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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EST, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2017 

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS OCTOBER 2017 

Release Number: CB 17-188 M3-1 (17)-10 

Notice: For information on the impact of recent hurricanes on the compilation of this report, please see the 

Frequently Asked Questions document on our website. 

November 22, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the October advance report on manufacturers’ 

shipments, inventories and orders: 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in October decreased $2.8 billion or 1.2 percent to $236.0 

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down following two consecutive monthly 

increases, followed a 2.2 percent September increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.8 percent. Transportation equipment, also down 

following two consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, $3.5 billion or 4.3 percent to $77.1 

billion. 

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in October, up five of the last six months, increased $0.3 billion 

or 0.1 percent to $241.0 billion. This followed a 1.0 percent September increase. Primary metals, up three 

of the last four months, led the increase, $0.3 billion or 1.5 percent to $19.9 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in October, down three of the last four months, decreased 

$0.5 billion or virtually unchanged to $1,134.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent September increase. 

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

OCTOBER 2017 $236.0 billion             ‐1.2%°   

SEPTEMBER 2017  

(revised) $238.8 billion             +2.2%°

Next release: December 22, 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.

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

% Change -4.6% 0.3% 0.3% 1.4% 2.4% -0.8% 0.0% 6.4% -6.8% 2.1% 2.2% -1.2%

-7.0%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

DURABLE GOODS 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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Transportation equipment, also down three of the last four months, drove the decrease, $2.0 billion or 0.3 

percent to $769.7 billion. 

Inventories 

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $0.5 

billion or 0.1 percent to $404.1 billion. This followed a 0.6 percent September increase. Primary metals, 

also up fifteen of the last sixteen months, led the increase, $0.1 billion or 0.4 percent to $33.9 billion. 

Capital Goods 

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in October decreased $3.4 billion or 4.5 percent to $72.3 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.4 billion or 1.9 percent to $72.4 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.1 billion or 

virtually unchanged to $705.2 billion. Inventories increased less than $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to 

$179.7 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods in October decreased $1.1 billion or 9.6 percent to 

$9.9 billion. Shipments increased $0.3 billion or 2.4 percent to $10.9 billion. Unfilled orders decreased 

$0.9 billion or 0.7 percent to $142.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 billion or 1.0 percent to $23.6 

billion. 

Revised September Data

Revised seasonally adjusted September figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $479.1 

billion (revised from $478.5 billion); shipments, $480.9 billion (revised from $480.4 billion); unfilled 

orders, $1,135.1 billion (revised from $1,135.0 billion) and total inventories, $660.6 billion (revised from 

$660.8 billion). 

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on December 4, 2017, 

at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for November is scheduled for release on 

December 22, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EST. 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>. 

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 
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cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication (materials and supplies, work-in-process, and 

finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting 

units that represent approximately 3,100 companies and provide an indication of month-to-month change for 

the Manufacturing Sector. These reporting units may be divisions of diversified large companies, large 

homogenous companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 92 industry categories, which are combined into 65 

publication levels due to the small monthly panel size. The survey methodology assumes that the month-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 64 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 57 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>. 

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/. 
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2018 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Source: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/reports/pei_schedule_release_dates_2018_all_

v2.pdf

###

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time)

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time)

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 Fri 1/5/2018

Dec-17 Fri 1/26/2018 Fri 2/2/2018

Jan-18 Tue 2/27/2018 Tue 3/6/2018

Feb-18 Fri 3/23/2018 Wed 4/4/2018

Mar-18 Thu 4/26/2018 Thu 5/3/2018

Apr-18 Fri 5/25/2018 Mon 6/4/2018

May-18 Wed 6/27/2018 Tue 7/3/2018

Jun-18 Thu 7/26/2018 Thu 8/2/2018

Jul-18 Fri 8/24/2018 Thu 9/6/2018

Aug-18 Thu 9/27/2018 Thu 10/4/2018

Sep-18 Thu 10/25/2018 Fri 11/2/2018

Oct-18 Wed 11/21/2018 Thu 12/6/2018

Nov-18 Fri 12/21/2018 Not available at this time
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

