FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (12)-3 

CB12-67

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

March 2012 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in March 

decreased $8.8 billion or 4.2 percent to $202.6 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

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

1.9 percent February increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 1.1 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders decreased 4.6 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down two of the last 

three months, had the largest decrease, $7.1 billion or 

12.5 percent to $49.7 billion. This was due to 

nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased $7.7 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up three of the last four months, increased $2.0 billion or 

1.0 percent to $208.8 billion. This followed a 0.3 

percent February decrease. 

 Machinery, up four of the last five months, had the 

largest increase, $2.0 billion or 6.5 percent to $32.9 

billion. This was at the highest level since the series was 

first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 

3.1 percent February increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

March, up twenty-three of the last twenty-four months, 

increased slightly to $930.1 billion. This followed a 1.2 

percent February increase. 

 Computers and electronic equipment, up three 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $0.7 billion 

or 0.6 percent to $125.6 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, 

up twenty-seven consecutive months, increased $1.7 

billion or 0.4 percent to $375.1 billion. This was at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis and followed a 0.3 percent February 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty-seven 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $0.8 billion 

or 0.7 percent to $118.0 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in March 

decreased $8.6 billion or 10.5 percent to $73.0 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.4 billion or 2.0 percent to $72.8 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.2 billion or slightly 

to $566.1 billion. Inventories increased $1.7 billion or 

1.0 percent to $174.7 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in March 

increased $0.7 billion or 10.3 percent to $7.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.6 billion or 8.5 percent to $7.4 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.2 billion or 0.2 

percent to $147.8 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 

billion or 2.2 percent to $19.7 billion. 

Revised February Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted February figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $467.5 

billion (revised from $468.4 billion); shipments, $462.9 

billion (revised from $462.6 billion); unfilled orders, 

$930.1 billion (revised from $931.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $616.7 billion (revised from $616.8 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 May 2, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 24, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. 
 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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar Change

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2012 2011 12/11

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 208,759 206,774 207,421 1.0 -0.3 0.1 225,074 199,477 213,963 612,277 561,348 9.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 202,568 211,373 207,463 -4.2 1.9 -3.5 223,457 210,381 221,162 625,589 573,526 9.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 158,759 157,436 156,959 0.8 0.3 -1.6 168,580 150,477 159,464 463,326 424,898 9.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 152,918 154,629 151,734 -1.1 1.9 -2.8 166,593 153,098 160,819 461,702 426,668 8.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 198,881 197,623 197,367 0.6 0.1 0.1 213,890 190,428 202,045 584,038 531,115 10.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 192,631 201,897 199,007 -4.6 1.5 -4.0 209,563 200,315 206,486 593,276 535,465 10.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 150,948 149,115 150,201 1.2 -0.7 -0.7 164,404 143,827 156,045 442,659 404,616 9.4

 New Orders.............................. 150,967 160,220 156,705 -5.8 2.2 -4.9 167,451 160,819 167,636 474,905 435,263 9.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 26,708 27,191 27,252 -1.8 -0.2 -3.9 28,899 27,302 24,661 82,390 65,329 26.1

 New Orders.............................. 26,231 26,703 26,671 -1.8 0.1 -8.0 28,450 27,613 25,148 83,093 68,033 22.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 26,115 26,112 26,397 0.0 -1.1 0.8 27,038 24,854 26,250 76,196 70,346 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 26,328 26,721 26,626 -1.5 0.4 1.6 28,442 26,550 27,758 80,020 74,802 7.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,885 30,887 29,950 6.5 3.1 -5.4 36,741 29,978 32,847 93,578 82,752 13.1

 New Orders.............................. 32,691 33,549 31,091 -2.6 7.9 -8.8 36,708 33,723 35,377 100,009 90,860 10.1

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,442 30,165 29,916 -2.4 0.8 -0.5 30,328 27,596 31,248 85,999 87,426 -1.6

 New Orders.............................. 23,980 24,413 23,864 -1.8 2.3 2.4 27,153 23,485 27,230 71,217 71,013 0.3

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,078 5,322 5,410 -4.6 -1.6 -4.6 5,550 4,158 6,112 14,018 15,028 -6.7

 New Orders.............................. 5,203 5,237 5,170 -0.6 1.3 -7.7 5,675 4,073 6,196 13,818 14,789 -6.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 2,916 3,060 2,878 -4.7 6.3 -9.5 3,300 2,723 3,560 8,297 9,213 -9.9

 New Orders.............................. 3,511 3,465 2,936 1.3 18.0 1.0 3,993 3,425 3,299 9,773 8,902 9.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,529 10,316 10,424 2.1 -1.0 2.1 11,374 9,809 11,040 30,480 28,871 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 10,606 10,282 10,554 3.2 -2.6 -0.6 11,228 10,367 11,330 31,943 31,085 2.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 50,000 49,338 50,462 1.3 -2.2 5.7 56,494 49,000 54,499 148,951 136,450 9.2

