FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-02 

CB11-52

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

February 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February decreased $1.9 billion or 0.9 percent to $200.0 

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

decrease, down four of the last five months, followed a 

3.6 percent January increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 0.6 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 0.4 percent. 

 

 Machinery, down two consecutive months, had the 

largest decrease, $1.2 billion or 4.2 percent to $26.6 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in February, 

up five of the last six months, increased $0.7 billion or 

0.3 percent to $203.2 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent 

January increase. 

 Machinery, up three of the last four months, had the 

largest increase, $0.7 billion or 2.6 percent to $26.1 

billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February, up ten of the last eleven months, increased 

$2.9 billion or 0.4 percent to $833.7 billion. This 

followed a 0.7 percent January increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up two consecutive months, 

had the largest increase, $1.1 billion or 0.2 percent to 

$477.3 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

February, up fourteen consecutive months, increased 

$2.9 billion or 0.9 percent to $328.3 billion. This 

followed a 0.9 percent January increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up fourteen 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $0.8 billion 

or 0.9 percent to $87.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in February 

increased $1.7 billion or 2.5 percent to $69.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.7 billion or 1.1 percent to $66.2 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $2.9 billion or 0.6 

percent to $505.1 billion. Inventories increased $1.2 

billion or 0.8 percent to $139.7 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in February 

decreased $2.8 billion or 24.8 percent to $8.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 2.5 percent to $8.5 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.1 billion or 0.1 

percent to $141.4 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 

billon or 0.4 percent to $17.6 billion. 

Revised January Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted January figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $446.1 

billion (revised from $445.6 billion); shipments, $446.7 

billion (revised from $447.4 billion); unfilled orders, 

$830.8 billion (revised from $829.6 billion); and total 

inventories, $560.2 billion (revised from $559.3 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 March 31, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for March is scheduled for release on April 27, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description and benchmark notice. 
 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 

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec- Nov - Feb Jan Feb Change

2011 2 2011 r 2010 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 203,177 202,472 202,140 0.3 0.2 2.3 188,590 182,096 175,485 370,686 347,937 6.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 199,993 201,846 194,792 -0.9 3.6 -0.6 187,184 185,716 175,761 372,900 346,651 7.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 154,149 154,030 153,908 0.1 0.1 2.0 141,653 140,254 130,613 281,907 258,701 9.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 149,821 150,677 155,308 -0.6 -3.0 2.7 140,354 140,060 129,400 280,414 253,203 10.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 192,320 191,811 190,889 0.3 0.5 2.5 178,125 173,435 162,177 351,560 322,643 9.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 189,402 188,667 183,498 0.4 2.8 -0.5 176,756 172,502 162,925 349,258 319,278 9.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 148,237 147,573 148,556 0.4 -0.7 2.8 137,610 131,495 128,788 269,105 251,626 6.9

 New Orders.............................. 151,182 153,605 146,931 -1.6 4.5 -1.3 141,652 143,294 133,380 284,946 262,691 8.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 23,296 22,966 22,111 1.4 3.9 5.2 22,208 21,605 17,667 43,813 34,791 25.9

 New Orders.............................. 22,863 23,356 22,707 -2.1 2.9 -2.0 22,160 23,268 18,602 45,428 37,014 22.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,846 27,891 28,012 -0.2 -0.4 1.6 25,554 25,221 24,660 50,775 48,240 5.3

 New Orders.............................. 28,864 28,273 28,009 2.1 0.9 0.9 27,304 26,015 25,631 53,319 49,561 7.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 26,066 25,410 27,286 2.6 -6.9 7.3 24,419 23,019 21,912 47,438 42,106 12.7

 New Orders.............................. 26,634 27,790 31,833 -4.2 -12.7 16.3 24,908 27,498 22,263 52,406 43,610 20.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 33,203 33,842 33,172 -1.9 2.0 -1.9 29,338 31,693 27,995 61,031 58,803 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 27,354 27,195 28,643 0.6 -5.1 0.1 24,775 23,665 23,574 48,440 45,998 5.3

