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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, INVENTORIES AND

ORDERS SEPTEMBER 2018

Release Number: CB 18‐154 M3‐1 (18)‐09

October 25, 2018 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the September advance report on manufacturers’

shipments, inventories and orders:

New Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in September increased $2.0 billion or 0.8 percent to $262.1

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.  This increase, up three of the last four months, followed

a 4.6 percent August increase.  Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.1 percent.  Excluding

defense, new orders decreased 0.6 percent.  Transportation equipment, also up three of the last four

months, led the increase, $1.8 billion or 1.9 percent to $97.4 billion.

Shipments

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in September, up four of the last five months, increased $3.3

billion or 1.3 percent to $256.8 billion.  This followed a 0.9 percent August increase.  Transportation

equipment, up three of the last four months, led the increase, $2.9 billion or 3.3 percent to $89.4 billion.

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

SEPTEMBER 2018 $262.1 billion             +0.8%°   

AUGUST 2018  

(revised) $260.1 billion             +4.6%°

Next release: November 21, 2018

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes.

°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.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders, October 25,

2018.

Oct‐17 Nov‐17 Dec‐17 Jan‐18 Feb‐18 Mar‐18 Apr‐18 May‐18 Jun‐18 Jul‐18 Aug‐18 Sep‐18

% Change ‐4.1% 2.2% 3.2% ‐4.2% 4.5% 2.7% ‐1.0% ‐0.3% 0.9% ‐1.2% 4.6% 0.8%

‐8.0%

‐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%

8.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2017‐2018

Seasonally Adjusted,   Month‐To‐Month Percentage Change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders,

October 25, 2018.
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Unfilled Orders

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in September, up ten of the last eleven months, increased

$9.4 billion or 0.8 percent to $1,186.1 billion.  This followed a 0.9 percent August increase.  Transportation

equipment, up seven of the last eight months, led the increase, $7.9 billion or 1.0 percent to $818.7 billion.

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in September, up twenty of the last twenty‐one months,

increased $2.8 billion or 0.7 percent to $410.7 billion.  This followed a 0.2 percent August decrease.  

Transportation equipment, up two of the last three months, led the increase, $1.2 billion or 0.9 percent to

$130.5 billion.   

Capital Goods

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in September decreased $1.9 billion or 2.4 percent to $79.1

billion.   Shipments increased $2.1 billion or 2.7 percent to $79.5 billion.  Unfilled orders decreased $0.4

billion or 0.1 percent to $717.9 billion.  Inventories increased $1.7 billion or 0.9 percent to $179.5 billion.  

Defense new orders for capital goods in September decreased $2.4 billion or 14.3 percent to $14.2 billion.  

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.7 percent to $11.7 billion.  Unfilled orders increased $2.4 billion or

1.6 percent to $154.4 billion.  Inventories increased $0.2 billion or 0.8 percent to $22.8 billion.

Revised August Data

Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $511.0

billion (revised from $510.5 billion); shipments, $504.4 billion (revised from $504.0 billion); unfilled orders,

$1,176.7 billion (revised from $1,176.5 billion) and total inventories, $676.3 billion (revised from $675.6

billion).

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on November 2, 2018,

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

November 21, 2018 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.
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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 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‐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 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>.

Hurricanes

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

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on our website at:

<https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/hurricanesfaqsm3.pdf>.
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

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RESOURCES

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/>

NEW TIME SERIES

Beginning with the release of June 2018 data on July 26, 2018, historical estimates of the Monthly Advance

Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders are available on a seasonally adjusted basis

as well as a not seasonally adjusted basis at: <https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/>.   

FRED Mobile App

Receive the latest updates on the nation’s key economic indicators by downloading

the FRED App <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/fred‐mobile/> for both Apple and

Android devices.  FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St.

Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau’s 13 economic indicators.

2019 Release Dates

Survey month Advance Report                      

(8:30 a.m. release time)

Full Report                             

(10:00 a.m. release time)

Nov‐18 Fri 12/21/2018 Mon 1/7/2019

Dec‐18 Fri 1/25/2019 Mon 2/4/2019

Jan‐19 Wed 2/27/2019 Wed 3/6/2019

Feb‐19 Tue 3/26/2019 Wed 4/3/2019

Mar‐19 Thu 4/25/2019 Thu 5/2/2019

Apr‐19 Fri 5/24/2019 Tue 6/4/2019

May‐19 Wed 6/26/2019 Wed 7/3/2019

Jun‐19 Thu 7/25/2019 Fri 8/2/2019

Jul‐19 Mon 8/26/2019 Thu 9/5/2019

Aug‐19 Fri 9/27/2019 Thu 10/3/2019

Sep‐19 Thu 10/24/2019 Mon 11/4/2019

Oct‐19 Wed 11/27/2019 Thu 12/5/2019

Nov‐19 Tue12/24/2019 Not available at this time

Source: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp‐content/uploads/2018/09/pfei_schedule_releasedates_2019.pdf>

