FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-8 

CB 16-165

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

August 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in August 

decreased $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to $226.9 

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

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

3.6 percent July increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders decreased 0.4 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 1.0 percent. 

 

 Electrical equipment, appliances, and components, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

drove the decrease, $0.2 billion or 2.5 percent to $9.6 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $0.8 billion or 0.4 percent to $231.7 billion. 

This followed a virtually unchanged July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, drove the decrease, $0.9 billion or 1.1 percent to 

$79.9 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

August, down three consecutive months, decreased $1.5 

billion or 0.1 percent to $1,123.4 billion. This followed 

a 0.2 percent July decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also down three consecutive 

months, drove the decrease, $1.8 billion or 0.2 percent to 

$769.2 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, 

up two consecutive months, increased $0.5 billion or 0.1 

percent to $383.7 billion. This followed a 0.4 percent 

July increase. 

 Machinery, up two of the last three months, led the 

increase, $0.3 billion or 0.5 percent to $65.7 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August 

decreased $3.1 billion or 4.4 percent to $66.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased $1.4 billion or 1.9 percent to $70.1 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $3.1 billion or 0.4 

percent to $696.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 

billion or 0.2 percent to $169.7 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in August 

increased $2.3 billion or 23.6 percent to $11.9 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.2 billion or 2.3 percent to $10.3 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.5 billion or 1.1 

percent to $137.2 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 

billion or 2.0 percent to $20.7 billion. 

Revised July Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $452.9 

billion (revised from $454.8 billion); shipments, $458.4 

billion (revised from $458.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,124.9 billion (revised from $1,126.3 billion); and 

total inventories, $620.5 billion (revised from $620.3 

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 October 5, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for September is 

scheduled for release on October 27, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. To receive the latest updates on the 

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

about this release and the other indicators the U.S. Census Bureau publishes, join us for the Investigating Economic Indicators Webinar 

Series. For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar. 

“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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug Change

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 231,717 232,547 232,448 -0.4 0.0 0.4 243,143 213,316 240,804 1,856,048 1,872,002 -0.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 226,937 227,022 219,055 0.0 3.6 -4.3 229,890 207,242 224,953 1,807,379 1,817,593 -0.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 151,809 151,784 151,392 0.0 0.3 0.0 159,103 145,754 156,733 1,214,277 1,235,702 -1.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 148,814 149,369 147,738 -0.4 1.1 -0.3 152,678 141,885 150,065 1,197,915 1,211,379 -1.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 219,161 219,937 220,022 -0.4 0.0 0.3 230,835 202,033 228,439 1,760,460 1,778,877 -1.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 212,776 214,841 208,679 -1.0 3.0 -4.0 218,462 197,584 217,214 1,712,246 1,735,202 -1.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 164,698 165,679 165,483 -0.6 0.1 0.3 171,856 152,870 170,249 1,313,668 1,326,575 -1.0

 New Orders.............................. 163,200 163,365 155,169 -0.1 5.3 -6.2 162,308 150,349 157,824 1,289,921 1,297,650 -0.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,709 17,868 17,862 -0.9 0.0 1.4 18,908 17,211 19,289 144,238 159,799 -9.7

 New Orders.............................. 17,849 17,817 17,599 0.2 1.2 -1.0 18,509 17,039 18,608 146,005 159,172 -8.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,207 30,120 29,826 0.3 1.0 -0.5 32,588 29,105 30,759 240,955 238,391 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 30,186 30,345 29,889 -0.5 1.5 0.0 31,961 29,411 29,630 244,228 238,501 2.4

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 29,874 29,732 29,992 0.5 -0.9 -0.5 30,333 27,844 31,992 243,619 260,057 -6.3

 New Orders.............................. 29,524 29,680 29,390 -0.5 1.0 0.3 29,841 27,653 31,233 240,875 255,324 -5.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,248 27,235 26,645 0.0 2.2 0.4 27,505 25,505 26,214 208,503 201,599 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 24,421 24,464 23,865 -0.2 2.5 -1.2 23,092 21,884 22,603 187,727 181,951 3.2

