FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (13)-04 

CB13-93

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

April 2013 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in April 

increased $7.2 billion or 3.3 percent to $222.6 billion, 

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

up two of the last three months, followed a 5.9 percent 

March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders 

increased 1.3 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 2.1 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three 

months, led the increase, $5.1 billion or 8.1 percent to 

$67.6 billion. This was led by nondefense aircraft and 

parts, which increased $1.9 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $1.3 billion or 0.6 percent to $227.1 billion. 

This followed a 0.9 percent March increase. 

 Computers and electronic products, down three of the 

last four months, led the decrease, $0.8 billion or 2.9 

percent to $27.6 billion. This followed a 3.3 percent 

March increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

April, up two of the last three months, increased $2.7 

billion or 0.3 percent to $996.2 billion. This increase 

followed a 0.5 percent March decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $1.0 

billion or 0.8 percent to $131.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up 

three of the last four months, increased $1.3 billion or 

0.4 percent to $377.9 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis in 1992, and followed a 0.1 percent March 

decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up thirty-two of the last 

thirty-three months, drove the increase, $1.7 billion or 

1.5 percent to $116.5 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April 

increased $2.5 billion or 3.3 percent to $76.1 billion. 

Shipments decreased $2.2 billion or 3.0 percent to $71.7 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $4.4 billion or 0.8 

percent to $577.3 billion. Inventories increased $1.4 

billion or 0.8 percent to $171.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in April 

increased $1.8 billion or 31.3 percent to $7.6 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.6 billion or 5.6 percent to $9.6 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.0 billion or 1.2 

percent to $168.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 

billion or 1.5 percent to $22.4 billion. 

Revised and Recently Benchmarked March Data 

 Revised and recently benchmarked seasonally adjusted 

March figures for all manufacturing industries were: 

new orders, $470.2 billion (revised from $467.3 billion); 

shipments, $483.2 billion (revised from $481.8 billion); 

unfilled orders, $993.5 billion (revised from $990.1 

billion); and total inventories, $627.4 billion (revised 

from $620.2 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 June 5, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for May is scheduled for release on June 25, 2013, 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. 
 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

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr Change

2013 2 2013 r 2013 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2013 2 2013 r 2012 2013 2012 2013/2012

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 227,104 228,372 226,278 -0.6 0.9 0.7 227,608 242,772 219,212 886,706 864,997 2.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 222,557 215,407 228,834 3.3 -5.9 6.4 218,027 232,088 208,945 876,784 870,490 0.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 160,247 160,919 160,819 -0.4 0.1 0.4 161,645 168,164 158,412 626,383 621,404 0.8

 New Orders

4

.............................. 154,999 152,935 155,581 1.3 -1.7 -0.2 156,980 164,414 153,124 620,850 616,319 0.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 215,125 215,730 214,319 -0.3 0.7 0.6 216,543 228,562 208,531 840,552 819,083 2.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 212,240 207,877 217,523 2.1 -4.4 5.4 210,586 221,431 200,600 838,324 822,185 2.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 159,077 160,105 158,611 -0.6 0.9 0.4 157,268 172,166 153,283 620,739 617,344 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 161,784 154,628 167,982 4.6 -7.9 8.0 156,114 167,573 151,533 638,575 649,545 -1.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 24,637 24,532 24,857 0.4 -1.3 -1.0 25,813 25,941 26,063 101,216 103,913 -2.6

 New Orders.............................. 24,783 24,654 26,175 0.5 -5.8 10.6 25,914 26,000 26,288 103,713 105,072 -1.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,050 28,515 28,970 1.9 -1.6 0.5 29,441 29,041 28,371 112,484 112,109 0.3

 New Orders.............................. 29,776 29,431 29,604 1.2 -0.6 -4.6 30,451 32,762 29,765 123,546 119,109 3.7

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 34,567 35,035 34,821 -1.3 0.6 2.4 35,086 37,698 32,956 135,375 128,872 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 34,514 33,883 34,494 1.9 -1.8 -4.2 35,851 36,410 33,216 139,529 134,669 3.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,610 28,441 27,534 -2.9 3.3 -1.1 26,691 29,786 28,338 105,668 109,561 -3.6

