FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-2 

CB 16-50

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

February 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February decreased $6.6 billion or 2.8 percent to $229.4 

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

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

4.2 percent January increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 1.0 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders decreased 1.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down three of the last 

four months, led the decrease, $4.9 billion or 6.2 percent 

to $74.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in February, 

down two of the last three months, decreased $2.1 

billion or 0.9 percent to $238.3 billion. This followed a 

1.5 percent January increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also down two of the last 

three months, led the decrease, $1.0 billion or 1.2 

percent to $79.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February, down two of the last three months, decreased 

$4.2 billion or 0.4 percent to $1,183.7 billion. This 

followed a virtually unchanged January increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down three consecutive 

months, drove the decrease, $4.8 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$789.1 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

February, down seven of the last eight months, 

decreased $1.1 billion or 0.3 percent to $394.3 billion. 

This followed a 0.2 percent January decrease. 

 Primary metals, down thirteen consecutive months led 

the decrease, $0.4 billion or 1.2 percent to $33.2 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in February 

decreased $5.9 billion or 7.5 percent to $72.7 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.9 billion or 2.5 percent to $75.4 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.7 billion or 0.4 

percent to $742.0 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 0.1 percent to $174.7 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in February 

decreased $2.6 billion or 25.6 percent to $7.5 billion. 

Shipments decreased less than $0.1 billion or 0.2 percent 

to $9.7 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.2 billion or 

1.5 percent to $148.6 billion. Inventories decreased $0.5 

billion or 2.4 percent to $21.7 billion. 

Revised January Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted January figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $462.5 

billion (revised from $463.9 billion); shipments, $467.0 

billion (revised from $468.4 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,187.9 billion (revised from $1,188.1 billion); and 

total inventories, $637.2 billion (revised from $637.5 

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 April 4, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for March is

scheduled for release on April 26, 2016 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. To learn more 

about this release and the other indicators the U.S. Census Bureau publishes, join us for the Investigating Economic Indicators Webinar 

Series. For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar. 

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

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

2016 2 2016 r 2015 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 238,317 240,441 236,925 -0.9 1.5 -1.8 229,224 209,681 219,898 438,905 432,546 1.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 229,364 235,920 226,391 -2.8 4.2 -4.6 222,691 208,985 212,568 431,676 420,850 2.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 159,288 160,452 161,289 -0.7 -0.5 0.4 151,628 143,058 149,620 294,686 297,919 -1.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 155,166 156,810 154,915 -1.0 1.2 -0.7 152,544 143,157 148,276 295,701 295,695 0.0

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 226,343 228,448 224,410 -0.9 1.8 -2.0 217,868 200,266 209,178 418,134 412,523 1.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 219,402 223,631 215,583 -1.9 3.7 -2.5 213,443 199,046 204,434 412,489 404,893 1.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 168,827 170,579 167,721 -1.0 1.7 -2.5 162,501 148,265 158,242 310,766 310,965 -0.1

 New Orders.............................. 164,600 170,987 162,053 -3.7 5.5 -6.4 160,022 153,330 155,037 313,352 309,144 1.4

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,044 19,204 19,200 -0.8 0.0 -2.0 18,920 18,373 21,262 37,293 43,562 -14.4

 New Orders.............................. 19,315 19,333 19,229 -0.1 0.5 0.2 19,712 19,522 21,433 39,234 44,797 -12.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,668 29,950 29,673 -0.9 0.9 0.3 28,669 27,307 27,993 55,976 56,223 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 29,907 30,275 29,630 -1.2 2.2 0.3 30,348 28,333 28,783 58,681 57,506 2.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,252 32,666 33,049 -1.3 -1.2 2.2 31,326 28,036 31,350 59,362 60,201 -1.4

 New Orders.............................. 31,593 32,422 31,000 -2.6 4.6 -3.8 31,639 29,912 31,291 61,551 62,201 -1.0

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,687 29,853 29,838 -0.6 0.1 -0.6 26,830 26,313 24,552 53,143 49,539 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 25,353 25,596 25,374 -0.9 0.9 -1.6 23,877 21,538 21,664 45,415 41,796 8.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,951 1,961 1,836 -0.5 6.8 -4.9 1,470 1,373 1,419 2,843 2,869 -0.9

 New Orders.............................. 1,951 1,926 1,807 1.3 6.6 -10.4 1,470 1,338 1,442 2,808 2,918 -3.8