 New Orders.............................. 49,650 56,744 55,729 -12.5 1.8 -5.2 56,864 57,283 60,343 163,887 146,858 11.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 31,400 31,299 30,883 0.3 1.3 2.2 34,730 31,928 33,975 95,184 86,883 9.6

 New Orders.............................. 31,414 31,396 30,783 0.1 2.0 1.3 34,415 32,160 33,708 95,130 86,933 9.4

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,291 8,492 9,051 -2.4 -6.2 16.2 9,999 7,870 8,652 24,506 19,574 25.2

 New Orders.............................. 8,426 16,089 16,427 -47.6 -2.1 -17.2 9,494 15,973 12,823 38,472 25,428 51.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,532 3,811 4,608 18.9 -17.3 15.1 5,309 3,581 4,984 12,365 12,239 1.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,214 4,515 3,938 15.5 14.7 1.4 7,000 4,200 5,774 15,100 15,014 0.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,080 32,765 33,020 1.0 -0.8 0.1 34,200 30,938 33,418 94,683 90,174 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 33,082 32,961 32,928 0.4 0.1 -0.1 34,612 31,360 33,976 95,420 90,875 5.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 80,198 78,220 78,452 2.5 -0.3 -0.9 88,986 74,470 84,291 231,455 214,577 7.9

 New Orders.............................. 80,660 88,537 86,995 -8.9 1.8 -3.4 91,341 87,980 93,906 258,421 236,324 9.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 72,758 71,362 70,984 2.0 0.5 -0.8 80,638 67,489 74,860 210,037 190,525 10.2

 New Orders.............................. 72,993 81,588 80,744 -10.5 1.0 -5.0 80,448 80,337 82,031 233,575 204,920 14.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,673 65,984 65,061 2.6 1.4 -2.8 74,389 62,531 69,836 194,977 179,901 8.4

 New Orders.......................... 68,103 68,620 66,781 -0.8 2.8 -3.4 75,110 67,560 72,739 204,971 189,253 8.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,440 6,858 7,468 8.5 -8.2 -2.2 8,348 6,981 9,431 21,418 24,052 -11.0

 New Orders.............................. 7,667 6,949 6,251 10.3 11.2 23.1 10,893 7,643 11,875 24,846 31,404 -20.9

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

Mar Feb Jan Feb - Jan - Dec - Mar Feb Mar 2012/

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Mar 2 Feb r Jan 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2011

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 930,135 930,116 919,011 0.0 1.2 0.7 942,609 939,562 860,105 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 375,127 373,451 372,165 0.4 0.3 0.6 373,186 374,563 346,474 7.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 387,710 387,341 383,642 0.1 1.0 0.3 393,212 390,535 360,437 9.1

 Total Inventories....................... 257,108 256,221 255,434 0.3 0.3 0.7 255,871 257,540 241,553 5.9

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 763,133 763,173 752,393 0.0 1.4 1.1 771,412 771,075 688,873 12.0

 Total Inventories....................... 350,316 348,068 346,841 0.6 0.4 0.6 348,297 349,118 320,440 8.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 930,135 930,116 919,011 0.0 1.2 0.7 942,609 939,562 860,105 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 308,745 307,566 305,683 0.4 0.6 0.8 306,785 307,712 282,882 8.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,973 33,450 33,938 -1.4 -1.4 -1.7 34,280 34,729 34,365 -0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 34,891 34,984 34,642 -0.3 1.0 0.4 34,321 34,484 32,096 6.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 67,419 67,206 66,597 0.3 0.9 0.3 68,535 67,131 63,744 7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 46,379 46,396 46,153 0.0 0.5 0.2 46,405 46,519 43,644 6.3

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,694 124,888 122,226 -0.2 2.2 0.9 125,365 125,398 102,386 22.4

 Total Inventories....................... 62,614 62,313 61,636 0.5 1.1 1.7 62,897 63,291 56,013 12.3

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 125,601 124,853 124,099 0.6 0.6 0.3 127,601 126,112 125,927 1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 48,108 47,582 47,635 1.1 -0.1 0.7 47,277 47,795 46,484 1.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,244 3,119 3,204 4.0 -2.7 -7.0 3,244 3,119 3,415 -5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 6,100 5,908 6,006 3.2 -1.6 0.2 5,839 5,892 5,201 12.3

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 29,170 28,575 28,170 2.1 1.4 0.2 29,622 28,929 29,280 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 9,314 9,259 9,179 0.6 0.9 2.3 9,139 9,391 9,431 -3.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,369 28,292 28,326 0.3 -0.1 0.5 28,743 28,889 25,466 12.9

