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FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 AM EDT, THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017 

MONTHLY FULL REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, INVENTORIES 

AND ORDERS MARCH 2017 

Release Number: CB 17-61 M3-2 (17)-03 

May 4, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the March full report on manufacturers’ shipments, 

inventories and orders: 

MANUFACTURED GOODS – NEW ORDERS

MARCH 2017 $478.2 billion            +0.2%°

FEBRUARY 2017  

(revised) $477.4 billion            +1.2%°

Next release: June 5, 2017

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes. 

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

°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. 

Summary 

New orders for manufactured goods in March, up eight of the last nine months, increased $0.8 billion or 0.2 

percent to $478.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 1.2 percent February 

increase. Shipments, down following seven consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.5 billion or 0.1 

percent to $478.8 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent February increase. Unfilled orders, up two 

consecutive months, increased $2.9 billion or 0.3 percent to $1,119.6 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent 

February increase. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.52, down from 6.54 in February. 

Inventories, down following five consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.1 billion or virtually 

unchanged to $629.7 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent February increase. The inventories-to-shipments 

ratio was 1.32, up from 1.31 in February. 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March, up three consecutive months, increased $2.1 billion 

or 0.9 percent to $239.4 billion, up from the previously published 0.7 percent increase. This followed a 2.4 

percent February increase. Transportation equipment, also up three consecutive months, drove the increase, 

$2.2 billion or 2.6 percent to $83.6 billion. New orders for manufactured nondurable goods decreased $1.3 

billion or 0.5 percent to $238.7 billion.

Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17

% Change 1.8% -1.2% -1.8% 1.4% 0.4% 0.6% 2.8% -2.3% 1.3% 1.5% 1.2% 0.2%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

MANUFACTURERS' NEW ORDERS 2016-2017

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

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

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, up four of the last five months, increased $0.7 billion 

or 0.3 percent to $240.1 billion, up from the previously published 0.2 percent increase. This followed a 0.3 

percent February increase. Transportation equipment, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, led 

the increase, $0.4 billion or 0.4 percent to $81.6 billion. Shipments of manufactured nondurable goods, 

down following seven consecutive monthly increases, decreased $1.3 billion or 0.5 percent to $238.7 

billion. This followed a virtually unchanged February increase. Petroleum and coal products, down two 

consecutive months, led the decrease, $1.2 billion or 2.7 percent to $43.6 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in March, up two consecutive months, increased $2.9 

billion or 0.3 percent to $1,119.6 billion, up from the previously published 0.2 percent increase. This 

followed a 0.1 percent February increase. Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive months, led 

the increase, $2.0 billion or 0.3 percent to $756.0 billion. 

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, up four of the last five months, increased $0.7 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $386.0 billion, up from the previously published 0.1 percent increase. This followed a 0.2 

percent February increase. Primary metals, up five consecutive months, led the increase, $0.4 billion or 1.3 

percent to $32.6 billion. Inventories of manufactured nondurable goods, down following five consecutive 

monthly increases, decreased $0.8 billion or 0.3 percent to $243.7 billion. This followed a virtually 

unchanged February increase. Petroleum and coal products, down two consecutive months, led the 

decrease, $0.8 billion or 2.7 percent to $29.5 billion. By stage of fabrication, March materials and supplies 

increased 0.5 percent in durable goods and increased 0.3 percent in nondurable goods. Work in process 

decreased 0.1 percent in durable goods and decreased 2.4 percent in nondurable goods. Finished goods 

increased 0.1 percent in durable goods and in nondurable goods. 

The Advance Report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 26, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EDT 

and the Full Report on June 5, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing 

Room: <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-of-month 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 4,800 reporting 

units that represent approximately 3,000 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-tomonth changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel effectively represent the monthto-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: 

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

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

issued on May 18, 2017. These revisions result from:

 benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2015 Annual Survey of 

Manufactures (ASM) and revised 2014 ASM data on a 2012 NAICS basis; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2015/2014 

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 ASM 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 2002 through March 2017 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2007 through March 2017. An updated Press Release will contain 

revised monthly tables for January 2017 through March 2017. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 with 

any questions. 

America’s Economy Mobile App

The America’s Economy app provides real-time updates for 19 key economic indicators released from the 

Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

<www.census.gov/mobile/economy/>. 

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/>. 

‐X‐ 
Table 1. Value of Manufacturers' Shipments for Industry Groups1

[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

Industry % Change

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2017/

2017p 2017r 2017 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2017p 2016 2016

 All manufacturing industries.................. 478,815 479,354 478,581 -0.1 0.2 0.3 510,168 445,216 436,906 486,063 1,392,290 1,331,806 4.5

 Excluding transportation................... 397,191 398,089 396,828 -0.2 0.3 0.4 416,352 367,498 366,934 394,581 1,150,784 1,090,423 5.5

 Excluding defense.............................. 465,472 465,861 465,677 -0.1 0.0 0.3 494,710 432,527 426,669 471,488 1,353,906 1,295,736 4.5

 With unfilled orders............................ 171,654 170,834 169,647 0.5 0.7 0.1 189,073 158,905 150,023 179,502 498,001 480,581 3.6

 Durable goods industries......................... 240,069 239,334 238,622 0.3 0.3 0.0 263,393 222,982 212,209 253,239 698,584 682,985 2.3

 Wood products....................................... 9,081 9,161 8,951 -0.9 2.3 0.6 9,148 8,226 7,572 8,443 24,946 22,778 9.5

 Nonmetallic mineral products.................... 10,307 10,240 10,101 0.7 1.4 0.4 10,366 8,740 8,669 9,917 27,775 27,003 2.9

 Primary metals....................................... 18,941 18,780 18,621 0.9 0.9 0.6 20,355 18,029 18,184 18,839 56,568 53,462 5.8

 Iron and steel mills............................ 8,764 8,681 8,514 1.0 2.0 1.9 9,241 8,269 8,391 8,244 25,901 23,883 8.4

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals.......... 8,743 8,665 8,675 0.9 -0.1 -0.6 9,561 8,397 8,484 8,973 26,442 25,048 5.6

 Ferrous metal foundries....................... 1,434 1,434 1,432 0.0 0.1 -0.1 1,553 1,363 1,309 1,622 4,225 4,531 -6.8

 Fabricated metal products....................... 31,538 31,572 31,362 -0.1 0.7 1.2 32,975 29,456 29,044 30,794 91,475 86,618 5.6

 Machinery............................................. 31,360 31,129 30,849 0.7 0.9 -1.0 35,375 29,348 27,194 34,160 91,917 90,903 1.1

 Farm machinery................................. 1,855 1,860 1,819 -0.3 2.3 -2.4 2,409 2,097 1,680 2,244 6,186 6,009 2.9

 Construction machinery..................... 2,778 2,770 2,722 0.3 1.8 6.5 3,276 2,665 2,303 3,302 8,244 8,575 -3.9

 Mining, oil field, and 

 gas field machinery.......................... 957 941 895 1.7 5.1 8.7 1,025 884 833 1,310 2,742 3,524 -22.2

 Industrial machinery.......................... 2,447 2,528 2,454 -3.2 3.0 -3.6 2,841 2,223 2,003 2,810 7,067 7,098 -0.4

 Photographic equipment...................... 427 423 429 0.9 -1.4 3.4 504 358 355 518 1,217 1,251 -2.7

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............ 3,659 3,600 3,545 1.6 1.6 0.7 4,046 2,955 2,845 3,774 9,846 9,594 2.6

 Metalworking machinery..................... 3,401 3,403 3,315 -0.1 2.7 -0.7 3,666 2,982 2,944 3,271 9,592 8,753 9.6

