FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (06)-7 

CB06-131

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

July 2006 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

decreased $5.3 billion or 2.4 percent to $212.0 billion, 

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

follows two consecutive monthly increases, which 

includes a 3.5 percent June increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.5 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 1.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $6.0 billion or 9.6 

percent to $56.6 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $2.8 billion or 1.3 percent to $210.6 billion. 

This followed a 0.3 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $3.7 billion or 6.4 

percent to $53.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up fourteen of the last fifteen months, increased 

$8.4 billion or 1.4 percent to $630.7 billion. This was at 

the highest level since the series was first stated on a 

NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.7 percent June 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up fourteen of the last 

fifteen months, had the largest increase, $3.2 billion or 

1.0 percent to $329.7 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series began. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

six of the last seven months, increased $2.7 billion or 1.0 

percent to $285.9 billion. This followed a 0.8 percent 

June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up five consecutive months, 

had the largest increase, $0.8 billion or 1.2 percent to 

$67.3 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $0.2 billion or 0.2 percent to $72.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.3 billion or 0.4 percent to $66.9 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $5.1 billion or 1.6 

percent to $324.8 billion. Inventories increased $0.9 

billion or 0.8 percent to $110.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$1.6 billion or 15.1 percent to $8.9 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.2 billion or 2.7 percent to $7.8 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $1.1 billion or 0.8 percent to 

$128.9 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 billion or 2.2 

percent to $14.4 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries are: new orders, $407.6 billion 

(revised from $406.0 billion); shipments, $403.7 billion 

(revised from $403.0 billion); unfilled orders, $622.3 

billion (revised from $621.4 billion); and total 

inventories, $469.7 billion (revised from $469.4 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 August 31, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. 

The advance report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on September 27, 2006, 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

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

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Jul 2 Jun r May 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2006 2005 06/05

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 210,581 213,353 212,676 -1.3 0.3 3.0 183,632 233,650 169,094 1,452,294 1,347,496 7.8

 New Orders4.............................. 211,989 217,268 209,839 -2.4 3.5 0.3 184,148 233,218 165,735 1,463,398 1,338,605 9.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 157,208 156,303 155,066 0.6 0.8 2.2 145,096 169,667 130,284 1,065,884 974,442 9.4

 New Orders4.............................. 155,424 154,691 151,396 0.5 2.2 1.6 143,490 164,138 124,677 1,049,146 948,030 10.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 201,268 203,919 203,225 -1.3 0.3 3.2 175,059 223,397 161,085 1,388,457 1,287,257 7.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 201,408 205,282 201,715 -1.9 1.8 0.5 176,137 220,997 160,448 1,398,830 1,285,502 8.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 147,350 147,398 146,256 0.0 0.8 2.6 130,474 161,264 116,633 1,000,140 914,477 9.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 155,761 157,948 150,454 -1.4 5.0 -0.6 137,208 167,982 118,912 1,058,330 947,951 11.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,931 19,583 19,102 1.8 2.5 7.8 18,124 20,514 14,031 130,218 113,376 14.9

 New Orders.............................. 20,158 19,919 19,700 1.2 1.1 6.2 18,304 20,348 14,055 132,500 111,712 18.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,723 24,893 24,744 -0.7 0.6 1.4 23,218 26,528 21,237 170,896 157,642 8.4

 New Orders.............................. 25,064 26,728 25,296 -6.2 5.7 -0.2 23,532 27,610 21,507 177,668 162,895 9.1

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 27,673 27,398 26,934 1.0 1.7 1.3 25,912 30,046 22,681 189,226 169,498 11.6

 New Orders.............................. 29,245 28,711 28,621 1.9 0.3 4.3 26,955 29,827 22,483 198,203 174,627 13.5

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 35,667 35,220 35,099 1.3 0.3 1.6 31,560 39,995 28,393 238,399 218,142 9.3

