FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (06)-11 

CB06-189

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

November 2006 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November increased $4.0 billion or 1.9 percent to 

$214.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This was the third increase in the last four 

months and followed an 8.2 percent October decrease. 

Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 1.1 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.6 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up three of the last four 

months, had the largest increase, $5.6 billion or 9.4 

percent to $65.7 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up three of the last four months, increased 

$0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $209.6 billion. This 

followed a 0.3 percent October increase. 

 Computers and electronic products, up four of the last 

five months, had the largest increase, $0.9 billion or 2.6 

percent to $35.7 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November, up eighteen of the last nineteen months, 

increased $11.7 billion or 1.7 percent to $678.5 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.3 

percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up eighteen of the last 

nineteen months, had the largest increase, $10.4 billion 

or 2.9 percent to $368.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up ten of the last eleven months, increased 

$0.8 billion or 0.3 percent to $294.5 billion. This 

followed a 0.7 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up eight of the last nine 

months, had the largest increase, $0.5 billion or 0.7 

percent to $68.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November 

decreased $0.2 billion or 0.2 percent to $73.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.1 billion or 1.7 percent to $67.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.2 billion or 1.8 

percent to $357.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 0.2 percent to $113.9 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in November 

increased $2.8 billion or 34.2 percent to $10.9 billion. 

Shipments increased 0.6 percent to $8.2 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $2.6 billion or 1.9 percent to 

$138.6 billion. Inventories increased 0.3 percent to 

$14.3 billion. 

Revised October Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $390.2 

billion (revised from $390.3 billion); shipments, $389.3 

billion (revised from $389.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$666.8 billion (revised from $666.5 billion); and total 

inventories, $480.6 billion (revised from $481.1 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 January 4, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. EST. 

The advance report on durable goods for December is scheduled for release on January 26, 2007, at 8:30 a.m. EST. 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

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov Change

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2006 2005 06/05

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 209,583 209,352 208,774 0.1 0.3 -2.7 205,297 213,345 199,737 2,310,214 2,173,759 6.3

 New Orders4.............................. 214,241 210,252 228,980 1.9 -8.2 8.7 210,041 212,987 209,455 2,331,090 2,167,265 7.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 154,308 154,484 154,384 -0.1 0.1 -2.1 149,672 156,293 143,771 1,694,092 1,566,782 8.1

 New Orders4.............................. 148,539 150,192 152,702 -1.1 -1.6 0.5 143,561 152,156 139,485 1,653,025 1,524,569 8.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 199,617 199,458 199,372 0.1 0.0 -2.6 194,955 203,750 190,662 2,206,604 2,077,265 6.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 201,455 200,302 214,018 0.6 -6.4 7.3 196,811 204,061 201,258 2,220,619 2,083,087 6.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 146,405 145,957 147,679 0.3 -1.2 -1.9 142,659 146,984 135,773 1,598,576 1,470,726 8.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 158,058 154,516 173,815 2.3 -11.1 13.3 154,489 154,231 152,282 1,694,456 1,533,432 10.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 18,755 18,893 19,292 -0.7 -2.1 -3.3 17,780 19,378 15,938 207,498 179,237 15.8

 New Orders.............................. 18,559 18,926 18,902 -1.9 0.1 -3.1 17,820 18,820 17,299 207,800 181,645 14.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,285 24,505 24,600 -0.9 -0.4 -1.7 23,415 25,531 22,756 271,877 253,311 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 24,201 24,255 25,064 -0.2 -3.2 -2.1 22,593 24,941 22,739 277,013 259,594 6.7

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 27,955 28,265 27,797 -1.1 1.7 -1.3 25,841 28,298 23,813 299,369 268,672 11.4

 New Orders.............................. 28,052 30,777 29,582 -8.9 4.0 3.4 26,668 31,360 25,567 312,554 277,424 12.7

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 35,737 34,846 34,518 2.6 1.0 -3.4 35,318 33,777 33,031 380,916 353,849 7.6

 New Orders4.............................. 29,693 27,616 30,702 7.5 -10.1 2.2 28,735 26,807 25,674 315,986 290,584 8.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,312 4,839 6,283 30.4 -23.0 -6.4 5,929 4,806 5,931 68,555 69,598 -1.5

