FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (10)-02 

CB10-38

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

February 2010 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February increased $0.9 billion or 0.5 percent to $178.1 

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

was the third consecutive monthly increase and followed 

a 3.9 percent January increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.9 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 1.6 percent. 

 

 Machinery, up three of the last four months, had the 

largest increase, $1.1 billion or 4.7 percent to $23.3 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in February, 

down two consecutive months, decreased $1.0 billion or 

0.6 percent to $179.8 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent 

January decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $1.5 billion or 3.4 

percent to $43.8 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

February, up two consecutive months, increased $2.9 

billion or 0.4 percent to $722.1 billion. This followed a 

0.2 percent January increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $2.2 billion or 0.5 

percent to $413.2 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

February, up two consecutive months, increased $1.0 

billion or 0.3 percent to $303.9 billion. This followed a 

0.1 percent January increase. 

 Primary metals, up four consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $0.4 billion or 1.6 percent to $26.5 

billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in February 

increased $3.0 billion or 5.2 percent to $60.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 0.3 percent to $57.3 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.1 billion or 0.7 

percent to $412.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 0.2 percent to $132.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in February 

decreased $0.5 billion or 4.5 percent to $10.7 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.5 billion or 4.6 percent to $10.8 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.1 billion or 0.1 

percent to $132.5 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 

billion or 1.7 percent to $20.9 billion. 

Revised January Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted January figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $381.1 

billion (revised from $378.4 billion); shipments, $384.7 

billion (revised from $383.7 billion); unfilled orders, 

$719.2 billion (revised from $717.8 billion); and total 

inventories, $495.3 billion (revised from $495.2 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 March 31, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for March is scheduled for release on April 23, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description and benchmark notice. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders1

[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 

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec- Nov - Feb Jan Feb Change

2010 2 2010 r 2009 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2010 2009 10/09

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 179,800 180,843 180,942 -0.6 -0.1 2.4 167,712 160,739 164,265 328,451 322,645 1.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 178,118 177,205 170,500 0.5 3.9 1.8 167,752 160,879 149,076 328,631 294,944 11.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 135,980 135,503 134,705 0.4 0.6 1.4 125,456 122,106 121,598 247,562 242,492 2.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 132,130 130,906 131,729 0.9 -0.6 1.9 124,346 119,482 114,763 243,828 225,903 7.9

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 165,830 166,065 167,734 -0.1 -1.0 2.9 154,322 148,624 151,576 302,946 300,509 0.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 164,461 161,905 159,155 1.6 1.7 1.7 154,721 146,034 137,494 300,755 273,506 10.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 130,292 130,408 131,932 -0.1 -1.2 2.9 121,824 114,840 119,217 236,664 232,380 1.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 133,207 131,958 125,550 0.9 5.1 2.2 125,760 121,487 106,639 247,247 212,036 16.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 16,837 16,448 16,369 2.4 0.5 7.6 15,890 15,390 13,151 31,280 26,714 17.1

 New Orders.............................. 17,341 17,087 16,726 1.5 2.2 10.1 16,742 16,509 12,075 33,251 24,788 34.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,377 24,009 23,982 1.5 0.1 -0.6 22,607 21,658 22,772 44,265 45,694 -3.1

 New Orders.............................. 24,512 24,060 23,929 1.9 0.5 -2.1 23,259 21,994 21,552 45,253 43,016 5.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 23,144 22,536 24,026 2.7 -6.2 5.7 22,047 20,348 22,823 42,395 45,298 -6.4

 New Orders.............................. 23,344 22,291 24,439 4.7 -8.8 7.3 22,135 21,696 20,822 43,831 41,201 6.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 30,834 31,796 29,695 -3.0 7.1 -1.6 27,297 29,050 24,700 56,347 50,019 12.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 25,994 26,146 25,838 -0.6 1.2 0.5 23,945 22,355 22,751 46,300 42,522 8.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 4,544 4,879 4,691 -6.9 4.0 2.2 3,773 4,152 3,820 7,925 7,591 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 4,386 4,370 4,890 0.4 -10.6 0.4 3,615 3,643 3,823 7,258 7,190 0.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,794 4,874 4,837 -1.6 0.8 -4.0 4,043 3,813 4,060 7,856 7,876 -0.3

