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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017 

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS SEPTEMBER 2017 

Release Number: CB 17-173 M3-1 (17)-09 

Notice: For information on the impact of recent hurricanes on the compilation of this report, please see the 

Frequently Asked Questions document on our website. 

October 25, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the September advance report on manufacturers’ 

shipments, inventories and orders: 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in September increased $5.1 billion or 2.2 percent to $238.7 

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up three of the last four months, followed 

a 2.0 percent August increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.7 percent. Excluding 

defense, new orders increased 2.0 percent. Transportation equipment, also up three of the last four months, 

led the increase, $4.0 billion or 5.1 percent to $81.2 billion. 

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in September, up four of the last five months, increased $2.4 

billion or 1.0 percent to $240.5 billion. This followed a 0.7 percent August increase. Transportation 

equipment, up two of the last three months, led the increase, $1.1 billion or 1.4 percent to $79.7 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in September, up following two consecutive monthly 

decreases, increased $2.8 billion or 0.2 percent to $1,135.1 billion. This followed a virtually unchanged 

August decrease. Transportation equipment, also up following two consecutive monthly decreases, led the 

increase, $1.5 billion or 0.2 percent to $772.1 billion. 

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

SEPTEMBER 2017 $238.7 billion             +2.2%°   

AUGUST 2017  

(revised) $233.6 billion             +2.0%°

Next release: November 22, 2017

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders. 

°Statistical significance is not measurable for this survey. The Manufacturers' 

Shipments, Inventories, and Orders estimates are not based on a probability 

sample, so the sampling error of these estimates cannot be measured nor can the 

confidence intervals be computed.

Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17

% Change 6.1% -4.6% 0.3% 0.3% 1.4% 2.4% -0.8% 0.0% 6.4% -6.8% 2.0% 2.2%

-7.0%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2016-2017

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
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Inventories 

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in September, up fourteen of the last fifteen months, increased 

$2.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $403.6 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent August increase. Transportation 

equipment, up three consecutive months, led the increase, $0.8 billion or 0.7 percent to $130.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in September increased $4.3 billion or 6.1 percent to $74.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.7 billion or 2.4 percent to $73.5 billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.3 billion or 

0.2 percent to $704.8 billion. Inventories increased $1.4 billion or 0.8 percent to $179.9 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in September increased $0.5 billion or 4.1 percent to $11.5 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 1.7 percent to $10.6 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.9 billion or 0.7 percent to 

$143.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 billion or 0.3 percent to $23.4 billion. 

Revised August Data

Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $471.8 

billion (revised from $471.7 billion); shipments, $476.3 billion (revised from $475.9 billion); unfilled 

orders, $1,132.3 billion (revised from $1,132.6 billion) and total inventories, $655.9 billion (revised from 

$655.6 billion). 

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on November 3, 2017, 

at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for October is scheduled for release on 

November 22, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EST. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing 

Room:<www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. The full text and tables of this release can be found at 

<www.census.gov/m3>. 

EXPLANATORY NOTES 

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders exclude 

data for semiconductor manufacturing. 

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

Description of the survey 

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-in-process, and 

finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting 

units that represent approximately 3,100 companies and provide an indication of month-to-month change for 
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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-tomonth changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel effectively represent the monthto-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 64 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 57 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: 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 

API 

The Census Bureau’s application programming interface (API) lets developers create custom apps to reach 

new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever 

before. 

www.census.gov/developers/. 
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2018 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Source: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/reports/pei_schedule_release_dates_2018_all_

v2.pdf

###

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time)

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time)

Sep-17 Wed 10/25/2017 Fri 11/3/2017

Oct-17 Wed 11/22/2017 Mon 12/4/2017

Nov-17 Fri 12/22/2017 Fri 1/5/2018

Dec-17 Fri 1/26/2018 Fri 2/2/2018

Jan-18 Tue 2/27/2018 Tue 3/6/2018

Feb-18 Fri 3/23/2018 Wed 4/4/2018

Mar-18 Thu 4/26/2018 Thu 5/3/2018

Apr-18 Fri 5/25/2018 Mon 6/4/2018

May-18 Wed 6/27/2018 Tue 7/3/2018

Jun-18 Thu 7/26/2018 Thu 8/2/2018

Jul-18 Fri 8/24/2018 Thu 9/6/2018

Aug-18 Thu 9/27/2018 Thu 10/4/2018

Sep-18 Thu 10/25/2018 Fri 11/2/2018

Oct-18 Wed 11/21/2018 Thu 12/6/2018

Nov-18 Fri 12/21/2018 Not available at this time
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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep Change