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2017 2016 2017/2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 240,963 240,643 238,196 0.1 1.0 0.7 246,228 252,332 230,310 2,375,028 2,289,528 3.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 236,006 238,814 233,709 -1.2 2.2 2.1 237,607 247,565 231,912 2,330,600 2,221,369 4.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 161,846 161,164 159,564 0.4 1.0 1.2 164,585 168,135 152,383 1,586,812 1,507,671 5.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 158,865 158,169 156,481 0.4 1.1 0.8 159,544 163,368 147,062 1,558,194 1,472,194 5.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 228,047 227,959 225,781 0.0 1.0 0.7 233,633 238,377 219,054 2,253,881 2,176,715 3.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 224,499 226,197 220,987 -0.8 2.4 2.6 227,546 233,149 220,765 2,214,743 2,112,173 4.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 169,306 169,714 167,588 -0.2 1.3 0.2 171,137 178,863 159,133 1,669,494 1,594,237 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 168,815 172,496 167,549 -2.1 3.0 2.1 167,697 178,468 166,327 1,669,239 1,567,773 6.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,924 19,639 19,655 1.5 -0.1 1.6 20,150 19,701 17,588 196,548 177,572 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 20,035 19,784 19,886 1.3 -0.5 1.3 20,187 18,949 17,933 197,296 177,800 11.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 32,545 32,409 32,182 0.4 0.7 1.2 33,709 33,543 30,810 321,149 299,041 7.4

 New Orders.............................. 33,047 33,359 32,760 -0.9 1.8 0.4 33,452 33,873 30,370 327,726 299,648 9.4

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,091 32,153 31,599 -0.2 1.8 1.8 31,897 32,825 28,847 312,557 299,066 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 32,167 31,984 31,856 0.6 0.4 0.0 32,058 31,726 28,946 316,875 296,626 6.8

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,556 27,559 27,174 0.0 1.4 1.0 27,383 30,624 26,357 265,213 253,437 4.6

 New Orders.............................. 23,791 23,703 23,014 0.4 3.0 2.1 22,364 27,622 20,871 223,666 216,196 3.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,938 1,914 2,035 1.3 -5.9 -2.5 1,660 2,461 1,758 19,196 19,354 -0.8

 New Orders.............................. 1,962 1,948 2,065 0.7 -5.7 -3.0 1,684 2,495 1,761 19,451 19,345 0.5

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,117 3,071 2,961 1.5 3.7 0.5 2,881 3,789 2,606 29,410 28,452 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 3,519 3,499 3,264 0.6 7.2 7.4 3,231 4,299 2,854 31,664 30,516 3.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,198 10,136 10,045 0.6 0.9 0.5 10,542 10,679 10,175 101,015 99,193 1.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,299 10,216 10,084 0.8 1.3 2.0 10,513 10,624 10,228 101,395 101,245 0.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 79,117 79,479 78,632 -0.5 1.1 -0.3 81,643 84,197 77,927 788,216 781,857 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 77,141 80,645 77,228 -4.3 4.4 4.7 78,063 84,197 84,850 772,406 749,175 3.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,372 54,554 54,593 1.5 -0.1 2.6 58,864 56,242 55,030 548,148 540,559 1.4

 New Orders.............................. 55,495 54,577 54,651 1.7 -0.1 2.9 58,251 56,302 54,041 548,323 538,207 1.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 10,769 12,307 11,481 -12.5 7.2 -11.7 9,978 14,002 11,215 114,913 120,306 -4.5