 New Orders.............................. 5,030 5,116 4,968 -1.7 3.0 1.7 4,851 4,040 4,577 8,891 8,442 5.3

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 4,597 5,188 4,060 -11.4 27.8 -0.4 3,896 6,507 2,611 10,403 7,357 41.4

 New Orders4

.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,551 8,444 8,616 1.3 -2.0 0.5 7,932 7,419 8,039 15,351 15,775 -2.7

 New Orders.............................. 8,433 8,724 8,440 -3.3 3.4 -4.1 8,223 8,367 7,936 16,590 15,949 4.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 43,820 45,340 46,237 -3.4 -1.9 5.2 42,256 38,633 42,667 80,889 80,153 0.9

 New Orders.............................. 45,988 46,299 38,771 -0.7 19.4 1.6 43,406 41,397 34,313 84,803 69,041 22.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 24,834 25,342 25,704 -2.0 -1.4 4.7 24,702 23,026 24,301 47,728 47,130 1.3

 New Orders.............................. 24,656 25,140 25,732 -1.9 -2.3 5.7 24,573 23,172 24,307 47,745 47,106 1.4

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 6,605 6,811 8,742 -3.0 -22.1 17.5 5,963 5,025 7,235 10,988 13,746 -20.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,764 7,358 3,132 32.7 134.9 -28.4 8,208 4,954 1,084 13,162 5,125 156.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,904 6,237 5,783 -5.3 7.9 0.9 5,444 4,897 4,785 10,341 8,383 23.4

 New Orders.............................. 5,611 6,927 5,904 -19.0 17.3 22.7 5,237 6,793 4,678 12,030 8,673 38.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,237 32,270 32,017 -0.1 0.8 0.0 29,683 28,241 30,113 57,924 58,992 -1.8

 New Orders.............................. 32,506 32,598 32,357 -0.3 0.7 0.1 30,042 28,561 29,627 58,603 58,427 0.3

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 68,143 68,505 70,121 -0.5 -2.3 2.9 63,644 59,539 63,584 123,183 123,086 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 71,075 68,608 63,332 3.6 8.3 2.0 66,700 62,062 54,598 128,762 106,711 20.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 57,313 57,152 59,784 0.3 -4.4 4.1 52,994 50,017 53,436 103,011 105,666 -2.5

 New Orders.............................. 60,376 57,402 55,000 5.2 4.4 2.2 56,327 51,081 45,042 107,408 89,321 20.2

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 54,190 53,747 54,783 0.8 -1.9 2.3 50,265 47,989 49,941 98,254 98,754 -0.5

 New Orders.......................... 53,652 53,051 55,212 1.1 -3.9 3.0 51,366 49,070 47,809 100,436 93,383 7.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,830 11,353 10,337 -4.6 9.8 -3.6 10,650 9,522 10,148 20,172 17,420 15.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,699 11,206 8,332 -4.5 34.5 0.6 10,373 10,981 9,556 21,354 17,390 22.8

NA Not Available 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. Further details on survey design, 

methodology, and data limitations are contained in our most recent annual benchmark publication, Current Industrial Reports: M3-3(07), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2004-2007."

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 equipmen

4 Data on new and unfilled orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Inventories for semiconductor industry data are included in computers and electronic products and total durable goods industries, but are not shown separately
 3

Table 2. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders and Total Inventories1

[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 

Feb Jan Dec Jan - Dec - Nov - Feb Jan Feb 2010/

2010 2 2010 r 2009 Feb 2 Jan r Dec 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2009

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 722,137 719,222 717,672 0.4 0.2 -0.9 727,417 723,481 778,409 -6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 303,918 302,894 302,714 0.3 0.1 -0.2 307,271 303,140 337,834 -9.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 308,910 308,163 307,572 0.2 0.2 0.4 309,746 306,960 321,686 -3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 213,609 212,781 213,182 0.4 -0.2 -0.1 216,605 213,807 243,142 -10.9

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 573,458 570,230 569,202 0.6 0.2 -0.8 576,704 572,409 616,551 -6.5

