970 66,305 66,070 -2.0 0.4 1.6 60,807 60,981 60,602 514,601 497,171 3.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 9,087 9,109 9,073 -0.2 0.4 0.4 9,065 8,457 7,952 70,160 60,711 15.6

 New Orders.............................. 9,932 9,080 11,298 9.4 -19.6 15.4 8,861 6,360 9,351 71,014 59,539 19.3

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 equipmen

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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2008/

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2007

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 827,201 824,179 818,023 0.4 0.8 1.0 820,293 821,587 726,261 12.9

 Total Inventories....................... 338,529 336,154 333,127 0.7 0.9 0.8 341,149 338,295 315,583 8.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 360,726 359,924 356,895 0.2 0.8 1.4 358,028 360,944 327,080 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 249,657 247,825 245,833 0.7 0.8 0.7 251,255 249,305 237,239 5.9

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 671,384 669,108 662,911 0.3 0.9 0.8 667,328 668,034 580,643 14.9

 Total Inventories....................... 313,957 311,528 308,591 0.8 1.0 0.9 316,484 313,602 293,725 7.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 827,201 824,179 818,023 0.4 0.8 1.0 820,293 821,587 726,261 12.9

 Total Inventories....................... 272,087 269,875 266,802 0.8 1.2 0.9 274,089 271,642 249,646 9.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,757 30,108 29,621 -4.5 1.6 2.1 28,447 30,019 26,517 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 34,873 34,006 33,515 2.5 1.5 1.6 35,120 34,405 31,509 11.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,086 62,152 62,483 -0.1 -0.5 0.0 62,288 63,213 59,154 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 44,712 44,325 43,553 0.9 1.8 1.3 44,717 44,742 41,396 8.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 106,845 105,119 101,567 1.6 3.5 2.1 105,527 104,776 84,896 24.3

 Total Inventories....................... 54,535 54,249 53,849 0.5 0.7 0.5 54,661 54,090 51,436 6.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 124,599 123,940 124,442 0.5 -0.4 0.9 123,174 123,589 118,608 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 46,702 46,493 46,336 0.4 0.3 -0.1 47,629 46,919 44,487 7.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,905 3,823 3,957 2.1 -3.4 9.6 3,905 3,823 3,988 -2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 5,077 5,019 5,082 1.2 -1.2 -1.5 5,376 5,034 4,895 9.8

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,659 37,056 37,191 1.6 -0.4 -0.4 37,057 37,101 36,001 2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 9,925 9,621 9,707 3.2 -0.9 -1.9 10,000 9,530 9,120 9.6

 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......................... 25,085 25,225 25,600 -0.6 -1.5 3.8 25,209 25,635 24,358 3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 15,209 15,160 15,243 0.3 -0.5 0.8 15,123 15,213 14,362 5.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 466,475 464,255 461,128 0.5 0.7 0.6 462,265 460,643 399,181 15.8

 Total Inventories....................... 88,872 88,329 87,294 0.6 1.2 1.1 89,894 88,990 78,344 14.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,480 17,386 17,506 0.5 -0.7 -0.3 17,285 17,591 18,854 -8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 23,391 23,478 23,693 -0.4 -0.9 0.2 23,450 23,636 24,992 -6.2 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 306,817 307,406 304,297 -0.2 1.0 0.5 304,758 304,844 245,110 24.3

 Total Inventories....................... 40,004 39,179 37,773 2.1 3.7 1.9 40,720 39,539 30,593 33.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 45,772 45,345 44,522 0.9 1.8 0.2 45,148 45,303 39,841 13.3

 Total Inventories....................... 14,216 14,306 14,502 -0.6 -1.4 1.8 14,308 14,391 12,645 13.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,354 13,380 13,182 -0.2 1.5 0.8 13,383 13,712 13,547 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 53,626 53,592 53,337 0.1 0.5 0.5 54,005 53,936 54,049 -0.1

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 621,414 618,832 613,476 0.4 0.9 1.0 614,823 615,031 534,483 15.0

 Total Inventories....................... 158,803 157,829 155,830 0.6 1.3 0.7 160,400 158,378 142,528 12.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 481,337 479,600 474,215 0.4 1.1 0.8 477,327 477,331 403,078 18.4

 Total Inventories....................... 139,729 138,523 136,602 0.9 1.4 0.8 141,325 139,090 125,248 12.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 206,705 204,560 202,177 1.0 1.2 1.2 204,722 204,862 187,103 9.4

 Total Inventories................... 108,339 107,792 107,184 0.5 0.6 0.5 109,375 108,086 102,419 6.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,077 139,232 139,261 0.6 0.0 1.6 137,496 137,700 131,405 4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 19,074 19,306 19,228 -1.2 0.4 -0.4 19,075 19,288 17,280 10.4

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.

2009 Release Dates for M3 Survey 

Survey Month Advance 8:30 A.M. Preliminary 10:00 A.M. 

November 2008 Dec. 24, 2008 Jan. 6, 2009 

December 2008 Jan. 29, 2009 Feb. 5, 2009 

January 2009 Feb. 26, 2009 Mar. 5, 2009 

February 2009 Mar. 25, 2009 Apr. 2, 2009 

March 2009 Apr. 24, 2009 May 1, 2009 

April 2009 May 28, 2009 Jun. 3, 2009 

May 2009 Jun. 24, 2009 Jul. 2, 2009 

June 2009 Jul. 29, 2009 Aug. 5, 2009 

July 2009 Aug. 26, 2009 Sep. 2, 2009 

August 2009 Sep. 25, 2009 Oct. 2, 2009 

September 2009 Oct. 28, 2009 Nov. 3, 2009 

October 2009 Nov. 25, 2009 Dec. 4, 2009 

November 2009 Dec. 24, 2009