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,535 3,466 3,888 2.0 -10.9 2.9 3,134 2,750 3,130 5,884 6,089 -3.4

 New Orders.............................. 3,730 3,818 3,480 -2.3 9.7 -17.3 3,819 3,272 4,051 7,091 7,515 -5.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,548 9,738 9,967 -2.0 -2.3 0.5 9,093 8,543 9,706 17,636 19,143 -7.9

 New Orders.............................. 9,824 10,104 10,173 -2.8 -0.7 2.2 9,735 9,379 9,997 19,114 19,781 -3.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 79,029 79,989 75,636 -1.2 5.8 -6.0 77,596 66,623 70,278 144,219 134,627 7.1

 New Orders.............................. 74,198 79,110 71,476 -6.2 10.7 -12.2 70,147 65,828 64,292 135,975 125,155 8.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 54,323 54,073 52,520 0.5 3.0 0.6 55,215 46,818 47,066 102,033 90,253 13.1

 New Orders.............................. 54,256 53,625 52,196 1.2 2.7 0.2 55,342 46,578 47,434 101,920 91,177 11.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,983 14,118 10,860 -8.0 30.0 -32.3 11,380 10,576 12,316 21,956 22,882 -4.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,147 13,928 9,373 -27.1 48.6 -29.3 5,919 10,082 8,649 16,001 15,722 1.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,339 4,457 4,834 -2.6 -7.8 3.8 3,696 3,334 3,884 7,030 7,134 -1.5

 New Orders.............................. 3,743 5,289 2,685 -29.2 97.0 -66.8 2,806 4,213 1,463 7,019 4,746 47.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 39,089 39,041 39,562 0.1 -1.3 0.8 36,790 34,486 34,757 71,276 69,251 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 39,174 39,080 39,509 0.2 -1.1 0.6 37,233 34,473 35,108 71,706 69,614 3.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 85,040 86,959 85,186 -2.2 2.1 -5.0 80,258 72,509 80,169 152,767 155,405 -1.7

 New Orders.............................. 80,195 88,643 74,348 -9.5 19.2 -17.4 76,039 75,596 78,573 151,635 151,500 0.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 75,353 77,257 75,135 -2.5 2.8 -5.9 70,868 64,882 71,554 135,750 139,425 -2.6

 New Orders.............................. 72,695 78,566 65,214 -7.5 20.5 -14.0 68,420 67,089 69,966 135,509 137,544 -1.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,130 67,854 68,767 -1.1 -1.3 0.6 64,042 58,842 63,372 122,884 124,877 -1.6

 New Orders.......................... 67,350 68,560 66,495 -1.8 3.1 -3.5 66,843 62,162 64,958 129,005 130,142 -0.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,687 9,702 10,051 -0.2 -3.5 2.5 9,390 7,627 8,615 17,017 15,980 6.5

 New Orders.............................. 7,500 10,077 9,134 -25.6 10.3 -35.6 7,619 8,507 8,607 16,126 13,956 15.5

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. 
 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

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec - Nov - Feb Jan Feb 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2015 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,183,667 1,187,894 1,187,486 -0.4 0.0 -0.5 1,193,836 1,196,315 1,213,081 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 394,311 395,447 396,322 -0.3 -0.2 0.2 397,300 394,593 404,116 -1.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 394,562 393,958 392,671 0.2 0.3 -0.4 396,449 391,479 401,800 -1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 262,783 263,562 264,857 -0.3 -0.5 -0.3 264,882 262,958 273,353 -3.1

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 1,000,565 1,002,780 1,002,668 -0.2 0.0 -0.4 1,010,210 1,010,581 1,026,113 -1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 367,446 368,054 369,875 -0.2 -0.5 0.2 370,475 367,336 377,639 -1.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,183,667 1,187,894 1,187,486 -0.4 0.0 -0.5 1,193,836 1,196,315 1,213,081 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 319,816 320,974 322,000 -0.4 -0.3 0.0 321,478 319,795 330,323 -2.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,061 34,790 34,661 0.8 0.4 0.1 36,065 35,273 37,417 -3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 33,161 33,572 34,276 -1.2 -2.1 -2.0 33,469 33,948 39,990 -16.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 82,239 82,000 81,675 0.3 0.4 -0.1 81,901 80,222 83,109 -1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 48,255 48,433 48,719 -0.4 -0.6 -0.6 48,636 48,481 49,687 -2.1