 New Orders.............................. 21,357 20,615 20,716 3.6 -0.5 -0.9 19,811 23,354 21,048 80,780 88,632 -8.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,348 2,487 2,219 -5.6 12.1 -2.3 1,717 3,251 1,882 8,127 8,707 -6.7

 New Orders.............................. 2,367 2,459 2,463 -3.7 -0.2 9.0 1,736 3,223 1,841 8,351 8,705 -4.1

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,900 3,926 3,914 -0.7 0.3 -1.2 3,448 4,560 3,286 14,639 13,923 5.1

 New Orders.............................. 4,280 4,051 3,973 5.7 2.0 -12.8 3,966 4,659 3,786 16,307 15,957 2.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,270 10,264 10,383 0.1 -1.1 1.1 10,207 10,880 10,112 39,969 40,322 -0.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,406 10,338 10,372 0.7 -0.3 2.1 10,186 10,866 9,969 40,866 41,264 -1.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 66,857 67,453 65,459 -0.9 3.0 1.4 65,963 74,608 60,800 260,323 243,593 6.9

 New Orders.............................. 67,558 62,472 73,253 8.1 -14.7 23.7 61,047 67,674 55,821 255,934 254,171 0.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 45,052 44,170 43,884 2.0 0.7 3.9 45,984 47,059 40,973 176,176 160,208 10.0

 New Orders.............................. 45,123 44,264 44,062 1.9 0.5 4.3 45,911 46,986 40,814 176,683 160,096 10.4

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 9,759 10,794 9,468 -9.6 14.0 -11.7 8,587 13,170 8,963 37,921 37,501 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 12,383 10,481 18,400 18.1 -43.0 112.8 7,411 10,648 6,103 43,231 48,488 -10.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,770 5,103 4,671 -6.5 9.2 7.4 4,206 6,019 3,884 17,851 18,120 -1.5

 New Orders.............................. 4,380 2,858 3,108 53.3 -8.0 -10.2 2,882 3,615 3,136 12,743 20,419 -37.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 34,113 34,132 34,254 -0.1 -0.4 0.5 34,407 34,818 32,572 131,671 126,627 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 34,163 34,014 34,220 0.4 -0.6 0.4 34,767 35,022 32,838 132,416 127,573 3.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 81,308 84,100 81,965 -3.3 2.6 0.3 78,304 93,015 77,396 317,230 313,877 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 83,709 79,442 90,363 5.4 -12.1 12.3 77,420 89,441 74,430 330,539 339,765 -2.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,716 73,939 72,202 -3.0 2.4 -0.4 69,310 81,618 68,796 279,658 277,036 0.9

 New Orders.............................. 76,105 73,650 80,973 3.3 -9.0 9.2 71,880 80,475 67,687 299,842 301,075 -0.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,554 66,526 66,202 -1.5 0.5 1.6 63,936 72,512 62,647 255,280 252,262 1.2

 New Orders.......................... 67,408 66,589 65,980 1.2 0.9 -4.8 67,467 73,820 64,410 270,677 265,981 1.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,592 10,161 9,763 -5.6 4.1 5.7 8,994 11,397 8,600 37,572 36,841 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 7,604 5,792 9,390 31.3 -38.3 49.1 5,540 8,966 6,743 30,697 38,690 -20.7

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

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr 2013/

2013 2 2013 r 2013 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2013 2 2013 r 2012 2012

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 996,190 993,483 998,960 0.3 -0.5 0.9 1,008,700 1,009,854 987,175 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 377,921 376,586 376,787 0.4 -0.1 0.4 380,013 374,707 367,121 3.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 384,263 382,257 382,753 0.5 -0.1 0.4 393,560 389,798 398,792 -1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 261,471 261,826 262,182 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 263,065 260,956 262,284 0.3

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 796,164 791,795 792,160 0.6 0.0 1.3 806,040 803,570 785,629 2.6