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,150 6,074 6,182 1.3 -1.7 -4.3 4,969 5,364 4,481 10,333 9,380 10.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,826 5,849 6,116 -0.4 -4.4 -9.8 4,645 5,139 4,393 9,784 8,786 11.4

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,323 3,415 3,453 -2.7 -1.1 -1.1 2,737 2,683 3,026 5,420 5,885 -7.9

 New Orders.............................. 3,127 3,200 3,957 -2.3 -19.1 11.3 2,803 2,535 3,326 5,338 6,342 -15.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,972 9,940 10,030 0.3 -0.9 1.8 9,146 8,711 8,456 17,857 16,401 8.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,365 10,105 10,742 2.6 -5.9 -0.2 10,079 9,655 8,933 19,734 17,845 10.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 49,028 48,442 48,232 1.2 0.4 3.2 46,937 41,842 44,872 88,779 89,236 -0.5

 New Orders.............................. 50,172 51,169 39,484 -1.9 29.6 -12.0 46,830 45,656 46,361 92,486 93,448 -1.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 31,513 30,982 30,281 1.7 2.3 2.8 30,724 28,371 26,810 59,095 55,405 6.7

 New Orders.............................. 31,512 30,920 30,349 1.9 1.9 2.5 30,800 28,515 26,724 59,315 55,471 6.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,128 7,065 7,501 0.9 -5.8 12.6 6,380 5,174 6,009 11,554 10,959 5.4

 New Orders.............................. 10,122 7,986 141 26.7 5,563.8 -97.2 8,098 4,979 8,758 13,077 13,662 -4.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,524 4,507 4,687 0.4 -3.8 -3.8 4,197 3,482 5,361 7,679 10,137 -24.2

 New Orders.............................. 4,337 5,318 4,487 -18.4 18.5 -11.0 4,006 5,471 5,136 9,477 11,734 -19.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,766 33,981 33,297 -0.6 2.1 0.2 30,988 30,005 29,923 60,993 58,360 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 33,741 33,958 33,374 -0.6 1.7 -0.5 31,128 29,959 30,397 61,087 59,175 3.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 74,656 73,713 76,501 1.3 -3.6 3.4 68,908 64,432 66,710 133,340 128,829 3.5

 New Orders.............................. 77,447 78,490 71,518 -1.3 9.7 -3.8 71,762 71,512 70,125 143,274 134,601 6.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 66,206 65,471 67,550 1.1 -3.1 3.5 60,560 57,633 55,654 118,193 107,920 9.5

 New Orders.............................. 69,110 67,397 63,220 2.5 6.6 -3.7 63,335 60,333 59,468 123,668 112,637 9.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,134 61,626 63,074 0.8 -2.3 2.4 57,007 55,351 52,247 112,358 101,983 10.2

 New Orders.......................... 61,952 62,791 66,776 -1.3 -6.0 4.0 58,292 58,747 53,321 117,039 103,960 12.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,450 8,242 8,951 2.5 -7.9 2.4 8,348 6,799 11,056 15,147 20,909 -27.6

 New Orders.............................. 8,337 11,093 8,298 -24.8 33.7 -4.8 8,427 11,179 10,657 19,606 21,964 -10.7

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 

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec - Nov - Feb Jan Feb 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2010 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 833,735 830,790 824,758 0.4 0.7 -0.2 840,326 836,284 803,751 4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 328,315 325,444 322,550 0.9 0.9 0.8 331,845 325,479 300,856 10.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 356,408 354,607 351,302 0.5 0.9 2.1 358,221 354,072 316,582 13.2

 Total Inventories....................... 240,516 238,444 236,240 0.9 0.9 0.4 243,343 238,777 222,740 9.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 677,609 674,398 670,884 0.5 0.5 -0.2 682,163 678,084 648,120 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 305,306 302,517 299,654 0.9 1.0 0.9 308,690 302,521 277,141 11.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 833,735 830,790 824,758 0.4 0.7 -0.2 840,326 836,284 803,751 4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 267,391 265,195 262,882 0.8 0.9 0.8 269,702 265,139 243,262 10.9