 Turbines, generators, and other

 power transmission equipment....... 4,086 3,974 3,962 2.8 0.3 -11.1 4,267 3,957 3,767 4,106 11,991 11,846 1.2

 Material handling equipment............... 3,145 3,124 3,088 0.7 1.2 1.2 3,469 2,921 2,746 3,128 9,136 8,724 4.7

 Computers and electronic products2

.......... 27,971 28,071 28,071 -0.4 0.0 0.2 30,276 24,324 25,141 28,942 79,741 75,773 5.2

 Computers........................................ 620 620 617 0.0 0.5 5.5 674 464 517 620 1,655 1,659 -0.2

 Computer storage devices..................... 562 599 576 -6.2 4.0 9.1 832 388 390 789 1,610 1,540 4.5

 Other peripheral equipment................ 549 620 628 -11.5 -1.3 7.0 693 487 441 857 1,621 1,930 -16.0

 Nondefense communications

 equipment.................................... 3,273 3,184 3,209 2.8 -0.8 -2.8 3,808 2,586 2,514 3,588 8,908 8,537 4.3

 Defense communications equipment.... 277 280 268 -1.1 4.5 1.1 292 277 223 295 792 842 -5.9

 Audio and video equipment.................... 410 399 415 2.8 -3.9 1.7 395 337 351 327 1,083 920 17.7

 Electronic components......................... 5,115 5,049 4,854 1.3 4.0 -0.4 5,342 4,410 4,243 4,837 13,995 13,077 7.0

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 1,466 1,454 1,447 0.8 0.5 -4.7 1,725 1,367 1,258 1,648 4,350 4,139 5.1

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment..................................... 2,667 2,715 2,704 -1.8 0.4 3.5 2,855 2,574 2,204 2,716 7,633 7,137 6.9

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments................. 9,242 9,337 9,215 -1.0 1.3 0.6 10,307 8,390 7,803 10,060 26,500 25,729 3.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components................................... 9,801 9,705 9,569 1.0 1.4 -0.7 10,423 8,830 8,503 9,919 27,756 27,325 1.6

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,071 1,065 1,043 0.6 2.1 0.6 1,100 985 934 1,084 3,019 3,063 -1.4

 Household appliances........................ 1,329 1,320 1,348 0.7 -2.1 -3.6 1,444 1,158 1,104 1,499 3,706 4,000 -7.4

 Electrical equipment............................ 2,867 2,862 2,896 0.2 -1.2 -0.7 3,224 2,632 2,537 3,305 8,393 8,721 -3.8

 Batteries........................................... 772 779 790 -0.9 -1.4 1.2 758 680 710 788 2,148 2,233 -3.8

 Transportation equipment........................ 81,624 81,265 81,753 0.4 -0.6 -0.4 93,816 77,718 69,972 91,482 241,506 241,383 0.1

 Automobiles..................................... 8,150 8,180 8,872 -0.4 -7.8 -0.1 9,099 7,956 8,103 11,107 25,158 31,268 -19.5

 Light trucks and utility vehicles.............. 16,246 16,239 16,239 0.0 0.0 -1.2 18,794 16,145 13,951 17,102 48,890 46,545 5.0

 Heavy duty trucks ............................. 2,156 2,108 2,021 2.3 4.3 -0.6 2,429 1,910 1,747 2,576 6,086 6,919 -12.0

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers.................................... 29,279 29,527 29,457 -0.8 0.2 0.4 32,617 29,379 26,933 30,121 88,929 82,868 7.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 13,024 12,449 13,048 4.6 -4.6 0.4 15,887 10,474 9,840 16,038 36,201 37,963 -4.6

 Defense aircraft and parts.................. 4,442 4,367 3,967 1.7 10.1 -5.1 5,487 3,770 2,867 5,687 12,124 12,849 -5.6

 Ships and boats................................. 3,169 3,132 3,050 1.2 2.7 -3.3 3,409 3,022 2,475 3,318 8,906 8,898 0.1

 Furniture and related products.................. 6,423 6,424 6,415 0.0 0.1 0.5 6,600 6,163 5,988 6,477 18,751 18,471 1.5

 Miscellaneous durable goods................. 13,023 12,987 12,930 0.3 0.4 -0.2 14,059 12,148 11,942 14,266 38,149 39,269 -2.9

 Nondurable goods industries..................... 238,746 240,020 239,959 -0.5 0.0 0.6 246,775 222,234 224,697 232,824 693,706 648,821 6.9

 Food products....................................... 66,899 66,726 66,627 0.3 0.1 0.6 68,341 64,059 64,465 65,947 196,865 191,464 2.8

 Grain and oilseed milling....................... 8,173 8,284 8,260 -1.3 0.3 0.7 8,273 7,947 8,238 8,278 24,458 24,047 1.7

 Dairy products.................................. 9,548 9,735 9,668 -1.9 0.7 -0.2 9,760 9,020 9,453 9,386 28,233 26,904 4.9

 Meat, poultry, and seafood products... 18,526 17,993 18,280 3.0 -1.6 1.5 18,678 17,232 17,400 18,006 53,310 52,383 1.8

 Beverage and tobacco products................ 12,362 12,234 12,242 1.0 -0.1 -1.3 12,524 11,139 10,987 12,515 34,650 34,252 1.2

 Beverages......................................... 9,071 9,188 9,237 -1.3 -0.5 1.1 9,233 8,093 7,982 9,489 25,308 25,794 -1.9

 Tobacco............................................ 3,291 3,046 3,005 8.0 1.4 -7.8 3,291 3,046 3,005 3,026 9,342 8,458 10.5

 Textile mills........................................... 2,584 2,640 2,620 -2.1 0.8 1.1 2,744 2,548 2,411 2,652 7,703 7,472 3.1

 Textile products................................... 2,073 2,069 2,087 0.2 -0.9 -1.7 2,173 2,025 1,887 2,047 6,085 5,818 4.6

 Apparel................................................ 1,075 1,094 1,121 -1.7 -2.4 4.7 1,002 1,039 1,005 974 3,046 2,873 6.0

 Leather and allied products...................... 338 345 353 -2.0 -2.3 -0.3 355 343 327 353 1,025 1,018 0.7

 Paper products...................................... 15,513 15,365 15,302 1.0 0.4 -0.8 16,009 14,285 14,981 15,654 45,275 45,061 0.5

 Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills....... 6,827 6,775 6,763 0.8 0.2 -0.6 6,998 6,269 6,766 6,953 20,033 20,241 -1.0

 Paperboard containers........................ 4,878 4,812 4,844 1.4 -0.7 0.7 5,084 4,429 4,716 4,843 14,229 13,750 3.5

 Printing................................................. 6,756 6,869 6,924 -1.6 -0.8 0.4 7,001 6,165 6,519 7,506 19,685 20,888 -5.8

 Petroleum and coal products.................. 43,599 44,817 45,552 -2.7 -1.6 3.0 42,512 38,569 40,813 32,658 121,894 87,021 40.1

 Petroleum refineries.......................... 39,174 40,287 41,017 -2.8 -1.8 2.9 38,156 34,621 37,178 29,237 109,955 78,211 40.6

 Chemical products..................................... 68,500 68,673 67,944 -0.3 1.1 0.0 73,929 64,316 63,641 72,318 201,886 197,207 2.4

 Pesticides, fertilizers, and other

 agricultural chemicals....................... 3,751 3,810 3,893 -1.5 -2.1 -4.2 5,231 4,093 3,094 6,161 12,418 13,784 -9.9