 New Orders4.............................. 31,127 29,749 27,881 4.6 6.7 -1.9 27,362 33,726 22,371 198,676 181,434 9.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,812 6,277 6,266 8.5 0.2 -4.1 6,553 7,331 6,002 44,462 43,385 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 6,969 6,386 6,232 9.1 2.5 -3.0 6,710 7,440 5,712 44,226 42,801 3.3 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 5,349 6,065 5,868 -11.8 3.4 -7.9 4,395 7,077 4,264 39,561 33,759 17.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,898 6,593 5,724 -10.5 15.2 7.7 4,811 7,321 4,442 41,466 36,575 13.4

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 7,003 6,635 7,035 5.5 -5.7 16.1 6,218 7,150 5,638 47,086 42,365 11.1

 New Orders4.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,319 10,238 10,410 0.8 -1.7 3.4 9,391 10,980 8,526 69,191 62,404 10.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,740 10,817 11,062 -0.7 -2.2 2.6 10,092 11,282 8,759 73,608 63,948 15.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 53,373 57,050 57,610 -6.4 -1.0 5.3 38,536 63,983 38,810 386,410 373,054 3.6

 New Orders.............................. 56,565 62,577 58,443 -9.6 7.1 -2.8 40,658 69,080 41,058 414,252 390,575 6.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 37,484 40,466 40,792 -7.4 -0.8 4.3 25,208 44,821 26,362 274,693 273,443 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 37,841 40,700 40,827 -7.0 -0.3 2.8 26,009 44,645 26,909 276,713 273,683 1.1 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,420 7,994 7,947 -7.2 0.6 20.7 5,856 9,671 4,997 52,436 40,065 30.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,166 11,296 10,523 -10.0 7.3 -19.5 8,477 13,592 8,883 80,328 61,182 31.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,412 3,224 3,515 5.8 -8.3 3.1 3,067 3,727 2,722 22,850 22,155 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,280 3,008 2,751 9.0 9.3 23.1 2,353 3,235 1,585 22,190 16,604 33.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,895 38,971 38,777 -0.2 0.5 1.0 36,891 41,604 35,416 267,954 253,380 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 39,090 38,767 38,836 0.8 -0.2 0.8 37,245 41,345 35,502 268,491 253,414 5.9

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 74,725 74,673 74,498 0.1 0.2 1.7 67,546 83,499 60,313 509,890 458,353 11.2

 New Orders.............................. 80,924 82,342 77,308 -1.7 6.5 -2.5 71,304 89,841 62,347 547,913 486,311 12.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 66,931 66,664 66,575 0.4 0.1 2.1 60,286 75,014 53,527 456,180 407,166 12.0

 New Orders.............................. 72,065 71,910 70,435 0.2 2.1 -2.0 64,651 79,367 57,953 493,652 440,702 12.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,220 61,430 61,348 1.3 0.1 0.0 56,842 68,557 51,247 422,713 387,092 9.2

 New Orders.......................... 64,712 63,785 62,931 1.5 1.4 1.3 58,890 69,114 51,489 438,520 397,651 10.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,794 8,009 7,923 -2.7 1.1 -1.7 7,260 8,485 6,786 53,710 51,187 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 8,859 10,432 6,873 -15.1 51.8 -7.1 6,653 10,474 4,394 54,261 45,609 19.0

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 no

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, whic

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(05), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2005

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; vendin

laundry, and other machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material handling equipment; a

other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, an

control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; an

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 equipme

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 separatel
 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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2006/

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Jul 2 Jun r May 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2005

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 630,697 622,286 611,736 1.4 1.7 0.7 630,618 623,884 524,711 20.2

 Total Inventories....................... 285,901 283,194 280,856 1.0 0.8 0.7 288,654 282,028 273,305 5.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 301,004 295,785 290,762 1.8 1.7 1.2 301,636 297,024 259,343 16.3

 Total Inventories....................... 218,640 216,756 215,278 0.9 0.7 0.7 220,506 216,372 208,077 6.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 488,889 481,746 473,748 1.5 1.7 1.2 489,342 482,046 382,502 27.9

