FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-10 

CB 16-190

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

October 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

October increased $11.0 billion or 4.8 percent to $239.4 

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

increase, up four consecutive months, followed a 0.4 

percent September increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders increased 1.0 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 5.2 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up four consecutive 

months, led the increase, $9.5 billion or 12.0 percent to 

$88.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in October, 

up four of the last five months, increased $0.2 billion or 

0.1 percent to $234.6 billion. This followed a 0.8 

percent September increase. 

 Fabricated metal products, up three of the last four 

months, drove the increase, $0.3 billion or 1.1 percent to 

$30.5 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

October, up following four consecutive monthly 

decreases, increased $8.2 billion or 0.7 percent to 

$1,128.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent September 

decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also up following four 

consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $7.5 

billion or 1.0 percent to $773.1 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, 

up four consecutive months, increased $0.1 billion or 

virtually unchanged to $383.7 billion. This followed a 

virtually unchanged September increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up three of the last four 

months, drove the increase, $0.2 billion or 0.2 percent to 

$123.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in October 

increased $10.2 billion or 14.5 percent to $80.1 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $71.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $8.7 billion or 1.3 

percent to $703.1 billion. Inventories decreased $0.6 

billion or 0.4 percent to $169.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in October 

decreased $0.4 billion or 3.7 percent to $10.8 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.3 billion or 2.9 percent to $10.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.2 billion or 0.1 

percent to $138.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 

billion or 1.9 percent to $21.2 billion. 

Revised September Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted September figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $457.3 

billion (revised from $455.5 billion); shipments, $463.3 

billion (revised from $463.0 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,120.4 billion (revised from $1,118.8 billion) and total 

inventories, $620.9 billion (revised from $621.4 billion). 

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

manufacturing. For data, call (301) 763-4673 or go to <http://www.census.gov/m3>. Revised and more detailed estimates, plus 

nondurable goods data, will be published on December 6, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for November 

is scheduled for release on December 22, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for survey description. To receive the latest updates on the 

Nation's key economic indicators, download the America's Economy app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. 

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

Oct Sep Aug Sep - Aug - Jul - Oct Sep Oct Change

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 234,643 234,418 232,525 0.1 0.8 0.0 236,587 250,221 240,162 2,343,624 2,364,242 -0.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 239,367 228,382 227,470 4.8 0.4 0.2 239,106 241,163 236,119 2,288,157 2,293,765 -0.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 153,970 152,581 152,289 0.9 0.2 0.3 155,488 161,440 155,861 1,531,670 1,554,143 -1.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 151,215 149,703 149,367 1.0 0.2 0.0 151,207 157,009 151,308 1,506,545 1,520,133 -0.9

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 222,101 221,926 219,831 0.1 1.0 -0.1 224,407 236,165 227,048 2,221,721 2,243,710 -1.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 227,246 215,959 213,081 5.2 1.4 -0.8 228,242 226,790 223,806 2,167,508 2,187,089 -0.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 166,759 167,169 165,300 -0.2 1.1 -0.2 166,274 178,787 167,762 1,659,242 1,672,791 -0.8

 New Orders.............................. 174,991 164,498 163,548 6.4 0.6 0.2 173,145 172,877 167,334 1,636,200 1,634,329 0.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,710 17,756 17,751 -0.3 0.0 -0.7 17,948 18,249 18,702 180,489 197,516 -8.6

 New Orders.............................. 17,959 17,972 17,827 -0.1 0.8 0.1 17,947 17,584 19,029 181,483 195,930 -7.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,483 30,140 30,159 1.1 -0.1 0.2 31,240 31,653 30,606 303,784 299,916 1.3

 New Orders.............................. 30,757 30,082 30,223 2.2 -0.5 -0.2 30,766 30,745 29,549 305,737 298,389 2.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,236 30,022 29,896 0.7 0.4 0.6 30,031 30,954 31,657 304,564 325,042 -6.3

 New Orders.............................. 30,039 29,994 29,672 0.2 1.1 0.0 30,022 30,387 31,512 301,313 319,215 -5.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,488 27,230 27,433 0.9 -0.7 0.6 27,204 30,361 26,093 266,276 257,171 3.5

 New Orders.............................. 24,288 24,066 24,427 0.9 -1.5 -0.2 23,296 28,045 22,640 239,136 231,956 3.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,797 1,655 1,848 8.6 -10.4 -5.1 1,555 2,125 1,760 17,622 20,926 -15.8

 New Orders.............................. 1,792 1,678 1,851 6.8 -9.3 -4.6 1,550 2,148 1,785 17,591 21,041 -16.4

