FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-11 

CB11-217

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

November 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November increased $7.5 billion or 3.8 percent to 

$207.0 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This increase, up four of the last five months, 

followed a slight October increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.3 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 3.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$7.0 billion or 14.7 percent to $54.4 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

November, down two of the last three months, decreased 

$0.8 billion or 0.4 percent to $202.8 billion. This 

followed a 1.5 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $1.2 billion or 2.5 

percent to $47.2 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November, up nineteen of the last twenty months, 

increased $11.1 billion or 1.3 percent to $898.1 billion. 

This followed a 0.3 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up ten of the last eleven 

months, had the largest increase, $7.2 billion or 1.4 

percent to $518.1 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up twenty three consecutive months, 

increased $2.0 billion or 0.6 percent to $368.8 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

published on a NAICS basis and followed a 0.4 percent 

October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty three 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $1.0 billion 

or 0.9 percent to $114.3 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November 

increased $5.9 billion or 8.1 percent to $78.7 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.6 billion or 2.2 percent to $69.8 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $8.9 billion or 1.7 

percent to $531.5 billion. Inventories increased $1.4 

billion or 0.9 percent to $169.5 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in November 

increased $0.2 billion or 3.7 percent to $6.8 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.1 billion or 1.1 percent to $6.9 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.1 billion or 0.1 

percent to $152.0 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 

billion or 1.8 percent to $20.6 billion. 

Revised October Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $451.1 

billion (revised from $450.0 billion); shipments, $455.3 

billion (revised from $455.4 billion); unfilled orders, 

$887.0 billion (revised from $885.9 billion); and total 

inventories, $606.9 billion (revised from $607.1 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 January 4, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for December is scheduled for release on January 26, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for

survey description. 
 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 

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

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 202,835 203,670 200,700 -0.4 1.5 -0.4 195,496 208,423 180,259 2,176,210 2,015,812 8.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 206,990 199,475 199,462 3.8 0.0 -1.4 197,302 196,763 175,786 2,156,423 1,968,958 9.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 155,590 155,213 154,644 0.2 0.4 0.1 148,716 158,873 137,421 1,663,446 1,525,298 9.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 152,542 152,022 149,766 0.3 1.5 0.8 143,337 151,573 134,574 1,622,107 1,486,403 9.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 193,544 194,599 190,961 -0.5 1.9 -0.3 186,151 199,605 169,361 2,068,440 1,885,619 9.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 197,853 190,746 188,757 3.7 1.1 -1.5 189,748 189,794 165,825 2,046,205 1,844,031 11.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 145,879 146,121 145,446 -0.2 0.5 0.4 140,148 146,554 129,894 1,564,688 1,448,337 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 156,978 149,013 150,847 5.3 -1.2 -1.1 148,572 144,440 131,403 1,619,174 1,468,731 10.2

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 26,575 25,545 24,575 4.0 3.9 1.5 24,374 25,465 18,064 263,692 203,164 29.8

 New Orders.............................. 27,583 26,219 24,889 5.2 5.3 1.9 25,233 24,914 20,161 263,931 209,363 26.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,339 25,216 25,310 0.5 -0.4 1.0 24,430 26,065 22,889 275,826 260,128 6.0

 New Orders.............................. 25,881 25,820 25,818 0.2 0.0 1.3 24,377 25,928 22,653 281,451 260,762 7.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,605 30,396 31,140 0.7 -2.4 -1.0 28,381 30,081 24,973 321,913 285,820 12.6

 New Orders.............................. 32,031 31,741 31,398 0.9 1.1 -1.9 29,149 31,755 26,165 344,989 301,529 14.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 30,560 31,265 30,921 -2.3 1.1 -0.8 29,769 33,738 31,062 336,188 331,019 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 23,829 24,926 24,602 -4.4 1.3 2.2 22,271 24,754 24,416 261,281 263,709 -0.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,909 6,428 6,026 -8.1 6.7 4.0 5,269 7,053 5,445 62,699 56,743 10.5