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 108,041 108,700 108,944 -0.6 -0.2 -1.8 109,101 108,788 119,179 -8.5

 Total Inventories....................... 65,607 65,802 66,184 -0.3 -0.6 0.4 66,041 65,300 67,326 -1.9

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 137,850 137,458 136,786 0.3 0.5 0.3 138,004 136,903 130,647 5.6

 Total Inventories....................... 45,113 44,922 44,839 0.4 0.2 0.0 45,440 44,397 45,584 -0.3

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,618 2,618 2,653 0.0 -1.3 -1.1 2,618 2,618 2,521 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 3,539 3,551 3,485 -0.3 1.9 1.5 3,622 3,495 4,049 -10.5

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 40,785 40,590 40,238 0.5 0.9 -1.0 41,019 40,334 38,071 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 5,068 5,148 5,148 -1.6 0.0 -4.2 5,171 5,157 5,908 -12.5

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,772 22,496 22,130 1.2 1.7 0.9 23,071 22,429 23,197 -0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 15,962 16,066 16,227 -0.6 -1.0 -0.5 16,032 15,980 16,698 -4.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 789,105 793,936 794,815 -0.6 -0.1 -0.5 797,387 804,836 811,281 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 131,528 131,885 131,465 -0.3 0.3 1.1 132,418 131,635 130,763 1.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 20,782 20,849 21,297 -0.3 -2.1 -1.5 21,659 21,532 22,954 -5.6

 Total Inventories....................... 35,968 36,037 36,430 -0.2 -1.1 2.0 36,572 36,412 35,955 1.7

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 604,778 607,614 607,804 -0.5 0.0 -0.2 611,504 616,965 616,616 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 67,816 67,634 67,580 0.3 0.1 0.9 68,161 67,138 66,923 1.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 67,007 67,603 66,771 -0.9 1.2 -3.1 67,983 68,873 67,001 1.5

 Total Inventories....................... 12,456 12,603 11,824 -1.2 6.6 -0.9 12,451 12,556 13,045 -4.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,599 8,514 8,475 1.0 0.5 -0.6 8,307 7,864 8,251 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 54,685 54,767 54,612 -0.1 0.3 0.0 55,264 54,852 54,068 2.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 890,577 895,422 893,738 -0.5 0.2 -1.2 896,836 901,055 920,329 -2.6

 Total Inventories....................... 196,438 197,162 196,762 -0.4 0.2 0.4 197,067 195,298 199,522 -1.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 741,964 744,622 743,313 -0.4 0.2 -1.3 747,974 750,422 767,113 -2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 174,728 174,919 175,409 -0.1 -0.3 0.4 175,392 173,144 178,009 -1.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 245,128 244,908 244,202 0.1 0.3 -0.9 246,118 243,317 251,631 -2.2

 Total Inventories................... 118,262 118,613 119,295 -0.3 -0.6 0.1 118,747 117,367 122,065 -2.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 148,613 150,800 150,425 -1.5 0.2 -0.6 148,862 150,633 153,216 -2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 21,710 22,243 21,353 -2.4 4.2 -0.1 21,675 22,154 21,513 0.8

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, 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-inprocess, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 

4,800 reporting units that represent approximately 3,000 companies and provide an indication of monthto-month change for 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-to-month changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the 

M3 panel effectively represent the month-to-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 61 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 54 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: http://www.census.gov/m3. 

Benchmark notice 

Revised historical data from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey will be 

issued on May 18, 2016. These revisions result from: 

 benchmarking the 2008-2011 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) shipments and inventories 

data to the revised 2012 Economic Census data on a 2007 North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) basis; 

 benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2014 ASM and revised 2013 ASM 

data, as well as the revised 2012 Economic Census data, on a 2012 NAICS basis, and ASM 

benchmarks for prior years on a 2007 NAICS basis; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2014/2013 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders (M3UFO) Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments 

data, as well as incorporating revised unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years by 

applying them to the respective Census or ASM shipments data; 

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

orders data; 

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

previously reported data; 

 updating the seasonally adjusted data based on the results of benchmarking and the recent annual 

review of the seasonal adjustment models. 

These revisions will span the seasonally adjusted data for January 1997 through March 2016 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2001 through March 2016. An updated Press Release will contain 

revised monthly tables for January 2016 through March 2016. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 

with any questions.