 Pharmaceuticals and medicines............. 23,019 23,157 22,628 -0.6 2.3 0.3 24,124 21,430 21,917 22,882 67,471 64,270 5.0

 Paints, coatings, and adhesives.......... 3,968 3,936 3,789 0.8 3.9 -0.1 4,413 3,594 3,320 3,990 11,327 10,453 8.4

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 19,047 19,188 19,187 -0.7 0.0 -0.1 20,185 17,746 17,661 20,200 55,592 55,747 -0.3

Year to date

p

 Preliminary 

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

 Estimates and percent changes of shipments for the semiconductor industry are included in computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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. Value of Manufacturers' New Orders for Industry Groups1

[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

Industry % Change

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2017/

2017p 2017r 2017 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2017p 2016 2016

All manufacturing industries2........................ 478,185 477,382 471,711 0.2 1.2 1.5 512,934 445,396 433,402 482,868 1,391,732 1,322,785 5.2

 Excluding transportation2

...................... 394,595 395,942 394,608 -0.3 0.3 0.5 417,105 370,957 368,279 394,521 1,156,341 1,094,129 5.7

 Excluding defense2

.............................. 464,562 465,429 459,148 -0.2 1.4 1.4 495,875 434,929 422,587 465,321 1,353,391 1,286,048 5.2

 With unfilled orders2............................. 174,539 172,396 166,657 1.2 3.4 3.5 194,933 161,889 151,474 179,224 508,296 480,908 5.7

 Durable goods industries2

......................... 239,439 237,362 231,752 0.9 2.4 2.4 266,159 223,162 208,705 250,044 698,026 673,964 3.6

 Primary metals........................................ 19,267 19,197 18,513 0.4 3.7 -0.7 20,775 18,875 19,052 19,269 58,702 55,772 5.3

 Iron and steel mills.............................. 8,949 8,829 8,099 1.4 9.0 -4.0 9,544 8,707 8,811 8,549 27,062 25,890 4.5

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals.......... 8,880 8,915 9,009 -0.4 -1.0 3.3 9,680 8,734 8,822 8,995 27,236 24,968 9.1

 Ferrous metal foundries....................... 1,438 1,453 1,405 -1.0 3.4 -5.1 1,551 1,434 1,419 1,725 4,404 4,914 -10.4

 Fabricated metal products........................ 31,478 31,552 31,455 -0.2 0.3 1.5 34,230 30,933 30,120 31,757 95,283 90,017 5.9

 Machinery............................................. 31,602 31,492 31,483 0.3 0.0 1.2 35,658 30,990 29,664 33,421 96,312 92,509 4.1

 Construction machinery........................ 3,106 2,931 2,907 6.0 0.8 7.3 3,621 2,951 2,820 2,895 9,392 8,584 9.4

 Mining, oil field, and

 gas field machinery.......................... 1,011 866 837 16.7 3.5 3.0 992 1,013 873 1,040 2,878 3,317 -13.2

 Industrial machinery............................ 2,467 2,535 2,491 -2.7 1.8 4.3 2,889 2,245 2,413 2,731 7,547 7,237 4.3

 Photographic equipment....................... 406 415 393 -2.2 5.6 -16.0 465 385 359 487 1,209 1,258 -3.9

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............... 3,665 3,661 3,675 0.1 -0.4 2.9 4,145 3,171 3,169 3,766 10,485 9,753 7.5

 Metalworking machinery....................... 3,364 3,303 3,190 1.8 3.5 -3.2 3,531 3,033 2,979 3,326 9,543 9,015 5.9

 Turbines, generators, and other 

 power transmission equipment........... 4,020 3,919 4,261 2.6 -8.0 2.8 4,115 3,879 4,124 3,986 12,118 11,862 2.2

 Material handling equipment.................. 3,210 3,271 3,199 -1.9 2.3 -0.5 3,677 3,283 3,016 3,050 9,976 9,127 9.3

 Computers and electronic products2

........... 24,653 24,860 24,944 -0.8 -0.3 -0.6 28,269 22,906 21,214 27,470 72,389 69,836 3.7

 Computers........................................ 622 680 623 -8.5 9.1 4.5 676 524 523 617 1,723 1,624 6.1

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 3,477 3,531 3,667 -1.5 -3.7 -1.0 4,030 3,781 2,943 3,829 10,754 9,905 8.6

 Defense communications equipment....... 292 282 256 3.5 10.2 2.0 384 267 221 382 872 906 -3.8

 Electronic components......................... 5,057 5,032 4,963 0.5 1.4 -2.0 5,131 4,560 4,530 4,799 14,221 13,300 6.9

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 1,553 1,544 1,538 0.6 0.4 -13.2 1,747 1,478 1,386 1,651 4,611 4,321 6.7

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 2,596 2,566 2,734 1.2 -6.1 6.2 3,210 2,377 2,232 3,145 7,819 7,920 -1.3

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments..................... 9,260 9,327 9,286 -0.7 0.4 -0.9 10,912 8,467 7,955 10,786 27,334 26,555 2.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components................................... 9,958 9,840 9,606 1.2 2.4 -3.5 10,665 9,259 9,070 10,110 28,994 28,616 1.3

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,086 1,074 1,046 1.1 2.7 0.9 1,101 1,022 982 1,053 3,105 3,126 -0.7

 Household appliances.......................... 1,317 1,381 1,332 -4.6 3.7 -6.4 1,452 1,125 1,158 1,529 3,735 3,957 -5.6

 Electrical equipment............................ 2,903 2,918 2,946 -0.5 -1.0 -0.8 3,257 2,764 2,752 3,326 8,773 8,935 -1.8

 Transportation equipment........................ 83,590 81,440 77,103 2.6 5.6 7.0 95,829 74,439 65,123 88,347 235,391 228,656 2.9

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers..................................... 29,410 29,926 29,644 -1.7 1.0 1.0 32,703 30,069 27,279 29,881 90,051 82,338 9.4

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 14,437 13,496 8,583 7.0 57.2 83.2 16,802 8,481 4,149 10,399 29,432 26,622 10.6

 Defense aircraft and parts.................... 5,189 3,960 4,401 31.0 -10.0 65.9 6,304 3,019 4,002 6,740 13,325 13,909 -4.2

 Ships and boats.................................. 3,005 2,598 2,546 15.7 2.0 -34.3 3,108 2,793 2,494 3,834 8,395 7,681 9.3

 Furniture and related products................... 6,478 6,592 6,665 -1.7 -1.1 3.1 7,158 6,645 6,278 7,044 20,081 19,513 2.9

 Nondurable goods industries..................... 238,746 240,020 239,959 -0.5 0.0 0.6 246,775 222,234 224,697 232,824 693,706 648,821 6.9

Year to date

p

 Preliminary 

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

 Data on new orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for new orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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 3. Value of Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders for Industry Groups1

[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 % Change

Industry March

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2017/

2017p 2017r 2017 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2016

All manufacturing industries2...................... 1,119,572 1,116,687 1,115,125 0.3 0.1 -0.3 1,130,361 1,124,501 1,121,517 1,140,027 -0.8

 Excluding transportation2...................... 363,606 362,687 361,300 0.3 0.4 0.5 368,513 364,666 358,403 357,896 3.0

 Excluding defense2

............................. 945,122 942,517 939,415 0.3 0.3 -0.3 954,059 949,800 944,594 966,143 -1.3

 Durable goods industries2........................ 1,119,572 1,116,687 1,115,125 0.3 0.1 -0.3 1,130,361 1,124,501 1,121,517 1,140,027 -0.8

 Primary metals........................................ 34,416 34,090 33,673 1.0 1.2 -0.3 35,349 34,929 34,083 32,923 7.4