 New Orders.............................. 6,012 6,399 6,145 -6.0 4.1 6.4 5,372 7,024 5,656 62,536 56,895 9.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 2,820 2,909 3,165 -3.1 -8.1 3.1 2,960 2,603 3,958 33,472 40,146 -16.6

 New Orders.............................. 2,818 3,143 3,101 -10.3 1.4 5.9 2,368 3,065 3,102 31,891 39,033 -18.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,933 10,155 10,275 -2.2 -1.2 -0.3 9,745 10,230 9,796 111,065 105,123 5.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,460 10,590 10,694 -1.2 -1.0 1.4 10,118 10,683 10,354 115,057 109,511 5.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 47,245 48,457 46,056 -2.5 5.2 -1.9 46,780 49,550 42,838 512,764 490,514 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 54,448 47,453 49,696 14.7 -4.5 -7.5 53,965 45,190 41,212 534,316 482,555 10.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 29,843 30,241 28,362 -1.3 6.6 -1.8 29,445 32,575 26,145 323,932 294,861 9.9

 New Orders.............................. 29,919 30,068 28,386 -0.5 5.9 -2.2 29,705 32,543 26,394 323,795 294,181 10.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,727 8,721 8,049 -11.4 8.3 3.1 7,859 7,655 6,289 78,843 70,703 11.5

 New Orders.............................. 15,096 8,709 10,127 73.3 -14.0 -26.7 16,033 5,296 5,440 101,340 76,096 33.2

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,800 3,704 3,792 2.6 -2.3 -6.4 3,731 3,590 4,456 43,852 53,503 -18.0

 New Orders.............................. 4,292 3,830 3,331 12.1 15.0 -34.5 3,897 3,262 4,429 45,792 53,317 -14.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,578 32,636 32,423 -0.2 0.7 0.3 32,017 33,294 30,637 354,762 340,044 4.3

 New Orders.............................. 32,758 32,726 32,365 0.1 1.1 1.2 32,189 33,539 30,825 355,398 341,529 4.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 76,686 78,343 78,679 -2.1 -0.4 -0.4 73,761 77,314 70,827 828,636 784,833 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 85,433 79,305 83,750 7.7 -5.3 -2.8 81,199 75,126 69,889 874,956 797,582 9.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 69,793 71,376 71,087 -2.2 0.4 -0.5 66,769 70,577 62,265 744,762 680,185 9.5

 New Orders.............................. 78,667 72,783 75,387 8.1 -3.5 -3.5 75,866 70,249 62,555 788,574 699,064 12.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,190 65,834 66,350 -1.0 -0.8 -0.5 61,934 65,785 58,648 698,974 638,603 9.5

 New Orders.......................... 67,062 67,847 68,451 -1.2 -0.9 1.4 62,917 68,346 60,027 722,664 652,668 10.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 6,893 6,967 7,592 -1.1 -8.2 0.4 6,992 6,737 8,562 83,874 104,648 -19.9

 New Orders.............................. 6,766 6,522 8,363 3.7 -22.0 4.0 5,333 4,877 7,334 86,382 98,518 -12.3

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 

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 898,123 887,024 884,132 1.3 0.3 0.6 883,944 875,520 819,067 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 368,847 366,809 365,314 0.6 0.4 0.0 369,296 367,198 332,620 11.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 379,977 376,081 372,185 1.0 1.0 0.5 373,132 371,893 333,112 12.0

 Total Inventories....................... 254,522 253,462 252,584 0.4 0.3 -0.1 254,664 253,516 233,423 9.1

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 726,827 715,574 712,340 1.6 0.5 0.6 718,092 707,877 660,370 8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 342,775 341,116 339,708 0.5 0.4 0.1 343,305 341,475 307,547 11.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 898,123 887,024 884,132 1.3 0.3 0.6 883,944 875,520 819,067 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 302,363 300,394 299,420 0.7 0.3 -0.2 302,802 300,839 271,318 11.6

