FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (15)-02 

CB15-53

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

February 2015 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February decreased $3.2 billion or 1.4 percent to $231.3 

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

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

2.0 percent January increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 0.4 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders decreased 1.0 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down three of the last 

four months, led the decrease, $2.5 billion or 3.5 percent 

to $69.5 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in February, 

down four of the last five months, decreased $0.5 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $244.0 billion. This followed a 1.4 

percent January decrease. 

 Primary metals, down five consecutive months, led the 

decrease, $0.3 billion or 1.1 percent to $26.1 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February, down three consecutive months, decreased 

$5.6 billion or 0.5 percent to $1,156.9 billion. This 

followed a 0.3 percent January decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also down three consecutive 

months, led the decrease, $4.6 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$731.6 billion.

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

February, up twenty-two of the last twenty-three months, 

increased $1.1 billion or 0.3 percent to $413.0 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.3 

percent January increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty-two of the 

last twenty-three months, drove the increase, $1.2 billion 

or 0.9 percent to $135.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in February 

decreased $2.1 billion or 2.6 percent to $77.3 billion. 

Shipments decreased slightly to $80.2 billion. Unfilled 

orders decreased $2.9 billion or 0.4 percent to $727.8 

billion. Inventories increased $0.3 billion or 0.1 percent 

to $186.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in February 

increased $0.8 billion or 10.2 percent to $8.3 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.1 billion or 0.8 percent to $9.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.7 billion or 0.4 

percent to $152.9 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 

billion or 3.0 percent to $24.9 billion. 

Revised January Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted January figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $467.7 

billion (revised from $470.0 billion); shipments, $477.8 

billion (revised from $479.1 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,162.5 billion (revised from $1,163.4 billion); and 

total inventories, $650.1 billion (revised from $650.5 

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 2, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for March is

scheduled for release on April 24, 2015 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. The U.S. 

Census Bureau updated its Application Programming Interface (API) with monthly and quarterly economic indicators. The API allows developers to combine Census Bureau statistics with other data sets to create tools for research on a variety of topics. 
 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

2015 2 2015 r 2014 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2015 2 2015 r 2014 2015 2014 2015/2014

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 243,970 244,504 247,910 -0.2 -1.4 1.5 225,410 217,015 218,690 442,425 429,556 3.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 231,291 234,462 229,827 -1.4 2.0 -3.7 218,536 209,364 223,736 427,900 430,177 -0.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 169,843 170,097 172,620 -0.1 -1.5 0.4 155,260 154,175 152,303 309,435 304,257 1.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 161,807 162,453 163,651 -0.4 -0.7 -0.8 153,631 150,132 152,994 303,763 302,152 0.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 232,791 233,288 235,266 -0.2 -0.8 1.3 214,937 207,979 207,627 422,916 408,862 3.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 222,596 224,795 219,755 -1.0 2.3 -3.2 210,162 201,628 213,425 411,790 412,808 -0.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 172,495 173,236 175,193 -0.4 -1.1 1.4 159,672 152,652 153,317 312,324 299,818 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 166,929 170,143 164,363 -1.9 3.5 -5.8 158,475 152,899 164,420 311,374 315,710 -1.4

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 26,102 26,399 27,308 -1.1 -3.3 -0.2 24,936 25,760 25,069 50,696 50,968 -0.5

 New Orders.............................. 26,083 25,822 26,288 1.0 -1.8 -3.0 25,553 26,152 25,932 51,705 52,910 -2.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,310 30,563 31,005 -0.8 -1.4 2.1 27,968 28,142 27,291 56,110 54,378 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 29,649 30,263 30,876 -2.0 -2.0 1.0 29,089 28,714 29,104 57,803 56,093 3.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 35,652 35,428 36,174 0.6 -2.1 -0.9 32,960 30,627 32,892 63,587 63,474 0.2

 New Orders.............................. 34,316 34,959 34,843 -1.8 0.3 -3.3 32,633 32,294 35,121 64,927 69,999 -7.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 28,470 28,323 28,681 0.5 -1.2 -0.2 24,619 25,617 24,665 50,236 51,421 -2.3

 New Orders.............................. 22,228 22,242 21,962 -0.1 1.3 -1.5 20,763 18,713 19,878 39,476 37,796 4.4