###
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

Sep Aug Jul Aug ‐ Jul ‐ Jun ‐ Sep Aug Sep Change

2018 2 2018 r 2018 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2018 2 2018 r 2017 2018 2017 2018/2017

DURABLE GOODS

   Total:               

               Shipments................................ 256,848 253,509 251,307 1.3 0.9 ‐0.1 264,470 267,493 248,844 2,248,472 2,098,369 7.2

               New Orders4

.............................. 262,098 260,128 248,571 0.8 4.6 ‐1.2 267,392 265,109 251,158 2,255,132 2,070,541 8.9

         Excluding transportation:

               Shipments................................ 167,432 166,966 166,807 0.3 0.1 0.6 171,400 174,786 163,676 1,487,285 1,382,936 7.5

               New Orders4

.............................. 164,738 164,606 164,178 0.1 0.3 0.2 166,967 168,612 160,624 1,470,272 1,364,746 7.7

         Excluding defense:

               Shipments................................ 243,056 239,753 237,722 1.4 0.9 ‐0.2 249,375 253,772 234,766 2,129,972 1,990,162 7.0

               New Orders4

.............................. 239,658 241,146 235,153 ‐0.6 2.5 ‐0.6 241,935 249,627 232,408 2,120,926 1,963,294 8.0

    Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

               Shipments................................ 179,003 176,564 173,442 1.4 1.8 ‐1.2 185,711 184,734 174,458 1,566,441 1,457,200 7.5

               New Orders.............................. 188,405 187,164 174,663 0.7 7.2 ‐2.7 192,809 186,739 180,666 1,608,107 1,464,039 9.8

    Primary metals:

               Shipments................................ 21,836 21,755 21,650 0.4 0.5 0.8 21,303 23,152 18,603 193,378 167,586 15.4

               New Orders.............................. 22,192 22,163 21,876 0.1 1.3 ‐0.1 20,737 22,589 17,865 195,961 167,991 16.6

    Fabricated metal products:

               Shipments................................ 33,176 33,000 32,926 0.5 0.2 0.1 33,555 35,508 31,668 295,699 269,717 9.6

               New Orders.............................. 33,326 33,576 33,391 ‐0.7 0.6 0.4 33,075 35,299 31,887 303,096 275,829 9.9

    Machinery:

               Shipments................................ 32,925 32,902 33,000 0.1 ‐0.3 0.8 32,975 33,341 32,763 294,295 275,019 7.0

               New Orders.............................. 33,513 33,246 33,227 0.8 0.1 0.4 32,905 33,461 33,156 297,864 281,611 5.8

    Computers and electronic products 4

:

               Shipments................................ 27,195 27,164 27,139 0.1 0.1 1.4 30,111 27,357 28,197 236,501 222,861 6.1

               New Orders.............................. 23,288 23,298 23,467 0.0 ‐0.7 0.8 26,843 22,235 25,503 204,523 190,439 7.4

         Computers and related products:

               Shipments................................ 1,907 1,941 1,971 ‐1.8 ‐1.5 12.0 2,234 1,876 2,063 16,027 17,813 ‐10.0

               New Orders.............................. 1,955 1,963 1,986 ‐0.4 ‐1.2 12.6 2,282 1,898 2,095 16,252 18,029 ‐9.9

         Communications equipment:

               Shipments................................ 3,591 3,530 3,544 1.7 ‐0.4 0.1 4,352 3,251 3,910 30,680 27,421 11.9

               New Orders.............................. 3,629 3,633 3,633 ‐0.1 0.0 ‐2.7 4,447 3,217 4,297 31,769 29,502 7.7

    Electrical equipment, appliances,    

       and components:                   

               Shipments................................ 11,536 11,479 11,322 0.5 1.4 0.6 11,977 12,118 11,373 101,337 95,923 5.6

               New Orders.............................. 11,491 11,545 11,472 ‐0.5 0.6 ‐0.3 11,709 12,124 11,284 101,854 96,168 5.9

    Transportation equipment:    