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,811 32,803 32,129 3.1 2.1 1.0 31,900 31,041 29,900 6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 34,441 34,303 34,331 0.4 -0.1 -0.5 33,971 34,206 30,062 13.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 66,454 65,912 65,308 0.8 0.9 0.8 64,913 64,966 59,289 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 46,431 46,251 45,941 0.4 0.7 -0.1 45,893 45,950 41,346 11.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 118,538 117,112 115,767 1.2 1.2 0.2 117,354 116,586 91,991 27.6

 Total Inventories....................... 60,382 59,795 59,619 1.0 0.3 0.3 60,960 59,686 53,712 13.5

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 125,036 124,823 124,075 0.2 0.6 0.3 123,237 124,117 120,579 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 47,884 48,117 48,128 -0.5 0.0 -0.7 48,620 48,549 46,709 4.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,491 3,388 3,417 3.0 -0.8 3.6 3,491 3,388 3,696 -5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 6,140 6,139 6,083 0.0 0.9 1.9 6,378 6,193 5,744 11.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,397 28,399 28,165 0.0 0.8 -0.2 28,010 28,602 28,458 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 9,502 9,698 9,734 -2.0 -0.4 -3.0 9,781 9,795 9,724 0.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,666 27,139 26,704 1.9 1.6 1.6 27,244 26,871 23,019 18.4

 Total Inventories....................... 15,613 15,458 15,389 1.0 0.4 -1.2 15,474 15,456 14,877 4.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 518,146 510,943 511,947 1.4 -0.2 0.7 510,812 503,627 485,955 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 114,325 113,347 112,730 0.9 0.5 0.3 114,632 113,682 99,197 15.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,813 13,737 13,910 0.6 -1.2 0.2 13,659 13,399 13,220 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 26,428 26,504 26,258 -0.3 0.9 1.9 26,595 26,532 23,914 11.2

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 363,095 355,726 355,738 2.1 0.0 0.6 359,913 351,739 336,472 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 62,539 61,837 61,199 1.1 1.0 -0.3 62,674 62,016 50,496 24.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 55,817 55,325 55,199 0.9 0.2 -0.8 54,045 53,879 50,885 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 14,880 14,302 14,565 4.0 -1.8 1.0 14,811 14,376 14,023 5.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,472 8,292 8,202 2.2 1.1 -0.7 8,484 8,312 8,334 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 49,771 49,538 49,176 0.5 0.7 0.5 49,746 49,669 46,717 6.5

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 683,509 674,762 673,800 1.3 0.1 0.8 674,532 667,094 622,950 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 190,124 188,327 187,245 1.0 0.6 -0.2 191,588 188,755 168,412 13.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 531,495 522,621 521,214 1.7 0.3 0.8 527,352 518,255 481,719 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 169,519 168,085 167,207 0.9 0.5 0.1 170,995 168,557 148,452 15.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 211,482 209,610 207,597 0.9 1.0 1.0 209,784 208,801 183,686 14.2

 Total Inventories................... 115,788 114,968 114,624 0.7 0.3 0.3 117,246 115,388 105,968 10.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 152,014 152,141 152,586 -0.1 -0.3 0.5 147,180 148,839 141,231 4.2

 Total Inventories....................... 20,605 20,242 20,038 1.8 1.0 -2.4 20,593 20,198 19,960 3.2

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. 

 2012 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

 

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time) 

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time) 

October 2011 November 23, 2011 December 5, 2011 

November 2011 December 23, 2011 January 4, 2012 

December 2011 January 26, 2012 February 3, 2012 

January 2012 February 28, 2012 March 5, 2012 

February 2012 March 28, 2012 April 3, 2012 

March 2012 April 25, 2012 May 2, 2012 

April 2012 May 24, 2012 June 4, 2012 

May 2012 June 27, 2012 July 3, 2012 

June 2012 July 26, 2012 August 2, 2012 

July 2012 August 24, 2012 August 31, 2012 

August 2012 September 27, 2012 October 4, 2012 

September 2012 October 25, 2012 November 2, 2012 

October 2012 November 27, 2012 December 5, 2012 

November 2012 December 24, 2012 Not available at this time