 Total Inventories....................... 15,826 15,843 15,965 -0.1 -0.8 3.5 15,772 15,961 15,246 3.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 542,425 542,775 535,369 -0.1 1.4 1.0 549,397 549,027 499,668 10.0

 Total Inventories....................... 118,019 117,230 116,731 0.7 0.4 0.3 117,315 117,023 104,921 11.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,047 14,033 13,936 0.1 0.7 -0.7 14,351 14,666 13,846 3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 26,733 26,494 26,799 0.9 -1.1 0.5 26,432 26,621 24,340 8.6

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 391,594 391,459 383,862 0.0 2.0 2.0 395,357 395,862 343,270 15.2

 Total Inventories....................... 66,131 65,184 64,467 1.5 1.1 0.4 65,824 64,742 55,360 18.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 56,268 55,586 54,882 1.2 1.3 -1.2 57,959 56,268 54,880 5.6

 Total Inventories....................... 14,288 14,835 14,616 -3.7 1.5 -0.2 14,183 14,782 14,329 -1.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,654 8,652 8,456 0.0 2.3 -1.1 8,688 8,276 8,549 1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 49,290 49,103 49,403 0.4 -0.6 -0.9 49,199 49,490 48,070 2.3

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 713,858 713,396 703,079 0.1 1.5 1.2 722,621 720,266 649,959 11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 194,357 193,095 191,863 0.7 0.6 0.8 193,494 193,662 175,920 10.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 566,086 565,851 555,625 0.0 1.8 1.8 571,412 571,602 497,935 14.8

 Total Inventories....................... 174,662 172,958 171,790 1.0 0.7 0.8 173,616 173,410 155,147 11.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 218,278 217,848 215,212 0.2 1.2 0.8 220,501 219,780 195,446 12.8

 Total Inventories................... 117,882 117,084 116,560 0.7 0.4 1.1 117,023 118,029 107,810 8.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 147,772 147,545 147,454 0.2 0.1 -0.8 151,209 148,664 152,024 -0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 19,695 20,137 20,073 -2.2 0.3 0.1 19,878 20,252 20,773 -4.3

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
4 

Survey Description 

This report is compiled from results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, 

and Orders (M3) survey. This survey provides statistics on manufacturers' value of shipments, new 

orders (net of cancellations), end-of-month order backlog (unfilled orders), end-of-month total inventory 

(at current cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication (materials and supplies, work-inprocess, and finished goods). The M3 includes approximately 4,300 reporting units. Units may be 

divisions of diversified large companies, large homogenous companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 89 

industry categories. Due to the small monthly sample, these 89 categories have been combined into 65 

publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-to-month changes of the total 

operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-to-month 

movements of all establishments that make up the category. The current coverage levels in the survey 

show that reported data in the monthly survey represent approximately 60 percent of the shipments 

estimates at the total manufacturing level. Data published represent manufacturing in a calendar month. 

The data collection is based on a voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. 

The data presented in this release are based on data obtained from a panel of 4,300 reporting units and 

provide an indication of the activity within the manufacturing sector. The results differ from what would 

be obtained from a complete enumeration of all manufacturing companies. In addition, a different panel 

of 4,300 companies would yield different results. The M3 panel is comprised of companies with $500 

million or more in shipments and a limited number of smaller companies. From a statistical perspective, 

the panel is not a probability sample; therefore, the sampling errors that are normally provided with 

sample surveys cannot be measured. Nonsampling errors are attributable to many sources. The use of 

company or divisional reports to estimate the monthly change for establishments is one source of 

nonsampling error. The use of primarily large companies to represent the month-to-month movement of 

all companies is another potential source. Any corrections will be published in the full report. 

Corrections received after the full report will be released in the next month’s advance report. Any 

revisions made later than two months will be reflected in the annual benchmark publication. 

Additional survey documentation can be found on our web site: http://www.census.gov/m3. 

 

 

 Benchmark Notice 

 

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on May 18, 

2012. These revisions reflect: 

 benchmarking the shipments and inventories data to the 2010 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) data, as well as revised ASM benchmarks for prior years; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2009/2010 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders Survey by applying these ratios to the respective 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; 

 incorporating the monthly data corrections when producing estimates for industry groups for which 

we identified companies to be tabbed separately from the link-relative estimation procedure; 

 implementing a new SAS® benchmarking program, which is based on the same benchmarking 

methodology as the previous ASCII Fortran program; and 

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

review of the seasonal adjustment models. 

An accompanying press release will include the revised 2012 January through March data. Please call 

Jessica Young on (301) 763-4832 with any questions.