 Total Inventories....................... 276,830 276,179 276,421 0.2 -0.1 -0.2 280,166 276,427 312,070 -10.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 722,137 719,222 717,672 0.4 0.2 -0.9 727,417 723,481 778,409 -6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 246,029 245,132 244,369 0.4 0.3 -0.2 248,323 245,186 271,625 -8.6

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,751 16,247 15,608 3.1 4.1 2.3 16,946 16,094 16,401 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 26,524 26,098 25,805 1.6 1.1 1.1 26,526 26,170 29,927 -11.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 49,210 49,075 49,024 0.3 0.1 -0.1 48,872 48,220 54,057 -9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 36,976 36,663 36,738 0.9 -0.2 -0.6 37,555 37,003 43,008 -12.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,827 87,627 87,872 0.2 -0.3 0.5 88,227 88,139 93,814 -6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 46,968 47,121 47,534 -0.3 -0.9 -0.5 47,961 47,411 55,390 -13.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 122,293 122,536 122,998 -0.2 -0.4 0.2 122,954 122,410 124,439 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 43,294 43,064 43,402 0.5 -0.8 1.2 43,913 43,213 47,448 -7.5

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,040 4,198 4,707 -3.8 -10.8 4.4 4,040 4,198 3,689 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 4,298 4,265 4,198 0.8 1.6 2.2 4,347 4,099 4,744 -8.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 38,001 37,765 37,523 0.6 0.6 0.4 38,117 37,309 37,320 2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 9,466 9,321 9,350 1.6 -0.3 3.1 9,693 9,492 10,523 -7.9

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Total Inventories4....................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 20,369 20,487 20,207 -0.6 1.4 -0.9 20,665 20,374 21,773 -5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 12,105 12,109 12,022 0.0 0.7 -1.0 12,387 12,226 14,094 -12.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 413,227 411,059 410,100 0.5 0.2 -1.8 417,671 416,521 456,723 -8.6

 Total Inventories....................... 90,309 90,113 89,532 0.2 0.6 -0.5 90,666 89,333 94,692 -4.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,680 13,858 14,060 -1.3 -1.4 0.2 14,090 14,219 15,625 -9.8

 Total Inventories....................... 18,512 18,519 18,543 0.0 -0.1 1.6 18,839 18,741 20,605 -8.6

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 274,274 271,115 270,568 1.2 0.2 -2.0 276,505 274,260 299,489 -7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 45,800 45,441 44,988 0.8 1.0 -0.5 45,800 44,509 47,291 -3.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 45,868 46,161 45,471 -0.6 1.5 0.3 46,682 46,889 48,517 -3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 15,948 15,743 15,330 1.3 2.7 -1.9 15,840 15,630 14,914 6.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,460 12,191 11,863 2.2 2.8 3.0 12,082 11,723 11,202 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 47,742 47,726 47,681 0.0 0.1 -0.7 48,263 47,784 53,275 -9.4

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 544,813 541,881 541,778 0.5 0.0 -1.2 549,460 546,404 597,560 -8.0

 Total Inventories....................... 153,162 152,568 151,378 0.4 0.8 -0.7 154,705 151,895 166,594 -7.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 412,291 409,228 408,978 0.7 0.1 -1.2 415,238 411,905 451,925 -8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 132,279 132,038 131,455 0.2 0.4 -0.6 133,697 131,254 146,617 -8.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 173,094 173,632 174,328 -0.3 -0.4 0.2 174,257 173,156 187,811 -7.2

 Total Inventories................... 95,845 96,018 95,953 -0.2 0.1 -0.2 97,284 96,120 108,995 -10.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 132,522 132,653 132,800 -0.1 -0.1 -1.5 134,222 134,499 145,635 -7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 20,883 20,530 19,923 1.7 3.0 -1.6 21,008 20,641 19,977 5.2

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 59 

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 will be issued on 

May 14, 2010. These revisions reflect: 

o benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2007 Economic Census and the 2008 Annual 

Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data; 

o adjusting new orders and order backlog to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and 

inventory data; 

o correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to 

previously reported data; and 

o updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series. 

As of the Benchmark release, shipments for the semiconductor industry will no longer be shown separately, 

but will be included in the computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. An 

accompanying press release will include the revised 2010 January through March data. Please call 

Chris Savage on (301)763-4832 with any questions.