               Shipments................................ 89,416 86,543 84,500 3.3 2.4 ‐1.3 93,070 92,707 85,168 761,187 715,433 6.4

               New Orders.............................. 97,360 95,522 84,393 1.9 13.2 ‐3.6 100,425 96,497 90,534 784,860 705,795 11.2

         Motor vehicles and parts:

               Shipments................................ 60,806 59,891 60,271 1.5 ‐0.6 3.5 60,518 65,870 55,788 525,419 489,583 7.3

               New Orders.............................. 60,823 60,019 60,364 1.3 ‐0.6 3.7 60,541 66,431 56,241 525,586 490,862 7.1

         Nondefense aircraft and parts:

               Shipments................................ 14,764 12,778 10,660 15.5 19.9 ‐24.8 17,478 12,845 15,522 116,893 115,797 0.9

               New Orders.............................. 13,649 16,547 10,110 ‐17.5 63.7 ‐29.1 14,422 14,248 14,749 123,677 106,066 16.6

         Defense aircraft and parts:

               Shipments................................ 4,768 4,694 4,739 1.6 ‐0.9 9.4 5,391 4,677 4,977 39,701 38,108 4.2

               New Orders.............................. 11,697 5,338 4,433 119.1 20.4 ‐32.3 12,287 3,910 3,929 46,354 38,842 19.3

    All other durable goods:           

               Shipments................................ 40,764 40,666 40,770 0.2 ‐0.3 0.1 41,479 43,310 41,072 366,075 351,830 4.0

               New Orders.............................. 40,928 40,778 40,745 0.4 0.1 ‐0.4 41,698 42,904 40,929 366,974 352,708 4.0

    Capital goods3

:

               Shipments................................ 91,223 89,084 86,619 2.4 2.8 ‐3.5 97,995 89,804 92,258 788,162 733,321 7.5

               New Orders.............................. 93,270 97,563 86,635 ‐4.4 12.6 ‐4.0 99,474 91,766 98,933 806,342 735,646 9.6

           Nondefense capital goods:

               Shipments................................ 79,479 77,425 75,135 2.7 3.0 ‐4.0 85,204 78,184 80,601 687,158 643,458 6.8

               New Orders.............................. 79,113 81,045 75,540 ‐2.4 7.3 ‐3.7 82,083 78,295 81,829 696,989 646,522 7.8

                Excluding aircraft:

                    Shipments........................... 68,784 68,773 68,801 0.0 0.0 1.2 71,939 69,258 69,455 607,467 567,101 7.1

                    New Orders.......................... 69,624 69,697 69,863 ‐0.1 ‐0.2 1.5 72,297 68,904 71,652 614,275 576,186 6.6

           Defense capital goods:

               Shipments................................ 11,744 11,659 11,484 0.7 1.5 0.2 12,791 11,620 11,657 101,004 89,863 12.4

               New Orders.............................. 14,157 16,518 11,095 ‐14.3 48.9 ‐6.1 17,391 13,471 17,104 109,353 89,124 22.7

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 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, September Advance Report, October 25, 2018. 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

Sep Aug Jul Aug ‐ Jul ‐ Jun ‐ Sep Aug Sep 2018/

2018 2 2018 r 2018 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2018 2 2018 r 2017 2017

DURABLE GOODS

   Total:                   

               Unfilled Orders 4......................... 1,186,063 1,176,661 1,166,061 0.8 0.9 0.1 1,178,078 1,170,980 1,121,506 5.0

               Total Inventories....................... 410,719 407,882 408,559 0.7 ‐0.2 1.3 409,909 410,931 391,636 4.7

         Excluding transportation:

               Unfilled Orders 4......................... 367,392 365,934 364,313 0.4 0.4 0.4 364,566 364,823 346,161 5.3

               Total Inventories....................... 280,181 278,505 277,383 0.6 0.4 0.3 279,636 281,166 264,698 5.6

         Excluding defense:

               Unfilled Orders 4

........................... 989,772 989,018 983,644 0.1 0.5 0.1 982,191 985,455 939,503 4.5

               Total Inventories....................... 383,602 380,925 381,401 0.7 ‐0.1 1.4 382,921 383,999 364,630 5.0

    Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 1,186,063 1,176,661 1,166,061 0.8 0.9 0.1 1,178,078 1,170,980 1,121,506 5.0

               Total Inventories....................... 334,446 331,647 332,490 0.8 ‐0.3 1.5 334,058 334,462 318,590 4.9

    Primary metals:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 31,836 31,480 31,072 1.1 1.3 0.7 30,461 31,027 26,280 15.9

