FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (14)-03 

CB14-71

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

March 2014 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in March 

increased $6.0 billion or 2.6 percent to $234.8 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, 

up two consecutive months, followed a 2.1 percent 

February increase. Excluding transportation, new orders 

increased 2.0 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 1.8 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, led the increase, $2.8 billion or 4.0 percent to 

$74.1 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up two consecutive months, increased $2.5 billion or 1.1 

percent to $236.6 billion. This followed a 1.0 percent 

February increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, led the increase, $1.0 billion or 1.5 percent to 

$70.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

March, up thirteen of the last fourteen months, increased 

$6.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $1,068.2 billion. This was 

at the highest level since the series was first published on 

a NAICS basis in 1992, and followed a 0.2 percent 

February increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up six of the last seven 

months, led the increase, $4.0 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$663.0 billion.

Inventories 

 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up eleven of the last twelve months, increased $1.9 

billion or 0.5 percent to $394.1 billion. This was at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis, and followed a 0.8 percent February 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-two of the last 

twenty-three months, led the increase, $0.9 billion or 0.7 

percent to $126.0 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in March 

increased $5.4 billion or 7.1 percent to $80.5 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.3 billion or 1.7 percent to $76.2 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $4.4 billion or 0.7 

percent to $648.8 billion. Inventories increased $0.8 

billion or 0.5 percent to $178.9 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in March 

increased $1.7 billion or 21.6 percent to $9.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 1.9 percent to $9.7 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2 

percent to $156.0 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 0.9 percent to $23.9 billion. 

Revised February Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted February figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $489.0 

billion (revised from $488.8 billion); shipments, $494.2 

billion (revised from $493.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,062.1 billion (revised from $1,062.5 billion); and 

total inventories $642.2 billion (revised from $642.1 

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 May 2, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for April is 

scheduled for release on May 27, 2014, 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. The U.S. 

Census Bureau updated its Application Programming Interface (API) with monthly and quarterly economic indicators. The API allows developers to combine Census Bureau statistics with other data sets to create tools for research on a variety of topics.
 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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar Change

2014 2 2014 r 2014 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2014 2 2014 r 2013 2014 2013 2014/2013

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 236,576 234,075 231,866 1.1 1.0 -0.6 251,890 218,629 242,586 681,385 658,912 3.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 234,839 228,880 224,229 2.6 2.1 -1.4 252,184 223,535 231,803 682,160 658,472 3.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 166,544 165,076 164,149 0.9 0.6 -0.7 175,132 152,212 168,055 479,298 464,629 3.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 160,780 157,637 157,447 2.0 0.1 0.9 172,741 152,778 164,375 474,677 463,831 2.3

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 224,564 222,430 219,972 1.0 1.1 -0.7 238,247 207,566 228,402 647,048 623,849 3.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 223,208 219,194 215,386 1.8 1.8 -2.0 237,881 213,224 221,198 650,488 627,505 3.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 165,607 163,535 162,590 1.3 0.6 0.0 178,389 153,281 172,011 478,171 463,316 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 171,741 166,045 162,670 3.4 2.1 -1.0 185,460 164,244 167,322 500,994 482,210 3.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 25,873 25,722 25,871 0.6 -0.6 -1.0 27,104 25,036 25,898 78,039 75,360 3.6

 New Orders.............................. 26,346 25,837 25,525 2.0 1.2 -1.8 27,615 25,721 25,985 80,314 77,784 3.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,404 29,311 28,928 0.3 1.3 0.6 29,998 27,250 28,976 84,335 82,978 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 28,831 28,206 28,419 2.2 -0.7 8.2 31,396 29,081 32,669 87,466 93,002 -6.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 35,628 35,157 34,503 1.3 1.9 -3.1 39,208 32,902 37,737 102,692 100,328 2.4

 New Orders.............................. 36,259 36,061 36,377 0.5 -0.9 -1.3 39,418 35,151 36,501 109,447 103,769 5.5

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 28,981 28,532 28,736 1.6 -0.7 -0.2 31,062 24,665 29,775 82,483 78,966 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 22,433 21,223 20,919 5.7 1.5 3.1 26,079 19,878 23,357 63,875 60,972 4.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,223 2,213 2,428 0.5 -8.9 -0.2 2,988 1,506 3,251 6,196 6,410 -3.3

