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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON DURABLE GOODS MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS AUGUST 2020

Release Number: CB 20-141 M3-1 (20)-08

Statement Regarding COVID-19 Impact: The Census Bureau continues to monitor response and data 

quality and has determined that estimates in this release meet publication standards. For more 

information, see < M3 COVID-19 FAQs>.

September 25, 2020 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the August advance report on durable goods 

manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders:

New Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in August increased $1.0 billion or 0.4 percent to $232.8

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up four consecutive months, followed an 

11.7 percent July increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4 percent. Excluding 

defense, new orders increased 0.7 percent. Machinery, also up four consecutive months, led the increase, 

$0.5 billion or 1.5 percent to $31.2 billion.

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

AUGUST 2020 $232.8 billion +0.4%°

JULY 2020

(revised) $231.8 billion +11.7%°

Next release: October 27, 2020

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes.

°Statistical significance is not measurable for this survey. The Manufacturers' Shipments, 

Inventories, and Orders estimates are not based on a probability sample, so the sampling 

error of these estimates cannot be measured nor can the confidence intervals be computed.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders, September 

25, 2020. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, 

September 25, 2020.
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Shipments

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, down following three consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $0.7 billion or 0.3 percent to $244.1 billion. This followed a 7.6 percent July increase. 

Transportation equipment, also down following three consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, 

$1.4 billion or 1.7 percent to $81.6 billion.

Unfilled Orders

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in August, down five of the last six months, decreased

$6.3 billion or 0.6 percent to $1,078.4 billion. This followed a 0.7 percent July decrease. Transportation 

equipment, down six consecutive months, drove the decrease, $6.9 billion or 0.9 percent to $728.0 billion.

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, down three consecutive months, decreased $0.5

billion or 0.1 percent to $420.5 billion. This followed a 0.8 percent July decrease. Machinery, down seven 

of the last eight months, led the decrease, $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $69.1 billion. 

Capital Goods

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August increased $4.6 billion or 7.8 percent to $62.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $2.2 billion or 3.3 percent to $70.1 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $7.1 billion or 

1.2 percent to $593.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $193.0 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in August decreased $0.5 billion or 3.3 percent to $13.7 billion. Shipments

decreased less than $0.1 billion or 0.4 percent to $12.2 billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.5 billion or 0.8 

percent to $181.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or 0.5 percent to $21.2 billion.

Revised July Data

Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $466.7 billion 

(revised from $466.1 billion); shipments, $479.7 billion (revised from $479.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,084.8 billion (revised from $1,084.3 billion) and total inventories, $686.4 billion (revised from $687.2

billion).

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on October 2, 2020, at

10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for September is scheduled for release on October

27, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room:

<https://www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. The full text and tables of this release can be found at

<www.census.gov/m3>.
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EXPLANATORY NOTES

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders 

exclude data for semiconductor manufacturing. 

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

decrease.

Description of the survey

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-ofmonth total inventory (at current cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication 

(materials and supplies, work-in-process, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are 

based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting units that represent approximately 3,100 

companies and provide an indication of month-to-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-tomonth 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 60

percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2017 Economic 

Census, and these companies include roughly 61 percent of the manufacturing companies with $500 

million or more in shipments in the 2017 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments data 

are currently reported in the M3 survey represent approximately 51 percent of the total value of 

shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2017 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 
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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: <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.

RESOURCES

API

The Census Bureau’s application programming interface (API) lets developers create custom apps to reach 

new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever 

before.

<www.census.gov/developers/>

FRED Mobile App

Receive the latest updates on the nation’s key economic indicators by downloading 

the FRED App <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/fred-mobile/> for both Apple and 

Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. 

Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau’s 13 economic indicators.

###
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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug Change

2020 22020 r

2020 Aug 2

Jul r

Jun 2020 2

2020 r

2019 2020 2019 2020/2019

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 244,137 244,802 227,502 -0.3 7.6 15.2 249,298 230,969 257,713 1,821,481 1,992,606 -8.6

 New Orders4.............................. 232,841 231,807 207,474 0.4 11.7 7.7 232,322 216,816 247,935 1,716,017 1,935,536 -11.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 162,500 161,732 156,919 0.5 3.1 4.0 166,086 158,658 168,333 1,263,632 1,300,016 -2.8

 New Orders4.............................. 158,072 157,373 152,430 0.4 3.2 4.0 158,742 153,771 160,318 1,230,476 1,267,958 -3.0

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 230,260 230,836 213,708 -0.2 8.0 16.5 235,697 218,514 243,651 1,712,950 1,883,482 -9.1

 New Orders4.............................. 217,758 216,157 195,729 0.7 10.4 9.7 220,043 205,791 234,039 1,605,287 1,829,909 -12.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 163,365 162,006 155,831 0.8 4.0 6.4 165,887 153,871 176,753 1,278,811 1,384,999 -7.7