 New Orders.............................. 6,211 4,891 6,417 27.0 -23.8 1.0 5,828 4,858 5,970 68,022 69,219 -1.7 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 5,914 5,852 5,952 1.1 -1.7 0.7 5,724 5,508 5,047 63,371 54,881 15.5

 New Orders.............................. 6,089 5,289 6,630 15.1 -20.2 -1.0 5,735 5,289 4,692 65,950 57,066 15.6

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 6,995 7,659 5,930 -8.7 29.2 -12.7 7,086 7,605 6,791 75,004 69,200 8.4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,985 10,103 10,014 -1.2 0.9 -3.4 9,919 10,211 9,834 110,897 102,399 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 10,389 10,547 10,291 -1.5 2.5 4.4 10,221 10,772 9,880 115,541 105,148 9.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 55,275 54,868 54,390 0.7 0.9 -4.2 55,625 57,052 55,966 616,122 606,977 1.5

 New Orders.............................. 65,702 60,060 76,278 9.4 -21.3 30.0 66,480 60,831 69,970 678,065 642,696 5.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 37,633 37,323 36,581 0.8 2.0 -7.2 37,172 41,012 38,311 433,654 445,258 -2.6

 New Orders.............................. 37,625 37,549 36,927 0.2 1.7 -6.0 37,343 40,999 38,322 435,513 445,969 -2.3 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,220 8,221 8,863 0.0 -7.2 8.6 8,800 7,041 9,019 85,149 66,843 27.4

 New Orders.............................. 14,186 13,237 23,801 7.2 -44.4 198.2 14,876 11,404 23,520 136,984 111,572 22.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,739 3,718 3,427 0.6 8.5 -5.2 4,004 3,483 3,440 37,724 35,725 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 5,225 3,733 2,987 40.0 25.0 -9.5 5,504 3,127 3,460 35,821 30,085 19.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,591 37,872 38,163 -0.7 -0.8 -0.9 37,399 39,098 38,399 423,535 409,314 3.5

 New Orders.............................. 37,645 38,071 38,161 -1.1 -0.2 -0.5 37,524 39,456 38,326 424,131 410,174 3.4

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 75,725 74,551 75,747 1.6 -1.6 -0.9 73,234 72,716 69,346 811,488 737,481 10.0

 New Orders.............................. 84,563 81,963 100,205 3.2 -18.2 26.5 82,835 80,129 84,247 886,790 788,467 12.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 67,493 66,366 67,915 1.7 -2.3 -0.4 64,712 64,673 61,574 724,784 655,522 10.6

 New Orders.............................. 73,698 73,867 86,687 -0.2 -14.8 24.6 71,689 72,773 77,640 792,931 716,685 10.6

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,309 61,017 61,903 2.1 -1.4 -1.6 58,987 60,435 55,355 670,266 619,040 8.3

 New Orders.......................... 63,137 64,023 66,617 -1.4 -3.9 3.1 60,095 64,516 56,265 693,804 633,392 9.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,232 8,185 7,832 0.6 4.5 -4.8 8,522 8,043 7,772 86,704 81,959 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,865 8,096 13,518 34.2 -40.1 39.8 11,146 7,356 6,607 93,859 71,782 30.8

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

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2006/

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2005

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 678,487 666,834 658,275 1.7 1.3 4.1 668,308 656,478 553,943 20.6

 Total Inventories....................... 294,546 293,712 291,562 0.3 0.7 1.2 294,939 294,353 273,494 7.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 309,691 308,465 305,098 0.4 1.1 1.4 305,225 304,250 270,377 12.9

 Total Inventories....................... 225,782 225,409 224,187 0.2 0.5 1.1 225,609 225,173 207,976 8.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 526,985 518,152 509,649 1.7 1.7 4.2 520,902 511,960 416,914 24.9

 Total Inventories....................... 275,280 274,541 272,307 0.3 0.8 1.2 275,724 275,063 253,922 8.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 678,487 666,834 658,275 1.7 1.3 4.1 668,308 656,478 553,943 20.6

 Total Inventories....................... 229,691 229,101 227,002 0.3 0.9 1.5 229,993 229,667 211,837 8.6

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,489 26,685 26,652 -0.7 0.1 -1.4 25,576 25,536 24,190 5.7