 Total Inventories....................... 266,800 264,407 261,674 0.9 1.0 0.7 269,384 263,128 253,871 6.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 630,697 622,286 611,736 1.4 1.7 0.7 630,618 623,884 524,711 20.2

 Total Inventories....................... 222,235 220,188 218,490 0.9 0.8 0.8 224,362 219,289 211,772 5.9

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,778 27,551 27,215 0.8 1.2 2.2 27,556 27,376 20,118 37.0

 Total Inventories....................... 27,772 27,428 27,185 1.3 0.9 2.7 27,982 27,337 25,832 8.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,036 52,695 50,860 0.6 3.6 1.1 53,877 53,563 45,976 17.2

 Total Inventories....................... 36,202 35,994 35,519 0.6 1.3 0.6 36,616 36,258 34,895 4.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 71,176 69,604 68,291 2.3 1.9 2.5 70,682 69,639 57,194 23.6

 Total Inventories....................... 45,053 44,856 44,906 0.4 -0.1 0.8 45,113 44,613 43,186 4.5

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 114,911 112,448 111,284 2.2 1.0 -0.2 114,938 112,918 106,977 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 45,226 44,630 44,451 1.3 0.4 0.0 46,019 44,193 42,338 8.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,466 4,309 4,200 3.6 2.6 -0.8 4,466 4,309 4,350 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,174 4,174 4,077 0.0 2.4 -0.6 4,261 4,069 4,433 -3.9

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,783 34,234 33,706 1.6 1.6 -0.4 34,917 34,501 34,519 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 9,934 9,896 10,178 0.4 -2.8 -3.9 9,969 9,522 9,900 0.7

 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......................... 22,002 21,581 21,002 2.0 2.8 3.2 22,251 21,550 16,523 34.7

 Total Inventories....................... 13,775 13,603 13,325 1.3 2.1 0.2 13,823 13,640 12,504 10.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 329,693 326,501 320,974 1.0 1.7 0.3 328,982 326,860 265,368 24.0

 Total Inventories....................... 67,261 66,438 65,578 1.2 1.3 0.7 68,148 65,656 65,228 4.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 19,083 18,726 18,492 1.9 1.3 0.2 19,112 18,311 15,700 21.7

 Total Inventories....................... 23,956 23,724 23,625 1.0 0.4 0.1 24,288 23,472 23,887 1.7 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 195,728 192,982 189,680 1.4 1.7 1.4 195,326 192,705 129,391 51.0

 Total Inventories....................... 23,783 23,491 22,724 1.2 3.4 0.1 24,135 22,993 21,668 11.4

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,661 44,793 45,009 -0.3 -0.5 -1.7 44,848 45,562 43,279 3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 11,847 11,714 11,719 1.1 0.0 2.0 11,983 11,798 11,629 3.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,101 11,906 12,110 1.6 -1.7 0.5 12,332 11,978 12,555 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 50,612 50,245 49,892 0.7 0.7 0.5 50,953 50,331 49,322 3.3

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 453,734 447,535 439,866 1.4 1.7 0.6 452,718 448,960 375,828 20.5

 Total Inventories....................... 125,240 124,071 123,069 0.9 0.8 0.0 126,104 122,962 119,855 5.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 324,836 319,702 314,456 1.6 1.7 1.2 324,386 320,021 245,508 32.1

 Total Inventories....................... 110,822 109,964 108,751 0.8 1.1 0.0 111,653 108,826 105,139 6.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 154,775 152,283 149,928 1.6 1.6 1.1 155,013 152,965 135,581 14.3

 Total Inventories................... 92,662 92,010 91,455 0.7 0.6 0.0 93,231 91,360 89,112 4.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 128,898 127,833 125,410 0.8 1.9 -0.8 128,332 128,939 130,320 -1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,418 14,107 14,318 2.2 -1.5 0.0 14,451 14,136 14,716 -1.8

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 4,200 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 62 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 4,200 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 4,200 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.