 Iron and steel mills............................... 19,142 18,957 18,809 1.0 0.8 -2.2 19,814 19,511 19,073 18,367 7.9

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals............. 11,202 11,065 10,815 1.2 2.3 3.2 11,350 11,231 10,894 10,736 5.7

 Ferrous metal foundries........................ 4,072 4,068 4,049 0.1 0.5 -0.7 4,185 4,187 4,116 3,820 9.6

 Fabricated metal products......................... 75,061 75,121 75,141 -0.1 0.0 0.1 76,174 74,919 73,442 74,846 1.8

 Machinery.............................................. 93,978 93,736 93,373 0.3 0.4 0.7 95,232 94,949 93,307 96,562 -1.4

 Construction machinery......................... 4,964 4,636 4,475 7.1 3.6 4.3 5,342 4,997 4,711 5,404 -1.1

 Mining, oil field, and

 gas field machinery.......................... 5,717 5,663 5,738 1.0 -1.3 -1.0 5,754 5,787 5,658 7,963 -27.7

 Industrial machinery............................. 6,998 6,978 6,971 0.3 0.1 0.5 7,054 7,006 6,984 8,056 -12.4

 Photographic equipment........................ 1,396 1,417 1,425 -1.5 -0.6 -2.5 1,396 1,435 1,408 1,282 8.9

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment................ 6,273 6,267 6,206 0.1 1.0 2.1 6,446 6,347 6,131 6,487 -0.6

 Metalworking machinery........................ 7,051 7,088 7,188 -0.5 -1.4 -1.7 7,060 7,195 7,144 6,881 2.6

 Turbines, generators, and other 

 power transmission equipment............ 25,537 25,603 25,658 -0.3 -0.2 1.2 25,551 25,703 25,781 25,708 -0.6

 Material handling equipment................... 12,901 12,836 12,689 0.5 1.2 0.9 13,206 12,998 12,636 12,036 9.7

 Computers and electronic products2............. 132,236 132,039 131,716 0.1 0.2 0.6 133,346 132,259 130,873 127,602 4.5

 Computers......................................... 2,515 2,513 2,453 0.1 2.4 0.2 2,515 2,513 2,453 2,412 4.3

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 34,640 34,436 34,089 0.6 1.0 1.4 35,055 34,833 33,638 31,893 9.9

 Defense communications equipment........ 2,233 2,218 2,216 0.7 0.1 -0.5 2,252 2,160 2,170 2,301 -2.1

 Electronic components.......................... 12,321 12,379 12,396 -0.5 -0.1 0.9 12,345 12,556 12,406 12,177 1.4

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment....................................... 18,696 18,609 18,519 0.5 0.5 0.5 18,490 18,468 18,357 17,307 6.8

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment....................................... 27,778 27,849 27,998 -0.3 -0.5 0.1 28,074 27,719 27,916 28,138 -0.2

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments...................... 34,053 34,035 34,045 0.1 0.0 0.2 34,615 34,010 33,933 33,374 3.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components.................................... 18,913 18,756 18,621 0.8 0.7 0.2 19,333 19,091 18,662 17,594 9.9

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,374 1,359 1,350 1.1 0.7 0.2 1,383 1,382 1,345 1,331 3.9

 Household appliances........................... 1,243 1,255 1,194 -1.0 5.1 -1.3 1,256 1,248 1,281 1,108 13.4

 Electrical equipment............................. 8,057 8,021 7,965 0.4 0.7 0.6 8,110 8,077 7,945 8,077 0.4

 Transportation equipment......................... 755,966 754,000 753,825 0.3 0.0 -0.6 761,848 759,835 763,114 782,131 -2.6

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers...................................... 22,298 22,167 21,768 0.6 1.8 0.9 23,053 22,967 22,277 23,029 0.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 573,996 572,583 571,536 0.2 0.2 -0.8 577,716 576,801 578,794 599,295 -3.6

 Defense aircraft and parts..................... 72,747 72,000 72,407 1.0 -0.6 0.6 73,726 72,909 73,660 69,678 5.8

 Ships and boats.................................. 16,076 16,240 16,774 -1.0 -3.2 -2.9 16,328 16,629 16,858 17,373 -6.0

 Furniture and related products................... 8,761 8,706 8,538 0.6 2.0 3.0 8,838 8,280 7,798 8,136 8.6

p

 Preliminary 

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

 Data on unfilled orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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 4. Value of Manufacturers' Inventories for Industry Groups1

[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 % Change

Industry March

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2017/

2017p 2017r 2017 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2016

 All manufacturing industries...................... 629,747 629,835 628,806 0.0 0.2 0.3 627,818 632,559 626,166 619,533 1.3

 Excluding transportation........................ 507,372 507,178 506,123 0.0 0.2 0.5 505,512 508,890 503,806 494,701 2.2

 Excluding defense............................. 604,386 604,116 603,281 0.0 0.1 0.3 602,549 606,853 600,882 594,178 1.4

 With unfilled orders............................. 313,136 312,696 311,798 0.1 0.3 0.2 312,053 314,255 310,609 312,134 0.0

 Durable goods industries........................ 386,015 385,279 384,321 0.2 0.2 0.1 385,136 388,235 383,791 384,017 0.3

 Wood products........................................ 11,754 11,674 11,695 0.7 -0.2 0.0 12,001 12,084 12,036 11,246 6.7

 Nonmetallic mineral products..................... 13,134 13,116 13,073 0.1 0.3 0.3 13,385 13,351 13,132 13,210 1.3

 Primary metals......................................... 32,598 32,169 31,803 1.3 1.2 0.5 32,358 32,371 32,179 31,787 1.8

 Iron and steel mills............................... 18,122 17,812 17,538 1.7 1.6 0.7 17,841 17,891 17,834 16,954 5.2

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals............ 12,470 12,334 12,240 1.1 0.8 0.2 12,469 12,399 12,314 12,649 -1.4

 Ferrous metal foundries........................ 2,006 2,023 2,025 -0.8 -0.1 0.1 2,048 2,081 2,031 2,184 -6.2

 Fabricated metal products......................... 48,915 49,051 48,903 -0.3 0.3 0.4 49,314 49,388 48,884 49,150 0.3

 Machinery.............................................. 66,706 66,297 66,180 0.6 0.2 -0.2 66,482 66,808 65,868 66,205 0.4

 Farm machinery.................................. 3,290 3,194 3,155 3.0 1.2 -0.9 3,439 3,420 3,299 3,192 7.7

 Construction machinery......................... 5,141 5,201 5,283 -1.2 -1.6 -0.1 5,185 5,232 5,259 5,682 -8.7

 Mining, oil field, 

 and gas field machinery.................... 7,465 7,513 7,550 -0.6 -0.5 -1.3 7,490 7,602 7,553 7,436 0.7

 Industrial machinery............................. 6,766 6,600 6,516 2.5 1.3 -0.8 6,862 6,638 6,420 6,443 6.5

 Photographic equipment....................... 1,545 1,563 1,627 -1.2 -3.9 0.8 1,461 1,581 1,633 1,483 -1.5

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............... 4,717 4,724 4,665 -0.1 1.3 0.8 4,839 4,847 4,541 4,636 4.4

 Metalworking machinery........................ 5,678 5,756 5,749 -1.4 0.1 0.1 5,609 5,763 5,623 5,607 0.0

 Turbines, generators, and other

 power transmission equipment............ 9,759 9,353 9,254 4.3 1.1 -1.3 9,375 9,306 9,167 9,384 -0.1

 Material handling equipment.................. 4,893 4,867 4,753 0.5 2.4 2.1 4,794 4,728 4,557 4,475 7.1