 New Orders.............................. 2,247 2,208 2,242 1.8 -1.5 -8.4 3,012 1,501 3,223 6,029 6,615 -8.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,820 3,736 4,004 2.2 -6.7 5.7 4,420 3,237 4,560 10,917 11,191 -2.4

 New Orders.............................. 4,642 4,301 4,320 7.9 -0.4 -1.2 5,304 4,213 4,659 13,129 12,341 6.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,255 10,153 10,185 1.0 -0.3 0.1 10,911 9,339 10,889 29,412 29,771 -1.2

 New Orders.............................. 10,555 10,201 10,315 3.5 -1.1 -4.0 11,150 9,764 10,879 30,868 30,693 0.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 70,032 68,999 67,717 1.5 1.9 -0.4 76,758 66,417 74,531 202,087 194,283 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 74,059 71,243 66,782 4.0 6.7 -6.2 79,443 70,757 67,428 207,483 194,641 6.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 46,161 45,998 43,956 0.4 4.6 -1.9 48,987 45,673 47,012 135,354 130,145 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 46,083 45,878 44,007 0.4 4.3 -2.0 48,711 45,958 46,796 135,588 130,582 3.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 11,995 11,381 12,010 5.4 -5.2 3.5 14,065 9,973 13,170 32,967 29,334 12.4

 New Orders.............................. 16,159 14,884 13,228 8.6 12.5 -22.1 16,850 14,616 10,648 40,154 35,820 12.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,732 4,373 4,623 8.2 -5.4 11.4 5,656 3,911 6,016 13,176 13,642 -3.4

 New Orders.............................. 4,153 4,411 3,767 -5.8 17.1 17.2 4,757 4,303 3,614 12,171 9,860 23.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 36,403 36,201 35,926 0.6 0.8 0.1 36,849 33,020 34,780 102,337 97,226 5.3

 New Orders.............................. 36,356 36,109 35,892 0.7 0.6 -0.2 37,083 33,183 34,984 102,707 97,611 5.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 85,819 84,361 84,311 1.7 0.1 -1.8 95,625 77,805 93,016 245,513 238,927 2.8

 New Orders.............................. 89,833 82,813 84,331 8.5 -1.8 -3.7 100,548 81,720 89,489 256,247 253,167 1.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 76,167 74,885 74,699 1.7 0.2 -1.7 84,772 68,569 81,642 217,572 210,372 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 80,525 75,160 77,312 7.1 -2.8 -5.3 88,722 73,195 80,574 230,339 228,061 1.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,624 66,952 66,514 1.0 0.7 -1.5 74,761 61,773 72,536 195,444 191,368 2.1

 New Orders.......................... 69,063 67,544 68,295 2.2 -1.1 0.8 77,268 66,047 73,919 207,205 203,309 1.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,652 9,476 9,612 1.9 -1.4 -2.7 10,853 9,236 11,374 27,941 28,555 -2.2

 New Orders.............................. 9,308 7,653 7,019 21.6 9.0 17.7 11,826 8,525 8,915 25,908 25,106 3.2

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 of shipments for the semiconductor industry are no longer shown separately. 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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar 2014/

2014 2 2014 r 2014 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2014 2 2014 r 2013 2013

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,068,248 1,062,114 1,059,604 0.6 0.2 0.0 1,083,101 1,076,030 1,009,758 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 394,053 392,196 388,961 0.5 0.8 0.2 392,630 394,677 374,670 4.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 405,264 403,157 402,891 0.5 0.1 0.3 411,264 406,878 389,871 5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 268,075 267,103 265,798 0.4 0.5 -0.1 267,190 268,989 260,895 2.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 883,219 876,704 872,235 0.7 0.5 0.4 894,862 888,451 803,500 11.4

 Total Inventories....................... 364,867 363,197 360,957 0.5 0.6 0.3 363,290 365,609 346,937 4.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,068,248 1,062,114 1,059,604 0.6 0.2 0.0 1,083,101 1,076,030 1,009,758 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 322,818 321,374 318,434 0.4 0.9 0.2 321,413 322,906 305,894 5.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 36,998 36,525 36,410 1.3 0.3 -0.9 38,328 37,817 34,551 10.9

