FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2012, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (12)-7 

CB12-155

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

July 2012 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $9.4 billion or 4.2 percent to $230.7 billion, 

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

up three consecutive months, followed a 1.6 percent 

June increase. Excluding transportation, new orders 

decreased 0.4 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 5.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up five of the last six 

months, had the largest increase, $9.9 billion or 14.1 

percent to $80.4 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

seven of the last eight months, increased $5.9 billion or 

2.6 percent to $231.1 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a slight June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up four of the last five 

months, had the largest increase, $5.4 billion or 8.4 

percent to $69.7 billion. This was also at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis and followed a 1.0 percent June decrease. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up two consecutive months, increased $7.8 billion 

or 0.8 percent to $996.3 billion. This followed a 0.4 

percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $10.7 billion or 1.9 

percent to $581.0 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

thirty of the last thirty-one months, increased $2.7 billion 

or 0.7 percent to $369.3 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis and followed a 0.3 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up thirty of the last 

thirty-one months, had the largest increase, $1.4 billion 

or 1.3 percent to $110.5 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $4.9 billion or 6.8 percent to $77.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.8 billion or 1.2 percent to $71.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.1 billion or 1.0 

percent to $592.9 billion. Inventories increased $1.6 

billion or 0.9 percent to $170.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$1.6 billion or 13.6 percent to $10.2 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.4 billion or 4.6 percent to $8.3 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $2.0 billion or 1.2 percent to 

$167.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.6 billion or 2.7 

percent to $21.4 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $465.1 

billion (revised from $465.8 billion); shipments, $468.9 

billion (revised from $469.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$988.5 billion (revised from $988.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $604.4 billion (revised from $605.4 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 August 31, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on September 27, 2012, 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. 
 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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul Change

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Jul 2 Jun r May 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2012 2011 12/11

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 231,081 225,158 225,096 2.6 0.0 1.1 209,885 241,100 194,830 1,553,238 1,426,590 8.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 230,733 221,377 217,864 4.2 1.6 1.5 205,451 229,615 192,467 1,530,945 1,423,875 7.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 161,385 160,855 160,128 0.3 0.5 1.0 157,407 170,685 146,394 1,116,671 1,035,448 7.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 150,339 150,903 154,244 -0.4 -2.2 0.7 142,830 157,174 142,662 1,077,912 1,021,729 5.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 220,565 213,962 214,154 3.1 -0.1 0.8 200,681 228,866 185,391 1,479,796 1,348,083 9.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 218,479 206,739 208,138 5.7 -0.7 0.9 196,240 213,786 184,888 1,455,747 1,337,949 8.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 160,821 157,538 157,716 2.1 -0.1 1.3 146,438 169,940 137,371 1,094,159 1,009,121 8.4

 New Orders.............................. 168,595 161,417 157,609 4.4 2.4 2.2 152,184 165,152 142,775 1,121,009 1,052,831 6.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 28,274 27,967 28,384 1.1 -1.5 -0.3 27,545 29,276 25,054 204,254 171,451 19.1

 New Orders.............................. 27,720 27,000 27,402 2.7 -1.5 -3.5 26,798 27,482 25,212 200,595 171,240 17.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,264 27,355 27,519 -0.3 -0.6 -0.1 26,667 28,687 25,633 191,875 180,742 6.2

 New Orders.............................. 27,564 27,685 28,161 -0.4 -1.7 0.7 26,575 27,883 25,990 197,860 186,781 5.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 33,118 33,303 31,934 -0.6 4.3 1.2 31,723 35,568 28,050 225,045 201,889 11.5

 New Orders.............................. 30,393 31,530 32,333 -3.6 -2.5 5.0 28,790 32,101 32,315 225,907 226,843 -0.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,624 29,098 28,974 1.8 0.4 3.8 29,052 30,745 26,899 195,138 193,647 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 21,905 21,697 22,854 1.0 -5.1 -0.4 18,591 23,644 18,172 151,582 145,912 3.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 3,077 2,838 2,938 8.4 -3.4 2.5 2,627 3,659 2,762 19,118 19,713 -3.0

 New Orders.............................. 2,957 2,852 2,992 3.7 -4.7 4.5 2,507 3,673 2,710 19,036 19,617 -3.0

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 2,967 3,080 3,299 -3.7 -6.6 7.8 2,636 3,586 2,892 20,846 22,284 -6.5

 New Orders.............................. 3,233 3,368 3,636 -4.0 -7.4 2.1 2,701 3,666 2,238 23,294 20,384 14.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,986 10,000 10,033 -0.1 -0.3 1.2 9,433 10,762 8,959 69,194 66,539 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 9,589 9,792 10,249 -2.1 -4.5 1.9 9,083 10,518 9,258 69,756 68,769 1.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 69,696 64,303 64,968 8.4 -1.0 1.4 52,478 70,415 48,436 436,567 391,142 11.6

 New Orders.............................. 80,394 70,474 63,620 14.1 10.8 3.6 62,621 72,441 49,805 453,033 402,146 12.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 49,485 43,953 44,231 12.6 -0.6 0.1 35,578 47,033 32,243 298,855 263,246 13.5

 New Orders.............................. 49,449 43,855 44,172 12.8 -0.7 0.2 35,442 46,598 32,448 297,756 262,975 13.2

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 9,774 9,175 9,652 6.5 -4.9 2.2 7,984 10,909 6,822 63,164 50,533 25.0

 New Orders.............................. 19,552 12,708 9,593 53.9 32.5 7.6 18,539 10,386 9,572 82,861 59,046 40.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,366 4,646 4,664 -6.0 -0.4 12.2 3,661 5,405 3,689 31,092 31,609 -1.6