 Computers and electronic products2

............ 43,081 43,066 42,917 0.0 0.3 1.0 42,388 43,349 42,500 42,125 0.6

 Computers......................................... 1,803 1,782 1,810 1.2 -1.5 -3.4 1,711 1,800 1,740 1,497 14.3

 Computer storage devices.................... 1,045 1,038 1,024 0.7 1.4 -0.2 960 1,073 1,023 948 1.3

 Other peripheral equipment................... 1,099 1,069 1,057 2.8 1.1 1.1 1,050 1,091 1,066 989 6.2

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 3,914 3,929 3,845 -0.4 2.2 3.0 3,844 4,001 3,827 3,965 -3.1

 Defense communications equipment........ 569 574 555 -0.9 3.4 0.2 569 574 555 602 -5.5

 Audio and video equipment.................... 920 879 843 4.7 4.3 6.6 817 844 833 650 25.7

 Electronic components.......................... 7,793 7,839 7,816 -0.6 0.3 1.8 7,784 7,887 7,903 7,647 1.8

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 3,071 3,066 3,079 0.2 -0.4 1.2 3,036 3,055 3,083 3,016 0.7

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment....................................... 3,099 3,106 3,120 -0.2 -0.4 -0.3 3,094 3,107 3,078 2,910 6.3

 Electromedical, measuring 

 and control instruments...................... 14,068 14,026 13,985 0.3 0.3 -0.1 13,786 13,949 13,717 13,974 -1.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components.................................... 16,727 16,524 16,405 1.2 0.7 0.9 16,660 16,560 16,312 16,162 3.1

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 2,079 2,083 2,069 -0.2 0.7 2.6 2,051 2,080 2,094 1,952 5.1

 Household appliances........................... 2,288 2,279 2,262 0.4 0.8 2.2 2,287 2,307 2,211 2,241 2.1

 Electrical equipment............................. 4,799 4,775 4,762 0.5 0.3 0.3 4,748 4,836 4,770 4,915 -3.4

 Batteries............................................ 1,348 1,322 1,312 2.0 0.8 -0.6 1,321 1,264 1,237 1,303 1.4

 Transportation equipment......................... 122,375 122,657 122,683 -0.2 0.0 -0.5 122,306 123,669 122,360 124,832 -2.0

 Automobiles....................................... 4,183 4,102 4,066 2.0 0.9 -4.5 4,186 4,177 4,108 4,382 -4.5

 Light trucks and utility vehicles.............. 3,808 3,853 3,930 -1.2 -2.0 -4.8 3,811 3,958 4,021 4,479 -14.9

 Heavy duty trucks ............................... 2,168 2,141 2,173 1.3 -1.5 2.0 2,171 2,212 2,263 2,223 -2.3

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers...................................... 23,307 23,420 23,733 -0.5 -1.3 -1.3 23,347 23,662 23,917 23,725 -1.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 62,403 62,266 62,151 0.2 0.2 -0.4 62,488 62,827 61,721 63,851 -2.1

 Defense aircraft and parts..................... 11,268 11,387 11,313 -1.0 0.7 2.8 11,240 11,438 11,265 11,093 1.3

 Ships and boats.................................. 2,793 2,813 2,898 -0.7 -2.9 0.6 2,824 2,799 2,869 2,874 -1.7

 Furniture and related products.................... 7,390 7,385 7,326 0.1 0.8 1.6 7,205 7,318 7,257 7,024 2.6

 Miscellaneous durable goods..................... 23,335 23,340 23,336 0.0 0.0 0.6 23,037 23,337 23,263 22,276 3.4

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 243,732 244,556 244,485 -0.3 0.0 0.6 242,682 244,324 242,375 235,516 3.0

 Food products........................................ 54,586 54,836 54,397 -0.5 0.8 0.5 53,353 54,482 54,117 52,221 2.2

 Grain and oilseed milling........................ 5,999 6,018 6,006 -0.3 0.2 1.0 5,971 6,260 6,245 5,721 4.4

 Dairy products.................................... 7,979 8,043 8,008 -0.8 0.4 1.2 8,003 8,028 7,798 7,478 7.0

 Meat, poultry, and seafood products....... 9,039 9,011 8,864 0.3 1.7 0.2 9,002 8,964 8,744 9,027 -0.3

 Beverage and tobacco products................ 20,806 20,792 20,764 0.1 0.1 0.7 20,849 20,982 21,064 20,568 1.4

 Beverages......................................... 17,029 17,026 17,018 0.0 0.0 0.9 17,018 17,058 17,124 16,668 2.1

 Tobacco............................................ 3,777 3,766 3,746 0.3 0.5 -0.2 3,831 3,924 3,940 3,900 -1.8

 Textile mills............................................ 3,191 3,154 3,171 1.2 -0.5 -0.3 3,180 3,149 3,168 3,129 1.6

 Textile products...................................... 3,089 3,083 3,076 0.2 0.2 0.1 3,097 3,108 3,084 3,105 -0.3

 Apparel................................................. 2,440 2,419 2,412 0.9 0.3 0.9 2,321 2,370 2,398 2,430 -4.5

 Leather and allied products....................... 805 798 788 0.9 1.3 0.5 782 778 778 770 1.6

 Paper products....................................... 16,151 16,159 16,245 0.0 -0.5 0.2 16,254 16,339 16,331 16,471 -1.3

 Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills........... 6,599 6,597 6,615 0.0 -0.3 -0.3 6,665 6,713 6,659 6,781 -1.7

 Paperboard containers......................... 5,127 5,136 5,205 -0.2 -1.3 0.5 5,157 5,204 5,255 5,233 -1.5

 Printing.................................................. 5,841 5,864 5,883 -0.4 -0.3 -1.6 5,810 5,844 5,725 5,972 -2.7

 Petroleum and coal products..................... 29,496 30,311 30,436 -2.7 -0.4 3.3 28,309 29,078 28,701 23,468 20.6

 Petroleum refineries............................. 24,986 25,811 25,927 -3.2 -0.4 3.8 23,845 24,485 24,101 18,909 26.1

 Chemical products..................................... 81,749 81,622 81,762 0.2 -0.2 0.1 82,692 82,316 81,577 81,728 1.2

 Pesticides, fertilizers, and other

 agricultural chemicals........................ 4,270 4,209 4,204 1.4 0.1 0.0 4,556 4,636 4,648 4,553 0.1

 Pharmaceuticals and medicines.............. 32,011 32,037 32,434 -0.1 -1.2 -0.6 32,375 32,110 32,020 32,737 -1.1

 Paints, coatings, and adhesives.............. 3,831 3,813 3,778 0.5 0.9 -0.2 3,961 3,923 3,794 3,728 6.3

 Plastics and rubber products..................... 25,578 25,518 25,551 0.2 -0.1 0.2 26,035 25,878 25,432 25,654 1.5

p Preliminary 

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

 Estimates of inventories for the semiconductor industry data are included in computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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 5. Value of Manufacturers' Shipments, New Orders, Unfilled Orders, and Total Inventories for 

 Topical Series1, 2

[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

Industry % Change6

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2017/

2017p 2017r 2017 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2017p 2016 2016

SHIPMENTS

 All manufacturing industries................... 478,815 479,354 478,581 -0.1 0.2 0.3 510,168 445,216 436,906 486,063 1,392,290 1,331,806 4.5

 Construction materials and supplies....... 49,049 48,999 48,247 0.1 1.6 0.6 50,423 43,613 42,253 47,642 136,289 130,423 4.5