 New Orders.............................. 10,575 12,988 9,699 -18.6 33.9 33.5 9,699 13,274 19,090 105,005 95,395 10.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,226 4,004 4,054 5.5 -1.2 -0.3 4,050 4,573 3,386 39,045 37,869 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,111 3,508 3,756 -11.3 -6.6 -30.8 2,618 3,505 3,706 38,317 38,619 -0.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 39,532 39,268 38,909 0.7 0.9 0.8 40,904 40,763 38,606 390,330 379,362 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 39,526 39,123 38,881 1.0 0.6 0.6 40,970 40,574 38,714 391,236 380,679 2.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 83,230 84,354 82,342 -1.3 2.4 -0.7 81,822 91,462 75,888 809,843 780,160 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 82,177 86,627 81,612 -5.1 6.1 2.5 78,908 91,842 84,451 804,900 759,754 5.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 72,366 73,745 71,915 -1.9 2.5 -1.0 71,186 79,833 66,306 708,282 687,327 3.0

 New Orders.............................. 72,262 75,655 70,600 -4.5 7.2 4.0 70,689 78,955 75,479 708,267 669,296 5.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,786 65,541 64,780 0.4 1.2 1.3 65,300 70,043 59,287 635,333 610,667 4.0

 New Orders.......................... 66,172 66,526 65,132 -0.5 2.1 1.4 65,182 70,127 59,610 641,673 614,595 4.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,864 10,609 10,427 2.4 1.7 1.1 10,636 11,629 9,582 101,561 92,833 9.4

 New Orders.............................. 9,915 10,972 11,012 -9.6 -0.4 -6.5 8,219 12,887 8,972 96,633 90,458 6.8

r Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment. 

1 Estimates of shipments and new orders are for the duration of the period, while estimates of unfilled orders and total inventories are for the end of the period. Not seasonally adjusted estimates of 

shipments and new orders include adjusted data for non-calendar reporters. Seasonally adjusted estimates include concurrent adjustments for holiday and trading-day differences, where appropriate, 

as well as seasonal variation, based on the results of the latest annual review of the model parameters. Estimates are not adjusted for price changes. 2 Based on advance sample. Estimates of manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders are subject to survey error and revision. One major component of survey error is nonsampling error, which includes errors of 

coverage, response and nonreporting. Since the survey panel is not a probability sample, estimates of sampling error cannot be calculated. For further details on survey design, methodology, and data limitations, see 

http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3. 

3

 The Capital Goods Industries include Nondefense : small arms and ordnance; farm machinery and equipment; construction machinery; mining, oil, and gas field machinery; industrial machinery; vending, laundry, and other 

machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material handling equipment; all other machinery; electronic computers; 

computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, and control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical 

equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; and medical equipment and supplies. Defense Capital Goods include : small arms and 

ordnance, communications equipment, aircraft; missiles, space vehicles, and parts, ships and boats, and search and navigation equipment. 4

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

orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, October Advance Report, November 22, 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. 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 2017/

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,134,617 1,135,108 1,132,326 0.0 0.2 0.0 1,122,487 1,125,927 1,117,473 0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 404,056 403,546 401,323 0.1 0.6 0.5 404,559 402,672 390,203 3.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 364,890 363,405 361,789 0.4 0.4 0.4 360,218 360,078 345,030 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 273,148 272,647 271,291 0.2 0.5 0.7 273,122 271,964 258,913 5.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 957,774 956,856 954,007 0.1 0.3 0.0 947,889 948,795 944,826 0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 376,222 375,978 373,639 0.1 0.6 0.5 376,774 375,168 363,854 3.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,134,617 1,135,108 1,132,326 0.0 0.2 0.0 1,122,487 1,125,927 1,117,473 0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 328,671 328,091 326,145 0.2 0.6 0.5 329,340 327,661 317,996 3.6

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 30,850 30,739 30,594 0.4 0.5 0.8 29,690 29,653 27,807 6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 33,851 33,702 33,499 0.4 0.6 0.6 33,793 33,924 30,903 9.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 80,804 80,302 79,352 0.6 1.2 0.7 79,836 80,093 74,499 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 50,511 50,365 50,065 0.3 0.6 0.6 50,259 50,264 47,591 5.6

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 100,957 100,881 101,050 0.1 -0.2 0.3 99,967 99,806 96,485 3.6