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,373 3,535 3,479 -4.6 1.6 3.2 3,099 4,342 3,143 33,657 33,618 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,518 3,562 3,629 -1.2 -1.8 -0.5 3,444 4,618 3,539 36,172 37,203 -2.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,792 9,626 9,598 1.7 0.3 0.8 9,949 10,323 10,161 95,789 102,356 -6.4

 New Orders.............................. 9,864 9,646 9,625 2.3 0.2 -2.2 9,955 10,220 9,888 97,004 101,977 -4.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 80,673 81,837 80,236 -1.4 2.0 -0.7 81,099 88,781 84,301 811,954 810,099 0.2

 New Orders.............................. 88,152 78,679 78,103 12.0 0.7 0.6 87,899 84,154 84,811 781,612 773,632 1.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,322 55,698 55,149 -0.7 1.0 0.7 57,365 59,339 58,257 559,010 543,607 2.8

 New Orders.............................. 55,245 55,571 55,107 -0.6 0.8 1.0 57,129 59,219 57,983 556,542 542,223 2.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,588 14,091 12,974 -3.6 8.6 -7.5 12,134 15,753 12,371 133,333 138,417 -3.7

 New Orders.............................. 21,819 11,242 8,626 94.1 30.3 -24.3 20,299 11,324 14,176 108,501 121,482 -10.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,952 4,133 4,475 -4.4 -7.6 10.4 3,764 4,849 5,332 41,310 48,340 -14.5

 New Orders.............................. 3,696 2,777 5,251 33.1 -47.1 18.2 3,661 3,276 6,420 41,654 44,184 -5.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,261 37,807 37,452 1.2 0.9 0.4 39,116 39,900 38,642 380,768 372,142 2.3

 New Orders.............................. 38,308 37,943 37,593 1.0 0.9 1.0 39,221 40,028 38,690 381,872 372,666 2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,094 82,221 80,679 -0.2 1.9 -1.6 79,650 89,908 84,230 813,524 851,821 -4.5

 New Orders.............................. 90,981 81,243 79,511 12.0 2.2 -0.1 87,675 86,086 82,510 796,507 817,412 -2.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,454 71,881 70,340 -0.6 2.2 -1.5 69,313 78,335 73,689 713,080 755,458 -5.6

 New Orders.............................. 80,146 69,986 67,265 14.5 4.0 -3.9 78,730 73,219 74,873 695,691 734,714 -5.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,609 62,502 62,263 0.2 0.4 0.1 61,510 67,402 65,483 627,860 662,081 -5.2

 New Orders.......................... 63,053 62,819 63,681 0.4 -1.4 1.2 62,174 67,187 64,739 632,190 658,319 -4.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,640 10,340 10,339 2.9 0.0 -2.3 10,337 11,573 10,541 100,444 96,363 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 10,835 11,257 12,246 -3.7 -8.1 27.5 8,945 12,867 7,637 100,816 82,698 21.9

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 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

Oct Sep Aug Sep - Aug - Jul - Oct Sep Oct 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,128,646 1,120,414 1,123,085 0.7 -0.2 -0.2 1,116,658 1,109,787 1,129,107 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 383,701 383,606 383,467 0.0 0.0 0.1 384,007 381,838 388,972 -1.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 355,527 354,774 354,287 0.2 0.1 0.1 352,142 352,071 349,481 0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 259,882 260,003 259,874 0.0 0.0 0.2 259,750 258,849 263,620 -1.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 954,754 946,101 948,703 0.9 -0.3 -0.4 944,695 936,508 959,835 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 357,833 358,113 357,915 -0.1 0.1 0.2 358,289 356,406 363,234 -1.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,128,646 1,120,414 1,123,085 0.7 -0.2 -0.2 1,116,658 1,109,787 1,129,107 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 311,867 311,755 311,286 0.0 0.2 0.1 312,170 310,470 317,527 -1.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,953 32,704 32,488 0.8 0.7 0.2 31,607 31,608 31,529 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 31,631 31,596 31,718 0.1 -0.4 0.2 31,652 31,610 34,138 -7.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,352 74,078 74,136 0.4 -0.1 0.1 73,400 73,874 72,587 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 48,976 48,938 48,886 0.1 0.1 -0.5 48,636 48,598 49,107 -1.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,334 92,531 92,559 -0.2 0.0 -0.2 91,705 91,714 97,890 -6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 65,448 65,800 65,645 -0.5 0.2 0.5 65,543 65,714 67,324 -2.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 129,625 129,317 129,116 0.2 0.2 0.2 129,476 129,032 123,169 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 42,501 42,479 42,651 0.1 -0.4 0.2 42,685 42,119 42,862 -0.4

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,416 2,421 2,398 -0.2 1.0 0.1 2,416 2,421 2,395 0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 3,631 3,663 3,698 -0.9 -0.9 2.5 3,702 3,694 3,584 3.3