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,843 1,947 1,750 -5.3 11.3 -5.6 1,603 1,531 1,832 13,920 16,584 -16.1

 New Orders.............................. 1,827 1,939 1,742 -5.8 11.3 -6.3 1,587 1,523 1,823 13,852 16,685 -17.0

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,445 3,368 3,558 2.3 -5.3 5.4 3,365 2,975 3,319 26,201 26,415 -0.8

 New Orders.............................. 3,728 3,663 3,736 1.8 -2.0 -0.2 3,220 3,110 3,408 28,198 29,187 -3.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,542 9,528 9,453 0.1 0.8 0.2 10,072 9,087 10,260 75,481 81,526 -7.4

 New Orders.............................. 9,598 9,846 9,491 -2.5 3.7 1.1 10,071 9,152 10,191 76,859 81,578 -5.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 79,908 80,763 81,056 -1.1 -0.4 1.3 84,040 67,562 84,071 641,771 636,300 0.9

 New Orders.............................. 78,123 77,653 71,317 0.6 8.9 -11.5 77,212 65,357 74,888 609,464 606,214 0.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,024 54,753 55,009 0.5 -0.5 2.6 59,618 45,122 56,782 442,198 427,058 3.5

 New Orders.............................. 55,006 54,598 54,763 0.7 -0.3 2.1 59,858 44,608 56,922 440,142 426,082 3.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,931 14,018 13,862 -7.8 1.1 -4.7 12,663 11,999 14,552 105,372 109,661 -3.9

 New Orders.............................. 8,939 11,446 6,591 -21.9 73.7 -59.7 5,526 11,710 10,663 77,094 94,688 -18.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,339 4,050 4,156 7.1 -2.6 -3.3 4,134 3,472 4,935 32,584 36,872 -11.6

 New Orders.............................. 5,461 4,396 3,643 24.2 20.7 -7.5 3,824 3,419 3,210 34,477 29,983 15.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,229 37,301 37,614 -0.2 -0.8 -0.1 39,697 37,002 38,219 301,481 294,330 2.4

 New Orders.............................. 37,236 37,217 37,504 0.1 -0.8 -0.5 39,204 36,746 37,800 302,221 294,853 2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 80,389 82,022 81,898 -2.0 0.2 -0.8 80,792 74,838 85,516 643,689 673,288 -4.4

 New Orders.............................. 78,820 79,638 71,926 -1.0 10.7 -12.4 73,761 72,383 76,086 622,336 651,956 -4.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,051 71,442 71,701 -1.9 -0.4 -1.3 70,537 65,282 75,546 565,121 598,984 -5.7

 New Orders.............................. 66,948 70,029 64,987 -4.4 7.8 -10.9 63,679 64,844 70,107 543,371 584,599 -7.1

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 61,981 62,204 62,642 -0.4 -0.7 -0.4 62,389 57,498 65,127 498,637 525,498 -5.1

 New Orders.......................... 63,319 62,940 62,437 0.6 0.8 0.5 62,173 57,266 62,984 502,458 523,569 -4.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,338 10,580 10,197 -2.3 3.8 3.1 10,255 9,556 9,970 78,568 74,304 5.7

 New Orders.............................. 11,872 9,609 6,939 23.6 38.5 -24.3 10,082 7,539 5,979 78,965 67,357 17.2

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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,123,425 1,124,923 1,127,237 -0.1 -0.2 -0.9 1,115,953 1,125,501 1,138,644 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 383,721 383,211 381,715 0.1 0.4 -0.1 387,169 386,105 395,748 -2.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 354,243 353,956 353,160 0.1 0.2 -0.2 353,402 356,122 352,637 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 260,125 259,427 258,568 0.3 0.3 0.2 262,638 261,465 268,860 -2.3