 Information technology......................... 23,530 23,590 23,258 -0.3 1.4 0.6 26,241 20,843 19,516 24,949 66,600 63,907 4.2

 Computers and related products........... 1,731 1,839 1,821 -5.9 1.0 7.1 2,199 1,339 1,348 2,266 4,886 5,129 -4.7

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 55,831 56,054 56,589 -0.4 -0.9 -0.2 62,939 55,390 50,734 60,906 169,063 167,600 0.9

 Capital goods...................................... 83,980 83,493 82,942 0.6 0.7 -0.2 94,672 76,157 70,234 91,449 241,063 237,336 1.6

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 73,072 72,104 72,077 1.3 0.0 -0.2 82,193 65,251 61,546 79,895 208,990 208,233 0.4

 Excluding aircraft............................. 64,650 64,335 63,634 0.5 1.1 -0.4 71,835 59,118 56,126 69,768 187,079 185,457 0.9

 Defense capital goods4

........................ 10,908 11,389 10,865 -4.2 4.8 -0.5 12,479 10,906 8,688 11,554 32,073 29,103 10.2

 Consumer goods.................................. 195,980 196,938 197,768 -0.5 -0.4 0.6 202,863 184,140 184,389 189,431 571,392 531,674 7.5

 Consumer durable goods..................... 37,462 37,515 38,281 -0.1 -2.0 -0.6 42,181 36,780 33,673 42,554 112,634 116,857 -3.6

 Consumer nondurable goods................ 158,518 159,423 159,487 -0.6 0.0 0.9 160,682 147,360 150,716 146,877 458,758 414,817 10.6

 All manufacturing industries5

................... 478,185 477,382 471,711 0.2 1.2 1.5 512,934 445,396 433,402 482,868 1,391,732 1,322,785 5.2

 Construction materials and supplies....... 49,275 49,276 48,576 0.0 1.4 1.0 51,439 44,473 43,136 48,424 139,048 132,401 5.0

 Information technology......................... 23,882 23,931 23,866 -0.2 0.3 -1.5 27,700 22,399 20,511 26,572 70,610 68,159 3.6

 Computers and related products........... 1,733 1,899 1,827 -8.7 3.9 6.8 2,201 1,399 1,354 2,263 4,954 5,094 -2.7

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 55,962 56,453 56,776 -0.9 -0.6 0.2 63,025 56,080 51,080 60,666 170,185 167,070 1.9

 Capital goods...................................... 85,829 83,355 80,067 3.0 4.1 5.2 99,289 75,715 69,028 91,035 244,032 234,195 4.2

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 75,198 74,048 70,061 1.6 5.7 5.3 85,419 67,336 60,164 75,788 212,919 203,044 4.9

 Excluding aircraft............................. 65,171 64,821 64,783 0.5 0.1 0.2 73,846 62,807 59,744 71,317 196,397 192,142 2.2

 Defense capital goods4

........................ 10,631 9,307 10,006 14.2 -7.0 4.5 13,870 8,379 8,864 15,247 31,113 31,151 -0.1

 Consumer goods.................................. 195,943 197,017 197,825 -0.5 -0.4 0.6 202,878 184,331 184,611 189,504 571,820 532,053 7.5

 Consumer durable goods..................... 37,425 37,594 38,338 -0.4 -1.9 -0.6 42,196 36,971 33,895 42,627 113,062 117,236 -3.6

 Consumer nondurable goods.............. 158,518 159,423 159,487 -0.6 0.0 0.9 160,682 147,360 150,716 146,877 458,758 414,817 10.6

 All manufacturing industries5

................... 1,119,572 1,116,687 1,115,125 0.3 0.1 -0.3 1,130,361 1,124,501 1,121,517 1,140,027 (X) (X) -0.8

 Construction materials and supplies....... 46,634 46,408 46,131 0.5 0.6 0.7 47,004 45,988 45,128 46,285 (X) (X) 1.6

 Information technology......................... 129,550 129,198 128,857 0.3 0.3 0.5 130,981 129,522 127,966 123,785 (X) (X) 5.8

 Computers and related products........... 2,515 2,513 2,453 0.1 2.4 0.2 2,515 2,513 2,453 2,412 (X) (X) 4.3

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 22,298 22,167 21,768 0.6 1.8 0.9 23,053 22,967 22,277 23,029 (X) (X) 0.1

 Capital goods...................................... 831,076 829,227 829,365 0.2 0.0 -0.3 838,142 833,525 833,967 847,735 (X) (X) -1.1

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 693,437 691,311 689,367 0.3 0.3 -0.3 698,685 695,459 693,374 709,283 (X) (X) -1.5

 Excluding aircraft............................. 227,447 226,926 226,440 0.2 0.2 0.5 230,183 228,172 224,483 224,371 (X) (X) 2.6

 Defense capital goods4........................ 137,639 137,916 139,998 -0.2 -1.5 -0.6 139,457 138,066 140,593 138,452 (X) (X) 0.7

 Consumer goods.................................. 4,597 4,634 4,555 -0.8 1.7 1.3 4,821 4,806 4,615 4,571 (X) (X) 5.5

 Consumer durable goods..................... 4,597 4,634 4,555 -0.8 1.7 1.3 4,821 4,806 4,615 4,571 (X) (X) 5.5

 All manufacturing industries................... 629,747 629,835 628,806 0.0 0.2 0.3 627,818 632,559 626,166 619,533 (X) (X) 1.3

 Construction materials and supplies....... 65,899 66,003 65,902 -0.2 0.2 0.2 66,806 67,041 66,243 65,680 (X) (X) 1.7

 Information technology......................... 37,520 37,274 37,124 0.7 0.4 0.5 36,746 37,324 36,731 35,965 (X) (X) 2.2

 Computers and related products........... 3,947 3,889 3,891 1.5 -0.1 -1.4 3,721 3,964 3,829 3,434 (X) (X) 8.4

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 33,466 33,516 33,902 -0.1 -1.1 -1.9 33,515 34,009 34,309 34,809 (X) (X) -3.7

 Capital goods...................................... 193,076 192,383 191,733 0.4 0.3 0.1 191,978 193,032 190,021 191,277 (X) (X) 0.4

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 171,935 170,989 170,522 0.6 0.3 -0.1 170,901 171,702 169,003 170,778 (X) (X) 0.1

 Excluding aircraft............................. 120,769 119,984 119,646 0.7 0.3 0.2 119,477 120,302 118,570 117,772 (X) (X) 1.4

 Defense capital goods4........................ 21,141 21,394 21,211 -1.2 0.9 2.2 21,077 21,330 21,018 20,499 (X) (X) 2.8

 Consumer goods.................................. 181,560 182,532 182,502 -0.5 0.0 0.6 179,081 181,556 180,781 173,715 (X) (X) 3.1

 Consumer durable goods..................... 29,392 29,342 29,309 0.2 0.1 -0.5 29,034 29,711 29,747 29,357 (X) (X) -1.1

 Consumer nondurable goods................ 152,168 153,190 153,193 -0.7 0.0 0.8 150,047 151,845 151,034 144,358 (X) (X) 3.9

NEW ORDERS 

UNFILLED ORDERS 

TOTAL INVENTORIES 

X

 Not Applicable 

p

 Preliminary 

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 Topical series are regroupings of the separate industry categories. 