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,951 1,968 1,901 -0.9 3.5 -1.7 1,353 1,372 1,506 2,725 3,208 -15.1

 New Orders.............................. 1,992 2,011 1,867 -0.9 7.7 -7.8 1,394 1,415 1,501 2,809 3,017 -6.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,715 3,686 3,715 0.8 -0.8 8.2 3,217 3,024 3,237 6,241 6,497 -3.9

 New Orders.............................. 4,232 4,108 4,112 3.0 -0.1 -1.4 4,222 3,443 4,213 7,665 7,825 -2.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,536 10,522 10,705 0.1 -1.7 0.5 9,619 9,350 9,341 18,969 18,503 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 10,700 10,282 10,830 4.1 -5.1 1.0 10,108 9,650 9,768 19,758 19,722 0.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 74,127 74,407 75,290 -0.4 -1.2 4.0 70,150 62,840 66,387 132,990 125,299 6.1

 New Orders.............................. 69,484 72,009 66,176 -3.5 8.8 -10.0 64,905 59,232 70,742 124,137 128,025 -3.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 47,906 47,996 49,390 -0.2 -2.8 3.4 46,902 43,062 45,643 89,964 86,337 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 47,992 48,221 49,424 -0.5 -2.4 2.7 47,258 43,510 45,943 90,768 86,862 4.5

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 14,110 14,300 12,953 -1.3 10.4 3.4 12,109 10,315 9,973 22,424 18,902 18.6

 New Orders.............................. 11,628 12,761 5,742 -8.9 122.2 -58.1 8,725 7,038 14,616 15,763 23,304 -32.4

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,219 3,994 4,669 5.6 -14.5 3.7 3,709 3,077 3,911 6,786 7,520 -9.8

 New Orders.............................. 2,308 3,448 3,899 -33.1 -11.6 -18.0 1,552 3,087 4,303 4,639 7,414 -37.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,773 38,862 38,747 -0.2 0.3 1.4 35,158 34,679 33,045 69,837 65,513 6.6

 New Orders.............................. 38,831 38,885 38,852 -0.1 0.1 1.3 35,485 34,609 33,191 70,094 65,632 6.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 89,170 89,272 89,930 -0.1 -0.7 1.2 81,200 74,849 77,801 156,049 149,884 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 85,650 86,933 81,003 -1.5 7.3 -10.3 80,324 72,331 81,717 152,655 155,696 -2.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 80,189 80,218 79,463 0.0 1.0 0.8 72,597 67,534 68,565 140,131 132,796 5.5

 New Orders.............................. 77,324 79,377 72,990 -2.6 8.8 -10.1 71,516 66,795 73,192 138,311 141,614 -2.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 70,044 69,909 70,219 0.2 -0.4 0.4 64,134 60,949 61,769 125,083 120,679 3.6

 New Orders.......................... 69,250 70,225 70,308 -1.4 -0.1 -0.5 66,013 63,914 66,044 129,927 129,934 0.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,981 9,054 10,467 -0.8 -13.5 5.0 8,603 7,315 9,236 15,918 17,088 -6.8

 New Orders.............................. 8,326 7,556 8,013 10.2 -5.7 -11.8 8,808 5,536 8,525 14,344 14,082 1.9

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

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec - Nov - Feb Jan Feb 2015/

2015 2 2015 r 2014 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2015 2 2015 r 2014 2014

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,156,892 1,162,458 1,165,551 -0.5 -0.3 -0.9 1,166,893 1,168,090 1,076,170 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 412,976 411,908 410,641 0.3 0.3 0.5 415,886 411,046 394,697 5.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 425,272 426,195 426,890 -0.2 -0.2 -0.4 427,379 423,331 407,003 5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 277,569 277,704 276,955 0.0 0.3 0.6 279,841 277,453 268,976 4.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 974,290 977,372 978,916 -0.3 -0.2 -0.8 984,018 983,116 888,591 10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 382,705 382,303 381,181 0.1 0.3 0.5 385,506 381,526 365,629 5.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,156,892 1,162,458 1,165,551 -0.5 -0.3 -0.9 1,166,893 1,168,090 1,076,170 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 339,549 338,297 337,377 0.4 0.3 0.3 341,178 337,048 322,840 5.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 38,722 38,741 39,318 0.0 -1.5 -2.5 39,883 39,266 37,995 5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 38,766 39,042 38,643 -0.7 1.0 1.5 39,124 39,251 35,857 9.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 86,839 87,500 87,800 -0.8 -0.3 -0.1 86,544 85,423 85,512 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 51,275 51,175 50,775 0.2 0.8 0.6 51,444 51,051 48,824 5.4