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,217 35,072 35,045 0.4 0.1 0.4 35,277 34,932 32,588 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 4,450 4,469 4,551 -0.4 -1.8 -0.5 4,481 4,406 4,988 -10.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,760 17,688 17,668 0.4 0.1 0.2 17,518 17,512 16,373 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 16,296 16,317 16,210 -0.1 0.7 -0.9 16,331 16,115 16,624 -1.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 773,119 765,640 768,798 1.0 -0.4 -0.3 764,516 757,716 779,626 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 123,819 123,603 123,593 0.2 0.0 -0.1 124,257 122,989 125,352 -0.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,748 21,825 21,952 -0.4 -0.6 -0.2 21,091 21,327 22,611 -6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 34,611 34,551 34,721 0.2 -0.5 -0.5 34,953 34,345 34,694 0.7

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 592,096 583,865 586,714 1.4 -0.5 -0.7 585,804 577,639 598,964 -2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 62,488 62,723 62,426 -0.4 0.5 0.5 62,517 62,184 63,882 -2.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 69,913 70,169 71,525 -0.4 -1.9 1.1 68,962 69,065 65,850 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 11,214 11,090 11,285 1.1 -1.7 -2.3 11,201 11,071 11,313 -1.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,503 8,456 8,320 0.6 1.6 1.7 8,436 8,331 7,933 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 55,030 54,873 54,764 0.3 0.2 0.6 54,903 54,693 53,565 2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 841,861 832,974 833,952 1.1 -0.1 -0.1 833,859 825,834 848,201 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 190,775 191,011 190,693 -0.1 0.2 0.1 191,342 190,349 194,669 -1.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 703,140 694,448 696,343 1.3 -0.3 -0.4 697,083 687,666 715,905 -2.6

 Total Inventories....................... 169,598 170,219 169,875 -0.4 0.2 0.3 170,302 169,599 173,837 -2.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 223,144 222,700 222,383 0.2 0.1 0.6 222,016 221,352 222,017 0.0

 Total Inventories................... 118,300 118,611 118,591 -0.3 0.0 0.2 118,981 118,424 120,858 -1.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,721 138,526 137,609 0.1 0.7 1.4 136,776 138,168 132,296 3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 21,177 20,792 20,818 1.9 -0.1 -1.5 21,040 20,750 20,832 1.0

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
4 

Survey Description 

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

and Orders (M3) survey, which is a voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. 

This survey provides statistics on a calendar-month basis for manufacturers' value of shipments, new 

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

(at current cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication (materials and supplies, work-inprocess, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 

4,800 reporting units that represent approximately 3,000 companies and provide an indication of monthto-month change for the Manufacturing Sector. These reporting units may be divisions of diversified 

large companies, large homogenous companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 92 industry categories, 

which are combined into 65 publication levels due to the small monthly panel size. The survey 

methodology assumes that the month-to-month changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the 

M3 panel effectively represent the month-to-month movements of all establishments that make up the 

category. 

The companies for which shipments data are currently reported or imputed in the M3 survey represent 

approximately 61 percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 

Economic Census, and these companies include almost two-thirds of the manufacturing companies with 

$500 million or more in shipments in the 2012 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments 

data are currently reported in the M3 survey represent approximately 54 percent of the total value of 

shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 Economic Census. Statistics based on the M3 

panel differ from the results that would be obtained from a complete enumeration of all manufacturing 

companies. The M3 panel is not based on a probability sample; therefore, the sampling errors that are 

normally provided with sample surveys cannot be measured. Nonsampling errors are attributable to many 

sources. The use of company or divisional reports to estimate the monthly change for establishments is 

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

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

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

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

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

2017 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Survey month Advance Report 

 (8:30 a.m. release time) 

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time) 

Nov-16 Thu 12/22/2016 Fri 1/6/2017 

Dec-16 Fri 1/27/2017 Fri 2/3/2017 

Jan-17 Mon 2/27/2017 Mon 3/6/2017 

Feb-17 Fri 3/24/2017 Tue 4/4/2017 

Mar-17 Thu 4/27/2017 Thu 5/4/2017 

Apr-17 Fri 5/26/2017 Mon 6/5/2017 

May-17 Mon 6/26/2017 Wed 7/5/2017 

Jun-17 Thu 7/27/2017 Thu 8/3/2017 

Jul-17 Fri 8/25/2017 Tue 9/5/2017 

Aug-17 Wed 9/27/2017 Thu 10/5/2017 

Sep-17 Wed 10/25/2017 Fri 11/3/2017 

Oct-17 Wed 11/22/2017 Mon 12/4/2017 

Nov-17 Fri 12/22/2017 Not available at this time