3

 Nondefense capital goods industries include: 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. 4

 Defense capital goods industries include: small arms and ordnance; communications equipment; aircraft; missiles, space vehicles, and parts; ships and boats; and search and navigation equipment. 5 Estimates and percent changes exclude semiconductor industry data. 6

 Based on year-to-date for shipments and new orders, but on same month prior year for unfilled orders and inventories. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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 6. Value of Manufacturers' Inventories, by Stage of Fabrication, by Industry Group1 

[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 % Change

Industry March

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2017/

2017p 2017r 2017 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2016

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

 All manufacturing industries....................... 210,214 209,268 208,771 0.5 0.2 0.3 209,730 210,015 209,396 206,974 1.3

 Durable goods industries.......................... 130,357 129,647 129,608 0.5 0.0 0.5 129,670 130,140 130,172 128,370 1.0

 Wood products................................... 4,869 4,893 4,808 -0.5 1.8 -1.5 4,817 5,058 4,974 4,452 8.2

 Nonmetallic mineral products................. 5,421 5,352 5,314 1.3 0.7 1.4 5,436 5,359 5,314 5,271 3.1

 Primary metals.................................... 12,939 12,722 12,621 1.7 0.8 0.5 12,675 12,747 12,908 12,481 1.6

 Fabricated metal products........................ 17,659 17,588 17,566 0.4 0.1 0.5 17,681 17,603 17,612 17,843 -0.9

 Machinery.......................................... 23,158 23,078 23,177 0.3 -0.4 -0.2 22,991 23,008 23,016 24,522 -6.2

 Computers and electronic products........ 17,811 17,802 17,720 0.1 0.5 0.9 17,651 17,809 17,709 17,033 3.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................... 6,631 6,506 6,491 1.9 0.2 0.1 6,591 6,512 6,496 6,496 1.5

 Transportation equipment..................... 30,787 30,620 30,739 0.5 -0.4 0.7 30,904 31,028 30,959 29,523 4.7

 Furniture and related products............... 3,694 3,694 3,738 0.0 -1.2 2.7 3,652 3,687 3,750 3,560 2.6

 Miscellaneous products......................... 7,388 7,392 7,434 -0.1 -0.6 0.1 7,272 7,329 7,434 7,189 1.2

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 79,857 79,621 79,163 0.3 0.6 0.1 80,060 79,875 79,224 78,604 1.9

 Food products.................................... 18,359 18,405 18,371 -0.2 0.2 0.6 18,155 18,393 18,614 18,053 0.6

 Beverage and tobacco products................... 4,793 4,778 4,784 0.3 -0.1 -0.6 4,905 4,905 4,942 5,099 -3.8

 Textiles.............................................. 1,139 1,143 1,151 -0.3 -0.7 -0.9 1,141 1,147 1,155 1,169 -2.4

 Textile products................................... 995 1,004 1,013 -0.9 -0.9 -1.0 993 1,004 1,006 1,076 -7.7

 Apparel............................................. 669 674 677 -0.7 -0.4 2.4 647 656 666 692 -6.5

 Leather and allied products.................... 230 232 229 -0.9 1.3 -1.3 223 226 225 232 -3.9

 Paper products.................................... 8,171 8,187 8,205 -0.2 -0.2 -0.9 8,247 8,295 8,266 8,420 -2.1

 Printing ............................................. 2,648 2,708 2,699 -2.2 0.3 -3.0 2,636 2,700 2,655 2,760 -4.5

 Petroleum and coal products................. 6,390 6,484 6,357 -1.4 2.0 2.7 6,215 6,210 5,984 5,627 10.4

 Chemical products................................ 26,400 26,010 25,805 1.5 0.8 0.0 26,741 26,247 25,805 25,372 5.4

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 10,063 9,996 9,872 0.7 1.3 0.1 10,157 10,092 9,906 10,104 0.5

WORK IN PROCESS

 All manufacturing industries....................... 193,924 195,203 194,607 -0.7 0.3 0.3 193,526 196,292 192,887 192,408 0.6

 Durable goods industries.......................... 144,606 144,680 143,884 -0.1 0.6 0.2 144,337 145,511 142,733 146,194 -1.3

 Wood products................................... 2,363 2,337 2,375 1.1 -1.6 3.4 2,416 2,386 2,406 2,260 6.9

 Nonmetallic mineral products................. 1,459 1,460 1,468 -0.1 -0.5 -1.3 1,520 1,523 1,473 1,529 -0.6

 Primary metals.................................... 9,495 9,288 9,199 2.2 1.0 -0.6 9,438 9,311 9,193 9,354 0.9

 Fabricated metal products........................ 13,108 13,121 13,071 -0.1 0.4 1.1 13,120 13,167 12,978 12,852 2.1

 Machinery.......................................... 19,949 19,760 19,535 1.0 1.2 -1.0 19,719 19,913 19,277 18,477 6.7

 Computers and electronic products........ 13,336 13,423 13,353 -0.6 0.5 0.6 13,246 13,558 13,096 13,641 -2.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................... 3,593 3,564 3,516 0.8 1.4 1.8 3,574 3,569 3,512 3,433 4.1

 Transportation equipment..................... 76,208 76,577 76,259 -0.5 0.4 0.3 76,256 76,904 75,736 79,771 -4.4

 Furniture and related products............... 1,122 1,109 1,074 1.2 3.3 -1.2 1,109 1,107 1,078 1,079 2.8

 Miscellaneous products......................... 3,973 4,041 4,034 -1.7 0.2 0.6 3,939 4,073 3,984 3,798 3.7

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 49,318 50,523 50,723 -2.4 -0.4 0.5 49,189 50,781 50,154 46,214 6.4

 Food products.................................... 6,173 6,215 6,142 -0.7 1.2 1.7 6,030 6,398 6,465 5,746 4.9

 Beverage and tobacco products................... 7,812 7,770 7,722 0.5 0.6 1.0 7,854 7,906 7,997 7,626 3.0

 Textiles.............................................. 683 669 662 2.1 1.1 -0.3 673 661 658 680 -1.0

 Textile products................................... 420 427 432 -1.6 -1.2 -0.2 422 432 429 447 -5.6

 Apparel............................................. 320 317 312 0.9 1.6 -2.2 301 312 295 305 -1.3

 Leather and allied products.................... 106 107 111 -0.9 -3.6 0.0 106 107 112 99 7.1

 Paper products.................................... 1,247 1,223 1,225 2.0 -0.2 -2.1 1,255 1,230 1,222 1,276 -1.6

 Printing ............................................. 1,456 1,412 1,449 3.1 -2.6 -1.5 1,458 1,406 1,367 1,617 -9.8

 Petroleum and coal products................. 9,781 10,128 10,234 -3.4 -1.0 2.4 9,548 9,869 9,293 7,207 32.5

 Chemical products................................ 18,214 19,126 19,300 -4.8 -0.9 -0.6 18,366 19,269 19,186 18,142 1.2

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 3,106 3,129 3,134 -0.7 -0.2 -0.9 3,176 3,191 3,130 3,069 3.5

FINISHED GOODS

 All manufacturing industries....................... 225,609 225,364 225,428 0.1 0.0 0.3 224,562 226,252 223,883 220,151 2.0

 Durable goods industries.......................... 111,052 110,952 110,829 0.1 0.1 -0.4 111,129 112,584 110,886 109,453 1.5

 Wood products................................... 4,522 4,444 4,512 1.8 -1.5 -0.2 4,768 4,640 4,656 4,534 5.2

 Nonmetallic mineral products................. 6,254 6,304 6,291 -0.8 0.2 -0.2 6,429 6,469 6,345 6,410 0.3

 Primary metals.................................... 10,164 10,159 9,983 0.0 1.8 1.3 10,245 10,313 10,078 9,952 2.9

 Fabricated metal products........................ 18,148 18,342 18,266 -1.1 0.4 0.0 18,513 18,618 18,294 18,455 0.3

 Machinery.......................................... 23,599 23,459 23,468 0.6 0.0 0.5 23,772 23,887 23,575 23,206 2.4