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 116,331 117,667 118,136 -1.1 -0.4 -1.1 117,184 117,511 114,272 2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 67,328 67,343 67,580 0.0 -0.4 0.0 67,953 66,906 66,938 1.5

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 149,224 148,353 147,485 0.6 0.6 0.4 149,558 147,737 138,617 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 49,516 49,363 49,226 0.3 0.3 0.8 49,876 49,291 47,942 4.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,278 4,237 4,194 1.0 1.0 -0.8 4,278 4,237 3,198 33.8

 Total Inventories....................... 4,717 4,767 4,740 -1.0 0.6 2.4 4,794 4,701 4,686 2.3

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 40,486 39,969 39,547 1.3 1.1 1.0 40,693 39,688 36,855 10.4

 Total Inventories....................... 7,274 7,268 7,239 0.1 0.4 -1.4 7,433 7,306 7,890 -5.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,848 25,684 25,924 0.6 -0.9 0.5 26,191 25,702 23,509 11.4

 Total Inventories....................... 16,711 16,681 16,640 0.2 0.2 0.2 16,883 16,679 16,841 0.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 731,620 736,263 738,661 -0.6 -0.3 -1.2 739,514 744,759 669,167 10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 135,407 134,204 133,686 0.9 0.4 0.2 136,045 133,593 125,721 8.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,119 18,033 17,808 0.5 1.3 0.2 18,840 18,484 17,041 10.6

 Total Inventories....................... 28,506 28,057 27,656 1.6 1.4 0.9 29,109 28,446 26,529 9.7

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 564,401 566,883 568,422 -0.4 -0.3 -1.3 571,157 574,541 500,110 14.2

 Total Inventories....................... 75,952 75,991 75,957 -0.1 0.0 0.5 75,897 75,079 69,853 8.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 60,257 62,168 62,714 -3.1 -0.9 -1.2 61,173 63,330 64,405 -5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 14,637 14,528 14,146 0.8 2.7 -1.8 14,667 14,442 14,193 3.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,308 8,250 8,227 0.7 0.3 1.3 8,019 7,692 7,098 13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 53,973 54,100 54,091 -0.2 0.0 0.7 54,561 54,275 52,574 3.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 880,777 884,297 886,636 -0.4 -0.3 -1.0 887,528 888,404 810,257 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 211,647 210,661 210,778 0.5 -0.1 0.1 212,433 208,801 202,725 4.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 727,839 730,704 731,545 -0.4 -0.1 -0.9 734,820 735,901 652,689 12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 186,785 186,519 186,739 0.1 -0.1 0.1 187,492 184,658 178,948 4.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 253,298 254,092 253,776 -0.3 0.1 0.0 254,087 252,208 237,900 6.8

 Total Inventories................... 122,688 122,419 122,736 0.2 -0.3 0.0 123,594 121,519 121,403 1.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 152,938 153,593 155,091 -0.4 -1.0 -1.6 152,708 152,503 157,568 -3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 24,862 24,142 24,039 3.0 0.4 -0.4 24,941 24,143 23,777 4.9

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 month-tomonth 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 14, 2015. These revisions result from benchmarking the shipments and inventories 

data to the 2012 Economic Census and the 2013 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data on a 

2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis, as well as revised ASM 

benchmarks for prior years on a 2007 NAICS basis; incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments 

ratios obtained from the 2013/2012 and 2012/2011 Manufacturers’ Unfilled Orders Surveys by 

applying these ratios to the respective Census or ASM shipments data, as well as incorporating revised 

unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years; 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; and 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 2015 and the data not seasonally adjusted for January 2001 through March 2015. An 

updated Press Release will contain revised monthly tables for January 2015 through March 2015 on a 

2012 NAICS basis, which will be the new basis for publishing data from the M3 Survey starting with 

the April 2015 Advance Report on Durable Goods. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 with any 

questions.