 New Orders.............................. 157,036 154,152 140,648 1.9 9.6 -4.0 154,378 144,775 172,235 1,211,164 1,365,765 -11.3

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 18,288 18,134 17,879 0.8 1.4 6.4 18,573 17,712 20,155 148,632 164,147 -9.5

 New Orders.............................. 18,416 18,192 17,897 1.2 1.6 4.6 18,446 17,536 19,892 147,649 164,246 -10.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,073 30,180 29,178 -0.4 3.4 5.5 31,445 29,767 33,506 240,521 254,714 -5.6

 New Orders.............................. 30,055 30,463 29,364 -1.3 3.7 5.7 31,137 30,326 33,406 241,938 258,131 -6.3

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 31,056 30,528 29,839 1.7 2.3 3.6 30,691 29,499 32,678 243,141 258,797 -6.0

 New Orders.............................. 31,195 30,721 29,916 1.5 2.7 3.8 30,335 29,810 31,320 245,533 258,138 -4.9

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Shipments................................ 29,741 29,761 28,617 -0.1 4.0 -0.3 30,176 27,973 28,555 224,605 220,048 2.1

 New Orders.............................. 24,894 24,590 23,879 1.2 3.0 -0.1 23,952 22,465 22,574 186,973 183,503 1.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,919 1,856 1,702 3.4 9.0 -7.4 1,902 1,665 1,660 13,776 12,723 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 1,901 1,845 1,661 3.0 11.1 -8.1 1,884 1,654 1,629 13,603 12,640 7.6

 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,153 4,072 3,762 2.0 8.2 -0.3 3,798 3,594 3,286 29,253 27,150 7.7

 New Orders.............................. 4,244 4,086 3,705 3.9 10.3 -1.1 3,752 3,638 3,177 29,175 27,231 7.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,507 10,578 10,306 -0.7 2.6 2.2 10,932 10,329 11,466 84,152 86,684 -2.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,672 10,834 10,313 -1.5 5.1 2.0 10,896 10,506 11,459 85,395 87,831 -2.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 81,637 83,070 70,583 -1.7 17.7 51.4 83,212 72,311 89,380 557,849 692,590 -19.5

 New Orders.............................. 74,769 74,434 55,044 0.5 35.2 19.5 73,580 63,045 87,617 485,541 667,578 -27.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 61,328 64,135 51,876 -4.4 23.6 82.9 63,550 55,922 65,019 393,030 485,941 -19.1

 New Orders.............................. 61,438 64,023 52,624 -4.0 21.7 85.4 63,777 55,614 65,082 392,955 484,472 -18.9

 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts5:

 Shipments................................ 5,331 3,947 4,182 35.1 -5.6 18.7 4,958 3,430 8,959 47,719 90,162 -47.1

 New Orders.............................. -2,784 -5,970 -10,507 (NA) (NA) -467.6 -3,795 -4,074 7,295 -27,309 72,288 -137.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,111 4,273 3,959 -3.8 7.9 -0.2 4,051 3,820 4,488 31,906 36,601 -12.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,321 4,617 2,634 -6.4 75.3 -29.2 2,987 3,764 3,801 29,561 34,444 -14.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 42,835 42,551 41,100 0.7 3.5 5.9 44,269 43,378 41,973 322,581 315,626 2.2

 New Orders.............................. 42,840 42,573 41,061 0.6 3.7 5.7 43,976 43,128 41,667 322,988 316,109 2.2

 Capital goods3:

 Shipments................................ 82,262 80,071 78,420 2.7 2.1 3.7 81,074 75,315 83,989 633,642 678,478 -6.6

 New Orders.............................. 76,583 72,495 63,458 5.6 14.2 -15.7 72,146 67,646 80,737 569,397 661,024 -13.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,062 67,823 66,248 3.3 2.4 4.8 69,127 64,457 71,853 538,484 583,672 -7.7

 New Orders.............................. 62,927 58,373 52,665 7.8 10.8 -15.5 60,655 57,664 68,345 468,400 568,705 -17.6

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,165 66,178 64,351 1.5 2.8 3.7 66,447 63,142 66,564 512,572 524,933 -2.4

 New Orders.......................... 67,703 66,483 64,885 1.8 2.5 4.3 65,766 63,186 64,641 517,863 525,473 -1.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 12,200 12,248 12,172 -0.4 0.6 -1.6 11,947 10,858 12,136 95,158 94,806 0.4

 New Orders.............................. 13,656 14,122 10,793 -3.3 30.8 -16.7 11,491 9,982 12,392 100,997 92,319 9.4

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. 