 Computers and electronic products........ 11,934 11,841 11,844 0.8 0.0 1.6 11,491 11,982 11,695 11,451 0.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................... 6,503 6,454 6,398 0.8 0.9 1.3 6,495 6,479 6,304 6,233 4.2

 Transportation equipment..................... 15,380 15,460 15,685 -0.5 -1.4 -6.2 15,146 15,737 15,665 15,538 -2.5

 Furniture and related products............... 2,574 2,582 2,514 -0.3 2.7 1.2 2,444 2,524 2,429 2,385 2.5

 Miscellaneous products......................... 11,974 11,907 11,868 0.6 0.3 1.0 11,826 11,935 11,845 11,289 4.8

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 114,557 114,412 114,599 0.1 -0.2 1.0 113,433 113,668 112,997 110,698 2.5

 Food products.................................... 30,054 30,216 29,884 -0.5 1.1 0.2 29,168 29,691 29,038 28,422 2.6

 Beverage and tobacco products................... 8,201 8,244 8,258 -0.5 -0.2 1.2 8,090 8,171 8,125 7,843 3.1

 Textiles.............................................. 1,369 1,342 1,358 2.0 -1.2 0.3 1,366 1,341 1,355 1,280 6.7

 Textile products................................... 1,674 1,652 1,631 1.3 1.3 0.9 1,682 1,672 1,649 1,582 6.3

 Apparel............................................. 1,451 1,428 1,423 1.6 0.4 0.9 1,373 1,402 1,437 1,433 -4.2

 Leather and allied products.................... 469 459 448 2.2 2.5 1.6 453 445 441 439 3.2

 Paper products.................................... 6,733 6,749 6,815 -0.2 -1.0 2.0 6,752 6,814 6,843 6,775 -0.3

 Printing ............................................. 1,737 1,744 1,735 -0.4 0.5 0.7 1,716 1,738 1,703 1,595 7.6

 Petroleum and coal products................. 13,325 13,699 13,845 -2.7 -1.1 4.2 12,546 12,999 13,424 10,634 18.0

 Chemical products................................ 37,135 36,486 36,657 1.8 -0.5 0.5 37,585 36,800 36,586 38,214 -1.6

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 12,409 12,393 12,545 0.1 -1.2 0.6 12,702 12,595 12,396 12,481 1.8

p

 Preliminary 

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. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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 7. Ratios of Manufacturers' Inventories to Shipments and Unfilled Orders 

 to Shipments, by Industry Group 1

[Based on Seasonally Adjusted data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.] 

Inventory/Shipments ratio Unfilled Orders/Shipments ratio2

Industry Mar Feb Jan Dec Mar Feb Jan Dec

2017p 2017r 2017 2016 2017p 2017r 2017 2016

All manufacturing industries3

............................ 1.32 1.31 1.31 1.31 (X) (X) (X) (X)

Durable goods industries3

.................................. 1.61 1.61 1.61 1.61 6.52 6.54 6.57 6.59

 Wood products.............................................. 1.29 1.27 1.31 1.31 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Nonmetallic mineral products......................... 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Primary metals.............................................. 1.72 1.71 1.71 1.71 1.82 1.82 1.81 1.82

 Fabricated metal products.............................. 1.55 1.55 1.56 1.57 2.45 2.44 2.46 2.49

 Machinery..................................................... 2.13 2.13 2.15 2.13 3.26 3.28 3.30 3.25

 Computers and electronic products3

................ 1.54 1.53 1.53 1.52 5.84 5.83 5.90 5.87

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components........................................ 1.71 1.70 1.71 1.69 2.09 2.10 2.12 2.10

 Transportation equipment.............................. 1.50 1.51 1.50 1.50 13.73 13.77 13.80 13.85

 Furniture and related products........................ 1.15 1.15 1.14 1.13 1.60 1.60 1.58 1.54

 Miscellaneous products.................................. 1.79 1.80 1.80 1.79 (X) (X) (X) (X)

Nondurable goods industries............................. 1.02 1.02 1.02 1.02 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Food products.............................................. 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.82 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Beverage and tobacco products...................... 1.68 1.70 1.70 1.66 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Textiles........................................................ 1.23 1.19 1.21 1.23 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Textile products............................................ 1.49 1.49 1.47 1.45 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Apparel......................................................... 2.27 2.21 2.15 2.23 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Leather and allied products............................. 2.38 2.31 2.23 2.21 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Paper products.............................................. 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.05 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Printing......................................................... 0.86 0.85 0.85 0.87 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Petroleum and coal products........................... 0.68 0.68 0.67 0.67 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Chemical products......................................... 1.19 1.19 1.20 1.20 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Plastics and rubber products........................... 1.34 1.33 1.33 1.33 (X) (X) (X) (X)

Mar3 Mar3 Mar3 Mar3

Industry 2016- 2016- 2016- 2016-

Mar2 Feb Mar2 Feb Mar2 Feb Mar2 Feb

2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017

 

All manufacturing industries.................. (X) 0.2 (X) 0.2 (X) 0.1 (X) 0.1

Durable goods industries....................... 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

 Wood products................................... (X) 0.6 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Nonmetallic mineral products.............. (X) 0.1 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.1

 Primary metals.................................... 0.3 0.4 -0.4 0.8 -0.1 0.4 0.3 0.3

 Fabricated metal products.................... 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.2

 Machinery.......................................... 0.0 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1

 Computers and electronic products..... -0.3 0.4 -0.6 0.7 -0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................. 0.3 0.4 0.8 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.3

 Transportation equipment.................... -0.1 0.2 0.2 1.2 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1

 Furniture and related products............. (X) 0.3 (X) 0.9 (X) 0.5 (X) 0.2

 Miscellaneous products...................... (X) 0.6 (X) 0.6 (X) 0.2 (X) 0.2

Nondurable goods industries................... (X) 0.2 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Food products................................... (X) 0.3 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.5

 Beverage and tobacco products............ (X) 0.5 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Textiles............................................. (X) 0.5 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Textile products.................................. (X) 0.4 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Apparel.............................................. (X) 1.1 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.4

 Leather and allied products.................... (X) 0.7 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.4

 Paper products.................................... (X) 0.2 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

 Printing.............................................. (X) 0.3 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.4

 Petroleum and coal products................. (X) 0.8 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 1.6

 Chemical products................................ (X) 0.2 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.1

 Plastics and rubber products................. (X) 0.4 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

X

 Not Applicable 

p

 Preliminary 

r

 Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment. 

2

 Excludes the following industries with no unfilled orders: Wood products; nonmetallic mineral products; medical equipment and

supplies; office supplies; other miscellaneous manufacturing; cutlery and handtools; farm and garden machinery; computer storage and 

peripheral devices; audio and video equipment; manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media; batteries; automobiles; light 

trucks and utility vehicles; heavy duty trucks; and miscellaneous furniture. 

3

 Unfilled orders to shipments ratio excludes semiconductor manufacturing. 

Note: 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/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 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>. 

X Not Applicable 

NA Not Available 

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

 The current month revisions are the difference between the advance percent change and the percent change as shown in this 

publication. 

3

 The twelve month revisions are the differences between the month-to-month percent changes of the preliminary and final 

estimates. The monthly averages are the simple averages of the absolute values of the differences for the months specified. 

The advance to final percent change revisions for the durable goods industries are shown in the advance report for the month. 

Note: 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/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 4, 2017. 

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 8. Revisions to Previously Published Monthly Percent Changes 1

[Based on Seasonally Adjusted data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.] 

Shipments New Orders Unfilled Orders Inventories