               Total Inventories....................... 35,740 35,690 35,554 0.1 0.4 0.8 36,129 36,048 32,926 9.7

    Fabricated metal products:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 84,896 84,746 84,170 0.2 0.7 0.6 84,771 85,251 77,809 8.9

               Total Inventories....................... 54,200 53,753 53,420 0.8 0.6 0.7 54,144 53,958 49,717 8.9

    Machinery:     

               Unfilled Orders......................... 105,613 105,025 104,681 0.6 0.3 0.2 104,906 104,976 102,499 2.3

               Total Inventories....................... 69,497 69,007 68,421 0.7 0.9 0.1 69,516 69,818 66,394 4.7

    Computers and electronic products4

:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 115,668 115,423 115,308 0.2 0.1 0.2 115,498 114,590 111,729 3.4

               Total Inventories....................... 43,383 43,044 43,136 0.8 ‐0.2 ‐0.5 42,979 43,737 42,117 2.0

         Computers and related products:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 2,103 2,055 2,033 2.3 1.1 0.7 2,103 2,055 1,795 17.2

               Total Inventories....................... 3,723 3,683 3,666 1.1 0.5 ‐1.5 3,707 3,820 3,738 ‐0.8

         Communications equipment:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 26,248 26,210 26,107 0.1 0.4 0.3 26,148 26,053 24,481 6.8

               Total Inventories....................... 5,351 5,348 5,387 0.1 ‐0.7 ‐0.5 5,271 5,479 5,174 1.9

    Electrical equipment, appliances,    

        and components:                   

               Unfilled Orders......................... 19,877 19,922 19,856 ‐0.2 0.3 0.8 19,549 19,817 18,893 3.5

               Total Inventories....................... 18,934 18,878 18,835 0.3 0.2 0.6 18,662 19,257 17,457 6.9

    Transportation equipment:    

               Unfilled Orders......................... 818,671 810,727 801,748 1.0 1.1 0.0 813,512 806,157 775,345 4.9

               Total Inventories....................... 130,538 129,377 131,176 0.9 ‐1.4 3.4 130,273 129,765 126,938 2.6

         Motor vehicles and parts:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 26,843 26,826 26,698 0.1 0.5 0.3 26,674 26,651 25,761 3.5

               Total Inventories....................... 36,291 36,551 36,491 ‐0.7 0.2 0.2 36,387 36,979 35,192 3.4

         Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 604,266 605,381 601,612 ‐0.2 0.6 ‐0.1 599,894 602,950 577,981 3.8

               Total Inventories....................... 66,618 65,347 66,910 1.9 ‐2.3 6.5 66,196 65,063 63,888 3.6

         Defense Aircraft and parts:       

               Unfilled Orders......................... 79,646 72,717 72,073 9.5 0.9 ‐0.4 79,147 72,251 72,530 9.1

               Total Inventories....................... 13,138 12,877 12,911 2.0 ‐0.3 0.5 13,115 12,924 12,984 1.0

    All other durable goods:           

               Unfilled Orders......................... 9,502 9,338 9,226 1.8 1.2 ‐0.3 9,381 9,162 8,951 4.8

               Total Inventories....................... 58,427 58,133 58,017 0.5 0.2 0.4 58,206 58,348 56,087 3.8

    Capital goods3

:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 872,369 870,322 861,843 0.2 1.0 0.0 867,273 865,794 841,039 3.1

               Total Inventories....................... 202,287 200,416 201,630 0.9 ‐0.6 1.9 201,434 202,222 194,019 3.8

           Nondefense capital goods:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 717,930 718,296 714,676 ‐0.1 0.5 0.1 712,643 715,764 693,336 2.8

               Total Inventories....................... 179,498 177,812 178,814 0.9 ‐0.6 2.2 178,751 179,690 171,458 4.3

                Excluding aircraft:               

                    Unfilled Orders.................... 222,495 221,655 220,731 0.4 0.4 0.5 221,298 220,940 216,669 2.1

                    Total Inventories................... 125,127 124,478 123,886 0.5 0.5 0.2 124,780 126,534 119,749 4.2

           Defense capital goods:

               Unfilled Orders......................... 154,439 152,026 147,167 1.6 3.3 ‐0.3 154,630 150,030 147,703 4.7

               Total Inventories....................... 22,789 22,604 22,816 0.8 ‐0.9 ‐0.3 22,683 22,532 22,561 0.5

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, September Advance Report, October 25, 2018. 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>.