5

 (NA) - New Orders month-to-month percent change is not provided for Nondefense aircraft and parts because the denominator has a negative value. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, August Advance Report, September 25, 2020. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website at 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 
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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2020/

2020 2 2020 r 2020 Aug 2Jul r

Jun 2020 2 2020

 r

2019 2019

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,078,447 1,084,776 1,092,630 -0.6 -0.7 -1.4 1,074,495 1,086,004 1,145,026 -6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 420,460 421,002 424,468 -0.1 -0.8 -0.1 423,716 424,334 421,244 0.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 350,432 349,893 349,111 0.2 0.2 0.1 349,786 351,663 349,792 0.0

 Total Inventories....................... 273,938 274,986 278,086 -0.4 -1.1 -0.9 276,050 276,896 285,572 -3.3

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 856,316 863,851 873,389 -0.9 -1.1 -1.5 855,448 865,635 942,016 -9.2

 Total Inventories....................... 395,057 395,719 399,064 -0.2 -0.8 -0.1 398,218 398,963 396,360 0.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,078,447 1,084,776 1,092,630 -0.6 -0.7 -1.4 1,074,495 1,086,004 1,145,026 -6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 343,323 343,765 346,587 -0.1 -0.8 -0.1 346,189 346,790 341,739 1.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 30,770 30,642 30,584 0.4 0.2 0.1 30,476 30,603 31,035 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 33,028 33,314 33,935 -0.9 -1.8 -2.2 33,200 33,532 35,981 -7.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 72,957 72,975 72,692 0.0 0.4 0.3 73,867 74,175 76,333 -3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 51,261 51,460 52,530 -0.4 -2.0 -1.6 51,491 52,094 53,960 -4.6

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 97,356 97,217 97,024 0.1 0.2 0.1 97,120 97,476 96,403 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 69,128 69,511 70,398 -0.6 -1.3 -0.8 69,899 69,881 73,202 -4.5

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 118,798 118,678 118,708 0.1 0.0 0.1 117,927 118,684 116,914 0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 43,850 43,975 44,203 -0.3 -0.5 0.0 44,398 44,425 44,431 -0.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,835 1,853 1,864 -1.0 -0.6 -2.2 1,835 1,853 1,908 -3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 3,852 3,843 3,897 0.2 -1.4 -1.0 3,996 3,977 3,976 0.5

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,657 25,566 25,552 0.4 0.1 -0.2 25,511 25,557 25,519 0.0

 Total Inventories....................... 5,238 5,246 5,200 -0.2 0.9 -0.2 5,400 5,263 5,344 1.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,042 21,877 21,621 0.8 1.2 0.0 22,026 22,062 20,953 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 19,700 19,746 19,795 -0.2 -0.2 -0.1 19,904 20,056 20,118 -1.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 728,015 734,883 743,519 -0.9 -1.2 -2.0 724,709 734,341 795,234 -8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 146,522 146,016 146,382 0.3 -0.3 1.4 147,666 147,438 135,672 8.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,131 21,021 21,133 0.5 -0.5 3.7 20,673 20,446 20,434 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 39,062 39,134 40,128 -0.2 -2.5 0.0 39,487 39,926 40,258 -1.9

 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 484,883 492,998 502,915 -1.6 -2.0 -2.8 484,946 493,699 572,430 -15.3

 Total Inventories....................... 78,066 77,726 76,923 0.4 1.0 2.4 78,376 78,058 67,262 16.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 84,291 84,081 83,737 0.2 0.4 -1.6 82,692 83,756 78,021 6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 12,449 12,329 12,476 1.0 -1.2 1.3 12,471 12,372 12,040 3.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,509 8,504 8,482 0.1 0.3 -0.5 8,370 8,663 8,154 2.6

 Total Inventories....................... 56,971 56,980 57,225 0.0 -0.4 -0.3 57,158 56,908 57,880 -1.2

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 775,335 781,014 788,590 -0.7 -1.0 -1.9 774,028 782,956 848,564 -8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 214,162 213,920 213,903 0.1 0.0 0.6 216,369 215,714 207,050 4.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 593,712 600,847 610,297 -1.2 -1.5 -2.2 594,580 603,052 685,331 -13.2

 Total Inventories....................... 193,002 192,864 192,762 0.1 0.1 0.6 195,136 194,613 186,287 4.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 217,953 217,415 217,110 0.2 0.1 0.2 217,425 218,106 213,955 1.6

 Total Inventories................... 127,654 127,697 128,443 0.0 -0.6 -0.4 129,318 128,954 130,365 -0.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 181,623 180,167 178,293 0.8 1.1 -0.8 179,448 179,904 163,233 9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 21,160 21,056 21,141 0.5 -0.4 0.5 21,233 21,101 20,763 2.3

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 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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, August Advance Report, September 25, 2020. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website 

at <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.