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2017 2016 2017/2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 240,532 238,141 236,492 1.0 0.7 0.1 252,600 250,360 244,404 2,128,922 2,059,218 3.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 238,695 233,641 228,981 2.2 2.0 -6.8 248,120 237,218 233,803 2,093,327 1,989,457 5.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 160,808 159,495 157,645 0.8 1.2 0.0 168,027 166,930 159,036 1,422,001 1,355,288 4.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 157,446 156,346 155,185 0.7 0.7 0.8 163,088 159,831 153,206 1,398,194 1,325,132 5.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 227,869 225,723 224,192 1.0 0.7 0.0 238,643 237,994 231,251 2,020,370 1,957,661 3.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 225,343 220,849 215,320 2.0 2.6 -7.8 233,338 226,924 220,280 1,987,167 1,891,408 5.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 169,570 167,512 167,231 1.2 0.2 0.5 178,833 175,313 171,995 1,498,199 1,435,104 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 172,331 167,459 164,050 2.9 2.1 -9.1 178,723 166,832 165,434 1,501,594 1,401,446 7.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,835 19,723 19,341 0.6 2.0 0.3 19,986 21,012 18,042 176,737 159,984 10.5

 New Orders.............................. 19,895 19,919 19,635 -0.1 1.4 0.8 19,274 20,729 17,382 177,431 159,867 11.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 32,401 32,190 31,796 0.7 1.2 -0.4 33,587 34,747 31,326 287,489 268,231 7.2

 New Orders.............................. 33,273 32,718 32,620 1.7 0.3 0.7 33,793 34,365 29,965 294,164 269,278 9.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 31,893 31,526 31,032 1.2 1.6 -0.1 32,546 31,811 30,685 280,306 270,219 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 31,761 31,824 31,854 -0.2 -0.1 0.2 31,527 31,934 29,832 284,573 267,680 6.3

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,315 27,108 26,901 0.8 0.8 1.1 30,350 27,297 28,678 237,485 227,080 4.6

 New Orders.............................. 23,323 22,947 22,550 1.6 1.8 2.4 27,317 21,474 25,513 200,926 195,325 2.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,914 2,031 2,088 -5.8 -2.7 8.0 2,433 1,829 2,366 17,507 17,596 -0.5

 New Orders.............................. 1,948 2,061 2,129 -5.5 -3.2 7.7 2,467 1,859 2,357 17,738 17,584 0.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,027 2,959 2,947 2.3 0.4 -0.7 3,772 2,799 3,660 26,512 25,846 2.6

 New Orders.............................. 3,429 3,272 3,038 4.8 7.7 -0.5 4,330 2,729 3,934 28,464 27,662 2.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,143 10,040 9,993 1.0 0.5 -1.6 10,742 10,604 10,626 90,526 89,018 1.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,040 10,053 9,885 -0.1 1.7 1.9 10,474 10,480 10,778 90,722 91,017 -0.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 79,724 78,646 78,847 1.4 -0.3 0.1 84,573 83,430 85,368 706,921 703,930 0.4

 New Orders.............................. 81,249 77,295 73,796 5.1 4.7 -19.6 85,032 77,387 80,597 695,133 664,325 4.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 54,537 54,562 53,197 0.0 2.6 -1.7 56,366 59,437 57,146 489,324 485,529 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 54,645 54,608 53,104 0.1 2.8 -2.1 56,525 59,584 57,043 490,209 484,166 1.2

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,531 11,482 12,999 9.1 -11.7 8.0 14,127 11,419 14,212 105,060 109,091 -3.7

 New Orders.............................. 12,752 9,701 7,267 31.5 33.5 -71.1 13,401 7,002 9,705 95,433 76,305 25.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,978 4,054 4,065 -1.9 -0.3 -1.0 4,568 4,033 4,577 34,990 34,483 1.5

 New Orders.............................. 3,848 3,756 5,429 2.4 -30.8 45.7 3,497 2,823 2,903 35,691 34,913 2.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 39,221 38,908 38,582 0.8 0.8 0.1 40,816 41,459 39,679 349,458 340,756 2.6

 New Orders.............................. 39,154 38,885 38,641 0.7 0.6 0.2 40,703 40,849 39,736 350,378 341,965 2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 84,143 82,268 82,923 2.3 -0.8 2.2 91,161 82,803 86,297 727,642 704,272 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 86,417 81,635 79,638 5.9 2.5 -16.0 91,837 75,772 82,146 725,978 675,303 7.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 73,540 71,838 72,612 2.4 -1.1 2.0 79,529 72,417 75,587 636,716 621,021 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 74,876 70,553 67,861 6.1 4.0 -19.7 78,580 66,786 69,995 637,196 593,817 7.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,144 64,702 63,942 0.7 1.2 1.0 69,652 65,167 65,753 569,566 551,380 3.3