 Total Inventories....................... 30,103 30,050 29,577 0.2 1.6 3.5 29,987 29,749 25,037 19.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,488 53,572 53,822 -0.2 -0.5 0.9 52,241 53,063 47,006 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 37,966 37,844 37,525 0.3 0.9 1.4 37,318 37,396 33,831 10.3

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 75,655 75,558 73,046 0.1 3.4 2.5 74,890 74,063 60,817 23.1

 Total Inventories....................... 46,104 46,326 46,148 -0.5 0.4 1.6 46,314 46,350 43,648 6.1

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 119,194 118,243 117,814 0.8 0.4 1.8 117,649 117,146 107,255 9.7

 Total Inventories....................... 46,138 45,816 45,643 0.7 0.4 -0.1 46,985 46,530 43,918 7.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,169 4,270 4,218 -2.4 1.2 3.3 4,169 4,270 4,555 -8.5

 Total Inventories....................... 4,397 4,221 4,456 4.2 -5.3 4.9 4,676 4,380 4,571 2.3

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,918 35,743 36,306 0.5 -1.6 1.9 35,591 35,580 33,888 5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 10,155 10,203 10,053 -0.5 1.5 0.9 10,560 10,396 10,877 -2.9

 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......................... 22,734 22,330 21,886 1.8 2.0 1.3 22,478 22,176 17,728 26.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,114 14,068 13,982 0.3 0.6 -0.9 13,974 13,919 12,587 11.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 368,796 358,369 353,177 2.9 1.5 6.6 363,083 352,228 283,566 28.0

 Total Inventories....................... 68,764 68,303 67,375 0.7 1.4 1.4 69,330 69,180 65,518 5.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 19,555 19,563 19,337 0.0 1.2 1.8 18,951 18,780 16,171 17.2

 Total Inventories....................... 24,554 24,275 23,988 1.1 1.2 -1.0 24,643 24,349 23,888 3.2 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 221,127 215,161 210,145 2.8 2.4 7.7 219,269 213,193 153,003 43.3

 Total Inventories....................... 24,341 24,268 23,738 0.3 2.2 4.7 24,825 24,854 21,821 13.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 45,181 43,695 43,680 3.4 0.0 -1.0 43,605 42,105 43,190 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 12,097 11,933 12,065 1.4 -1.1 2.3 12,050 12,051 11,691 3.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,131 12,077 11,878 0.4 1.7 0.0 12,391 12,266 13,381 -7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 51,357 51,305 51,312 0.1 0.0 0.6 51,031 51,229 48,955 4.2

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 496,256 487,418 480,006 1.8 1.5 5.4 489,997 480,396 398,856 22.9

 Total Inventories....................... 128,144 127,921 127,170 0.2 0.6 1.7 129,672 128,880 122,455 5.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 357,669 351,464 343,963 1.8 2.2 5.8 355,061 348,084 273,135 30.0

 Total Inventories....................... 113,869 113,684 112,862 0.2 0.7 1.9 115,401 114,642 107,540 7.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 164,227 163,399 160,393 0.5 1.9 3.0 162,744 161,636 139,374 16.8

 Total Inventories................... 95,389 95,264 94,866 0.1 0.4 1.1 96,476 95,740 90,882 6.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,587 135,954 136,043 1.9 -0.1 4.4 134,936 132,312 125,721 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 14,275 14,237 14,308 0.3 -0.5 0.1 14,271 14,238 14,915 -4.3

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.

2007 Release Dates for M3 Survey

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

Nov 2006 January 4, 2007 

Dec 2006 January 26, 2007 February 2, 2007 

Jan 2007 February 27, 2007 March 6, 2007 

Feb 2007 March 28, 2007 April 4, 2007 

Mar 2007 April 25, 2007 May 2, 2007 

Apr 2007 May 24, 2007 June 4, 2007 

May 2007 June 27, 2007 July 3, 2007 

Jun 2007 July 26, 2007 August 2, 2007 

Jul 2007 August 24, 2007 August 31, 2007 

Aug 2007 September 26, 2007 October 4, 2007 

Sep 2007 October 25, 2007 November 2, 2007

Oct 2007 November 28, 2007 December 5, 2007

Nov 2007 December 27, 2007