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,755 22,188 21,798 -2.0 1.8 2.8 22,581 22,629 18,594 21.4

 Total Inventories....................... 33,264 32,608 31,950 2.0 2.1 1.4 33,046 32,403 27,930 18.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 55,384 54,366 53,984 1.9 0.7 0.0 55,177 53,427 53,395 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 43,130 42,967 42,543 0.4 1.0 0.4 43,566 43,072 40,539 7.5

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 113,815 113,247 110,867 0.5 2.1 4.3 114,105 113,616 88,670 28.7

 Total Inventories....................... 54,052 53,605 52,958 0.8 1.2 0.0 55,223 53,881 50,357 9.7

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,780 124,500 124,489 0.2 0.0 1.0 125,747 124,862 121,055 3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 46,456 46,126 46,046 0.7 0.2 0.1 47,177 46,228 43,718 7.9

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 5,030 5,354 5,579 -6.1 -4.0 -1.2 5,030 5,354 4,777 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 4,494 4,539 4,461 -1.0 1.7 -2.3 4,562 4,353 4,627 -1.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,395 28,591 28,806 -0.7 -0.7 1.8 28,697 28,631 29,231 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 8,065 7,921 8,223 1.8 -3.7 -1.9 8,300 8,060 8,015 3.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,710 27,317 27,152 1.4 0.6 2.7 28,030 27,097 22,545 24.3

 Total Inventories....................... 14,976 14,803 14,779 1.2 0.2 -0.7 15,157 14,793 13,741 10.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 477,327 476,183 473,456 0.2 0.6 -1.8 482,105 482,212 487,169 -1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 87,799 87,000 86,310 0.9 0.8 1.9 88,502 86,702 78,116 13.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,159 14,160 14,222 0.0 -0.4 0.5 14,672 14,596 14,714 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 22,154 21,903 21,715 1.1 0.9 -0.2 22,664 22,122 20,134 12.6

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 328,481 325,487 324,566 0.9 0.3 -2.2 331,005 329,287 326,268 1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 42,998 42,572 41,965 1.0 1.4 4.4 43,028 42,071 34,477 24.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,297 49,484 48,673 -0.4 1.7 -0.4 50,153 50,344 49,345 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 11,983 12,006 12,007 -0.2 0.0 -1.2 11,948 11,937 12,310 -2.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,964 12,989 13,012 -0.2 -0.2 0.6 12,581 12,441 12,323 2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 48,638 48,335 47,964 0.6 0.8 0.9 49,174 48,400 46,455 5.9

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 646,526 643,735 638,958 0.4 0.7 -0.8 651,784 648,930 626,224 4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 157,326 156,084 154,526 0.8 1.0 0.7 159,239 155,676 144,104 10.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 505,093 502,189 500,263 0.6 0.4 -0.9 508,649 505,874 484,886 4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 139,746 138,578 137,058 0.8 1.1 1.0 141,478 138,070 125,756 12.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 208,799 208,981 207,816 -0.1 0.6 1.8 210,319 209,034 188,839 11.4

 Total Inventories................... 105,300 104,475 103,715 0.8 0.7 -0.1 107,026 104,431 99,414 7.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 141,433 141,546 138,695 -0.1 2.1 -0.5 143,135 143,056 141,338 1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 17,580 17,506 17,468 0.4 0.2 -1.3 17,761 17,606 18,348 -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 59 

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.

 

Benchmark Notice

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on 

May 13, 2011. These revisions reflect:

o benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2009 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) 

data;

o incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2008/2009 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments data;

o adjusting new orders to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and unfilled orders data;

o correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to previously 

reported data; and

o updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series.

An accompanying press release will include the revised 2011 January through March data. Please call 

Heather Dudash on (301)763-4832 with any questions.