 New Orders.......................... 65,935 65,083 64,258 1.3 1.3 1.3 69,656 63,644 65,116 576,013 554,985 3.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,603 10,430 10,311 1.7 1.2 3.2 11,632 10,386 10,710 90,926 83,251 9.2

 New Orders.............................. 11,541 11,082 11,777 4.1 -5.9 15.3 13,257 8,986 12,151 88,782 81,486 9.0

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, September Advance Report, October 25, 2017. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website at 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 
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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep 2017/

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,135,073 1,132,312 1,132,365 0.2 0.0 -0.3 1,126,137 1,126,247 1,110,279 1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 403,569 401,176 399,312 0.6 0.5 0.5 402,318 404,594 388,903 3.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 362,958 361,722 360,424 0.3 0.4 0.5 359,846 360,415 344,759 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 272,750 271,203 269,506 0.6 0.6 0.4 271,827 274,244 258,688 5.1

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 955,998 953,926 954,353 0.2 0.0 -0.5 948,641 949,576 937,523 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 376,007 373,496 371,822 0.7 0.5 0.3 374,781 376,911 362,839 3.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,135,073 1,132,312 1,132,365 0.2 0.0 -0.3 1,126,137 1,126,247 1,110,279 1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 328,029 326,030 324,483 0.6 0.5 0.4 327,375 329,039 317,223 3.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 30,619 30,559 30,363 0.2 0.6 1.0 29,636 30,348 27,462 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 33,598 33,439 33,304 0.5 0.4 0.7 33,758 33,672 31,218 8.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 80,174 79,302 78,774 1.1 0.7 1.1 79,934 79,728 74,939 6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 50,373 50,058 49,745 0.6 0.6 0.8 50,223 50,227 47,730 5.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 100,959 101,091 100,793 -0.1 0.3 0.8 99,916 100,935 96,386 3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 69,779 69,138 68,500 0.9 0.9 0.1 69,691 70,038 65,792 5.9

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 118,599 117,993 117,707 0.5 0.2 0.0 118,339 117,002 115,177 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 45,087 44,887 44,636 0.4 0.6 0.3 44,590 45,918 43,020 3.6

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,920 1,886 1,856 1.8 1.6 2.3 1,920 1,886 1,667 15.2

 Total Inventories....................... 4,407 4,366 4,355 0.9 0.3 0.1 4,375 4,571 4,150 5.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,840 27,438 27,125 1.5 1.2 0.3 27,725 27,167 25,301 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 4,554 4,648 4,644 -2.0 0.1 0.2 4,479 4,778 4,416 1.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,221 22,324 22,311 -0.5 0.1 -0.5 21,833 22,101 20,841 4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 17,817 17,731 17,640 0.5 0.5 0.0 17,636 18,065 16,899 4.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 772,115 770,590 771,941 0.2 -0.2 -0.7 766,291 765,832 765,520 0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 130,819 129,973 129,806 0.7 0.1 0.6 130,491 130,350 130,215 0.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 23,931 23,823 23,777 0.5 0.2 -0.4 23,785 23,626 22,948 3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 35,008 34,704 34,773 0.9 -0.2 1.2 34,919 35,068 34,893 0.1

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 578,104 577,883 579,664 0.0 -0.3 -1.0 574,152 574,878 577,507 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 66,713 66,041 65,925 1.0 0.2 -0.5 66,342 65,862 67,611 -1.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 73,590 73,720 74,018 -0.2 -0.4 1.9 72,101 73,172 67,514 6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,225 13,428 13,143 -1.5 2.2 3.3 13,266 13,469 11,831 12.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 10,386 10,453 10,476 -0.6 -0.2 0.6 10,188 10,301 9,954 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 56,096 55,950 55,681 0.3 0.5 0.4 55,929 56,324 54,029 3.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 848,676 846,402 847,035 0.3 -0.1 -0.4 842,513 841,837 831,303 1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 203,291 202,016 200,851 0.6 0.6 0.3 202,479 203,972 196,411 3.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 704,788 703,452 704,737 0.2 -0.2 -0.7 699,169 700,118 691,732 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 179,892 178,538 177,638 0.8 0.5 -0.1 179,146 180,532 175,160 2.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 227,742 226,951 226,570 0.3 0.2 0.1 226,012 226,008 220,269 2.6

 Total Inventories................... 124,666 123,817 123,206 0.7 0.5 0.1 124,276 126,053 118,945 4.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 143,888 142,950 142,298 0.7 0.5 1.0 143,344 141,719 139,571 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 23,399 23,478 23,213 -0.3 1.1 3.5 23,333 23,440 21,251 9.8

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, September Advance Report, October 25, 2017. Information on data sources and methodology can be 

found on our website at <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.