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 949,178 952,281 954,166 -0.3 -0.2 -0.9 943,191 951,859 966,250 -2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 358,269 357,332 356,624 0.3 0.2 0.0 361,601 359,892 368,368 -1.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,123,425 1,124,923 1,127,237 -0.1 -0.2 -0.9 1,115,953 1,125,501 1,138,644 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 311,510 311,125 309,757 0.1 0.4 -0.5 314,746 314,172 323,874 -2.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,565 32,425 32,476 0.4 -0.2 -0.8 32,380 32,779 32,488 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 31,825 31,617 31,253 0.7 1.2 0.1 31,955 31,743 35,305 -9.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,066 74,087 73,862 0.0 0.3 0.1 74,720 75,347 74,224 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 49,138 49,122 48,788 0.0 0.7 0.5 49,185 49,520 49,442 -0.5

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,423 92,773 92,825 -0.4 -0.1 -0.6 92,212 92,704 98,984 -6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 65,662 65,352 65,649 0.5 -0.5 0.4 66,599 65,867 69,204 -3.8

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 129,318 128,863 128,423 0.4 0.3 0.2 128,337 129,045 122,205 5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 42,565 42,569 42,708 0.0 -0.3 0.0 43,411 43,156 43,942 -1.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,379 2,395 2,403 -0.7 -0.3 -0.3 2,379 2,395 2,381 -0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 3,650 3,607 3,587 1.2 0.6 0.4 3,829 3,755 3,883 -1.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,197 34,914 34,619 0.8 0.9 0.5 34,759 34,904 31,775 9.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,573 4,576 4,601 -0.1 -0.5 -1.9 4,658 4,568 5,120 -9.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,698 17,642 17,324 0.3 1.8 0.2 17,681 17,682 16,804 5.2

 Total Inventories....................... 16,181 16,351 16,175 -1.0 1.1 -0.7 16,479 16,638 17,050 -3.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 769,182 770,967 774,077 -0.2 -0.4 -1.2 762,551 769,379 786,007 -3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 123,596 123,784 123,147 -0.2 0.5 -0.8 124,531 124,640 126,888 -1.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,996 22,014 22,169 -0.1 -0.7 -1.1 21,503 21,263 23,019 -6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 34,769 34,922 34,950 -0.4 -0.1 3.6 34,930 35,049 34,783 0.4

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 587,132 591,124 593,696 -0.7 -0.4 -1.2 582,358 589,495 600,926 -3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 62,395 62,134 62,356 0.4 -0.4 -2.3 62,860 62,538 63,753 -1.4

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 71,825 70,703 70,357 1.6 0.5 -0.7 70,511 70,821 63,117 11.7

 Total Inventories....................... 11,292 11,547 10,742 -2.2 7.5 -3.5 11,303 11,629 12,180 -7.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,173 8,166 8,250 0.1 -1.0 -1.3 8,072 8,565 7,932 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 54,754 54,416 53,995 0.6 0.8 0.2 55,009 54,541 53,917 2.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 833,561 835,130 837,514 -0.2 -0.3 -1.2 829,523 836,554 861,278 -3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 190,378 190,470 189,734 0.0 0.4 -0.9 193,029 192,394 199,218 -3.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 696,324 699,427 700,840 -0.4 -0.2 -0.9 692,722 699,580 722,264 -4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 169,667 169,344 169,427 0.2 0.0 -0.7 172,213 171,016 176,742 -2.6

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 222,312 220,974 220,238 0.6 0.3 -0.1 221,507 221,723 223,850 -1.0

 Total Inventories................... 118,569 118,404 118,167 0.1 0.2 0.2 120,771 119,621 123,853 -2.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 137,237 135,703 136,674 1.1 -0.7 -2.3 136,801 136,974 139,014 -1.6

 Total Inventories....................... 20,711 21,126 20,307 -2.0 4.0 -2.3 20,816 21,378 22,476 -7.4

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.