 Total Inventories....................... 69,598 69,661 69,165 -0.1 0.7 1.0 69,639 69,668 65,576 6.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 119,451 118,750 117,995 0.6 0.6 0.2 118,534 118,372 115,283 2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 45,048 45,079 44,876 -0.1 0.5 0.5 45,416 44,671 43,676 4.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,944 1,920 1,886 1.3 1.8 1.6 1,944 1,920 1,670 16.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,389 4,393 4,362 -0.1 0.7 0.2 4,406 4,358 4,066 8.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,258 27,856 27,428 1.4 1.6 1.1 28,027 27,677 25,549 9.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,548 4,537 4,643 0.2 -2.3 0.0 4,571 4,457 4,516 1.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,531 22,430 22,350 0.5 0.4 0.2 22,017 22,046 20,894 5.4

 Total Inventories....................... 17,771 17,718 17,725 0.3 0.0 0.5 17,775 17,519 17,002 4.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 769,727 771,703 770,537 -0.3 0.2 -0.2 762,269 765,849 772,443 -1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 130,908 130,899 130,032 0.0 0.7 0.2 131,437 130,708 131,290 0.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 23,981 23,858 23,835 0.5 0.1 0.2 23,075 23,688 21,959 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 34,612 35,001 34,751 -1.1 0.7 -0.1 34,973 35,103 35,362 -1.1

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 578,369 578,563 577,882 0.0 0.1 -0.3 573,871 574,150 585,382 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 67,044 66,787 66,041 0.4 1.1 0.2 67,172 66,337 67,904 -1.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 72,109 73,224 73,720 -1.5 -0.7 -0.4 70,672 72,104 67,834 4.2

 Total Inventories....................... 13,397 13,232 13,428 1.2 -1.5 2.2 13,415 13,264 11,975 12.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 10,297 10,303 10,448 -0.1 -1.4 -0.3 10,174 10,108 10,062 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 56,369 56,122 55,961 0.4 0.3 0.5 56,240 55,918 54,165 3.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 847,525 848,578 846,305 -0.1 0.3 -0.1 839,234 842,148 839,866 -0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 203,283 203,017 202,047 0.1 0.5 0.6 203,850 202,262 197,500 3.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 705,228 705,332 703,422 0.0 0.3 -0.2 698,674 699,171 700,905 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 179,655 179,620 178,565 0.0 0.6 0.5 180,289 178,961 175,956 2.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 228,293 227,907 226,922 0.2 0.4 0.2 225,905 226,023 220,592 2.4

 Total Inventories................... 124,215 124,343 123,844 -0.1 0.4 0.5 124,768 124,091 119,539 4.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 142,297 143,246 142,883 -0.7 0.3 0.4 140,560 142,977 138,961 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 23,628 23,397 23,482 1.0 -0.4 1.2 23,561 23,301 21,544 9.4

r Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment. 

1 Estimates of shipments and new orders are for the duration of the period, while estimates of unfilled orders and total inventories are for the end of the period. Not seasonally adjusted estimates of 

shipments and new orders include adjusted data for non-calendar reporters. Seasonally adjusted estimates include concurrent adjustments for holiday and trading-day differences, where 

appropriate, as well as seasonal variation, based on the results of the latest annual review of the model parameters. Estimates are not adjusted for price changes. 2

 Based on advance sample. Estimates of manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders are subject to survey error and revision. One major component of survey error is nonsampling error, 

which includes errors of coverage, response and nonreporting. Since the survey panel is not a probability sample, estimates of sampling error cannot be calculated. For further details on survey 

design, methodology, and data limitations, see http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3. 3

 The Capital Goods Industries include Nondefense : small arms and ordnance; farm machinery and equipment; construction machinery; mining, oil, and gas field machinery; industrial machinery; 

vending, laundry, and other machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material 

handling equipment; all other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; 

electromedical, measuring, and control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and 

boats; office and institutional furniture; and medical equipment and supplies. Defense Capital Goods include : small arms and ordnance, communications equipment, aircraft; missiles, space 

vehicles, and parts, ships and boats, and search and navigation equipment. 4

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

Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, October Advance Report, November 22, 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>.