 Total Inventories....................... 350,020 349,041 349,032 0.3 0.0 0.2 351,990 347,021 340,935 3.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 996,190 993,483 998,960 0.3 -0.5 0.9 1,008,700 1,009,854 987,175 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 308,756 307,513 307,796 0.4 -0.1 0.6 310,915 305,913 299,141 3.9

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,948 32,802 32,680 0.4 0.4 4.2 34,624 34,523 39,116 -11.5

 Total Inventories....................... 34,948 35,559 36,308 -1.7 -2.1 -0.4 35,389 35,644 36,982 -4.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 86,272 85,546 84,630 0.8 1.1 0.8 90,014 89,004 80,603 11.7

 Total Inventories....................... 47,179 47,284 47,003 -0.2 0.6 -0.1 47,505 47,290 47,252 0.5

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 104,293 104,346 105,498 -0.1 -1.1 -0.3 105,944 105,179 120,243 -11.9

 Total Inventories....................... 66,285 66,170 66,101 0.2 0.1 -0.3 66,858 66,166 66,177 1.0

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 131,840 130,839 131,177 0.8 -0.3 0.0 133,532 131,985 129,194 3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 46,082 45,930 46,007 0.3 -0.2 -0.1 46,041 45,052 46,508 -1.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,451 3,432 3,460 0.6 -0.8 7.6 3,451 3,432 2,741 25.9

 Total Inventories....................... 4,337 4,160 4,369 4.3 -4.8 0.4 4,313 3,924 4,535 -4.9

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 31,683 31,303 31,178 1.2 0.4 0.2 32,098 31,580 28,573 12.3

 Total Inventories....................... 7,490 7,660 7,625 -2.2 0.5 0.5 7,381 7,547 7,704 -4.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,676 21,540 21,466 0.6 0.3 -0.1 21,871 21,892 21,975 -0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 16,928 16,882 16,888 0.3 0.0 0.1 17,171 16,849 16,509 4.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 611,927 611,226 616,207 0.1 -0.8 1.3 615,140 620,056 588,383 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 116,450 114,760 114,605 1.5 0.1 1.6 116,948 113,751 104,837 11.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,865 16,794 16,700 0.4 0.6 1.1 17,292 17,365 17,765 -2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 25,232 25,201 25,574 0.1 -1.5 -0.4 25,111 24,663 24,909 0.8

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 435,404 432,780 433,093 0.6 -0.1 2.1 436,666 437,842 408,295 6.9

 Total Inventories....................... 62,695 61,232 60,583 2.4 1.1 2.2 63,335 60,785 53,328 18.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 66,464 66,854 69,099 -0.6 -3.2 -2.2 67,251 68,575 67,821 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,715 13,789 14,015 -0.5 -1.6 5.1 13,677 13,751 12,597 8.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,234 7,184 7,302 0.7 -1.6 -0.5 7,575 7,215 7,661 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 50,049 50,001 49,875 0.1 0.3 0.3 50,101 49,955 48,856 2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 745,980 743,579 748,237 0.3 -0.6 1.1 754,523 755,407 731,831 3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 194,013 192,291 192,319 0.9 0.0 0.8 195,099 191,019 183,374 6.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 577,251 572,862 573,151 0.8 -0.1 1.6 583,455 580,885 561,525 3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 171,594 170,206 169,914 0.8 0.2 0.5 172,520 168,755 162,403 6.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 217,836 215,982 215,919 0.9 0.0 -0.1 223,236 219,705 223,774 -0.2

 Total Inventories................... 120,190 120,186 120,501 0.0 -0.3 -0.3 120,452 119,012 119,159 1.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 168,729 170,717 175,086 -1.2 -2.5 -0.2 171,068 174,522 170,306 0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 22,419 22,085 22,405 1.5 -1.4 3.0 22,579 22,264 20,971 7.7

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 were issued on May 17, 2013. 

 These revisions reflect: 

 benchmarking the shipments and inventories data to the 2011 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 2010/2011 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; 

 migrating the data processing environment from a server having a Linux Red Hat 4 operating system 

that supports SAS® 9.1.3 to a server having a Linux Red Hat 5 operating system that supports SAS® 

9.2; 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 includes the revised 2013 January through March data. Please call Jessica 

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