 New Orders.............................. 4,706 5,143 4,156 -8.5 23.7 11.1 3,560 5,781 3,205 32,259 33,955 -5.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,119 33,132 33,284 0.0 -0.5 0.6 32,987 35,647 31,799 231,165 221,180 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 33,168 33,199 33,245 -0.1 -0.1 0.5 32,993 35,546 31,715 232,212 222,184 4.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 79,902 79,487 78,663 0.5 1.0 1.8 73,650 86,290 68,367 540,610 503,039 7.5

 New Orders.............................. 87,962 84,631 78,246 3.9 8.2 3.2 79,690 85,586 72,156 567,898 539,911 5.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,633 70,817 70,167 1.2 0.9 0.9 66,300 77,031 60,806 483,472 439,747 9.9

 New Orders.............................. 77,732 72,790 71,016 6.8 2.5 2.3 71,755 73,043 65,978 508,808 469,332 8.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 64,933 64,919 63,947 0.0 1.5 1.0 60,840 70,090 56,625 442,774 410,744 7.8

 New Orders.......................... 61,577 63,716 65,464 -3.4 -2.7 2.3 56,427 66,452 60,158 449,975 434,425 3.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,269 8,670 8,496 -4.6 2.0 9.7 7,350 9,259 7,561 57,138 63,292 -9.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,230 11,841 7,230 -13.6 63.8 12.8 7,935 12,543 6,178 59,090 70,579 -16.3

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 Change

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2012/

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Jul 2 Jun r May 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2011

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 996,296 988,522 984,643 0.8 0.4 0.0 992,773 987,027 919,984 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 369,342 366,628 365,566 0.7 0.3 0.4 372,924 365,796 353,530 5.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 415,343 418,267 420,559 -0.7 -0.5 0.3 415,641 420,038 394,711 5.3

 Total Inventories....................... 258,858 257,567 257,477 0.5 0.0 0.1 261,127 257,198 251,632 3.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 804,631 798,595 798,158 0.8 0.1 0.1 801,502 795,763 727,612 10.2

 Total Inventories....................... 343,144 341,027 339,946 0.6 0.3 0.4 346,695 340,282 327,141 6.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 996,296 988,522 984,643 0.8 0.4 0.0 992,773 987,027 919,984 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 299,225 297,354 296,518 0.6 0.3 0.5 302,589 297,030 286,423 5.6

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,812 33,366 34,333 -1.7 -2.8 -2.8 32,343 33,090 32,939 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 33,862 34,084 34,420 -0.7 -1.0 -0.3 34,571 34,598 35,500 -2.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 82,639 82,339 82,009 0.4 0.4 0.8 83,356 83,448 77,439 7.6

 Total Inventories....................... 45,871 45,894 45,973 -0.1 -0.2 0.2 46,446 46,131 45,373 2.4

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 135,098 137,823 139,596 -2.0 -1.3 0.3 135,324 138,257 127,880 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 66,479 65,721 65,678 1.2 0.1 0.7 66,664 65,148 59,744 11.6

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 136,378 135,975 135,716 0.3 0.2 0.7 135,699 135,980 129,602 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 46,572 46,127 45,819 1.0 0.7 -0.9 47,120 45,633 46,616 1.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,074 1,194 1,180 -10.1 1.2 4.8 1,074 1,194 1,168 -8.0

 Total Inventories....................... 4,001 3,919 4,033 2.1 -2.8 -2.8 4,077 3,830 4,118 -1.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,835 33,569 33,281 0.8 0.9 1.0 33,409 33,344 30,502 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 8,646 8,627 8,400 0.2 2.7 -1.8 8,653 8,440 9,108 -5.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,172 21,569 21,777 -1.8 -1.0 1.0 21,290 21,640 19,359 10.0

 Total Inventories....................... 15,358 15,403 15,465 -0.3 -0.4 0.3 15,565 15,478 15,301 1.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 580,953 570,255 564,084 1.9 1.1 -0.2 577,132 566,989 525,273 9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 110,484 109,061 108,089 1.3 0.9 1.3 111,797 108,598 101,898 9.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,465 16,501 16,599 -0.2 -0.6 -0.4 16,019 16,155 16,272 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 24,874 24,612 24,467 1.1 0.6 0.9 25,145 24,078 23,970 4.9

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 408,543 398,765 395,232 2.5 0.9 0.0 405,454 394,899 350,067 15.8

 Total Inventories....................... 58,946 58,431 57,671 0.9 1.3 1.6 59,885 58,642 52,447 14.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 60,449 60,109 59,612 0.6 0.8 -0.8 60,523 60,624 58,483 3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 13,343 13,221 13,211 0.9 0.1 1.4 13,431 13,233 13,037 3.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,244 7,195 7,128 0.7 0.9 -0.5 7,629 7,623 7,492 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 50,716 50,338 50,122 0.8 0.4 0.2 50,761 50,210 49,098 3.4

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 760,560 752,500 747,356 1.1 0.7 -0.1 756,734 750,694 691,087 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 191,586 189,421 188,231 1.1 0.6 0.8 193,087 188,874 178,020 8.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 592,916 586,817 584,844 1.0 0.3 0.1 589,451 583,996 522,270 12.9

 Total Inventories....................... 170,144 168,548 167,402 0.9 0.7 0.8 171,702 168,100 156,991 9.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 240,859 244,215 245,418 -1.4 -0.5 0.6 240,608 245,021 224,791 7.0

 Total Inventories................... 120,915 119,647 119,223 1.1 0.4 0.5 121,649 118,759 113,115 7.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 167,644 165,683 162,512 1.2 2.0 -0.8 167,283 166,698 168,817 -0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 21,442 20,873 20,829 2.7 0.2 0.6 21,385 20,774 21,029 1.7

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.