 Total Inventories....................... 35,642 35,648 35,428 0.0 0.6 0.2 35,748 35,893 35,661 0.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 84,890 85,463 86,568 -0.7 -1.3 -0.6 86,928 85,530 88,976 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 48,937 48,718 48,390 0.4 0.7 0.3 48,997 48,807 47,304 3.6

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 113,474 112,843 111,939 0.6 0.8 1.7 114,502 114,292 105,231 8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 66,278 66,194 65,762 0.1 0.7 -0.9 66,216 66,948 66,115 0.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 139,246 137,923 137,527 1.0 0.3 -0.1 140,411 138,617 132,002 6.4

 Total Inventories....................... 48,060 47,805 47,609 0.5 0.4 -0.2 47,010 47,942 45,024 4.4

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,222 3,198 3,203 0.8 -0.2 -5.5 3,222 3,198 3,432 -6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 4,696 4,612 4,630 1.8 -0.4 -1.9 4,399 4,686 3,924 12.1

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,458 36,636 36,071 2.2 1.6 0.9 37,739 36,855 31,580 19.5

 Total Inventories....................... 7,817 7,731 7,683 1.1 0.6 -1.7 7,738 7,890 7,547 2.5

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 23,363 23,063 23,015 1.3 0.2 0.6 23,746 23,507 21,896 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 16,783 16,708 16,746 0.4 -0.2 -0.2 16,762 16,847 16,855 -0.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 662,984 658,957 656,713 0.6 0.3 -0.1 671,837 669,152 619,887 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 125,978 125,093 123,163 0.7 1.6 1.0 125,440 125,688 113,775 10.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,243 16,321 16,441 -0.5 -0.7 0.3 16,750 17,026 17,222 -2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 26,480 26,194 25,887 1.1 1.2 2.6 26,124 26,496 24,639 6.0

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 496,756 492,592 489,089 0.8 0.7 0.2 502,895 500,110 437,842 14.9

 Total Inventories....................... 70,072 69,654 69,034 0.6 0.9 1.1 69,806 69,853 60,785 14.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,274 62,853 62,815 -0.9 0.1 -1.3 63,506 64,405 68,577 -7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 14,177 14,212 13,338 -0.2 6.6 0.5 14,153 14,193 13,751 2.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,293 7,340 7,432 -0.6 -1.2 -0.5 7,349 7,115 7,215 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 52,375 52,030 51,863 0.7 0.3 0.6 52,457 52,552 49,936 5.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 804,729 800,715 802,263 0.5 -0.2 0.0 815,179 810,256 755,454 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 202,764 201,716 199,664 0.5 1.0 -0.1 201,632 202,701 190,999 5.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 648,754 644,396 644,121 0.7 0.0 0.4 656,638 652,688 580,960 13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 178,852 178,027 176,934 0.5 0.6 0.0 177,542 178,924 168,688 5.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 237,588 236,149 235,557 0.6 0.3 0.8 240,406 237,899 219,780 9.4

 Total Inventories................... 121,020 120,509 119,820 0.4 0.6 -0.6 119,848 121,379 118,945 0.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 155,975 156,319 158,142 -0.2 -1.2 -1.6 158,541 157,568 174,494 -9.1

 Total Inventories....................... 23,912 23,689 22,730 0.9 4.2 -1.2 24,090 23,777 22,311 8.0

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-inprocess, 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 65 

publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-to-month changes of the total 

operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-to-month 

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 60 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-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. 

 Notice of Revisions Due to Updated Seasonal Adjustment Models 

On May 15, 2014, monthly seasonally adjusted data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, 

based on the North American Industry Classification System, will be revised for January 1992 through 

March 2014. There will be no accompanying press release containing revised seasonally adjusted data for 

January through March of 2014, and historical data not seasonally adjusted will be unchanged. These 

revisions to the historical seasonally adjusted data will be based on the results of the recent annual review of 

the seasonal adjustment models. These updated models will also be used to produce seasonally adjusted data 

from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey, beginning with the April 2014 Advance 

Report on Durable Goods scheduled for release on May 27, 2014 and the full report scheduled for release on 

June 3, 2014. 

Please call Chris Savage on (301) 763-4832 with any questions regarding this notice.