FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (06)-8 

CB06-147

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

August 2006 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in August 

decreased $1.0 billion or 0.5 percent to $209.7 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the 

second consecutive monthly decrease and followed a 2.7 

percent July decrease. Excluding transportation, new 

orders decreased 2.0 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 0.8 percent. 

 

 Computers and electronic products, down following 

two consecutive monthly increases, had the largest 

decrease, $1.5 billion or 4.7 percent to $29.5 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, 

up three of the last four months, increased $4.0 billion or 

1.9 percent to $214.2 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis 

in 1992 and followed a 1.3 percent July decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$3.1 billion or 5.9 percent to $56.9 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

August, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased 

$2.4 billion or 0.4 percent to $631.9 billion. This was at 

the highest level since the series began and followed a 

1.2 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up fifteen of the last sixteen 

months, had the largest increase, $1.9 billion or 0.6 

percent to $331.2 billion. This was at the highest level 

since the series began. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, 

up seven of the last eight months, increased $0.7 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $287.1 billion. This followed a 1.1 

percent July increase. 

 Primary metals, up nine consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $0.4 billion or 1.4 percent to $28.4 

billion. This was at the highest level since the series 

began. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August 

decreased $2.5 billion or 3.5 percent to $68.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.6 billion or 0.9 percent to $67.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.2 billion or 0.4 

percent to $325.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.6 

billion or 0.5 percent to $110.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in August 

increased $0.5 billion or 6.1 percent to $9.5 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 5.4 percent to $8.2 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.3 billion or 1.0 

percent to $130.2 billion. Inventories decreased slightly 

or 0.3 percent to $14.4 billion. 

Revised July Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $403.9 

billion (revised from $405.1 billion); shipments, $403.4 

billion (revised from $403.9 billion); unfilled orders, 

$629.4 billion (revised from $630.2 billion); and total 

inventories, $473.8 billion (revised from $473.0 billion).

Figures in text, other than year-to-date, are in seasonally adjusted current dollars. 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 4, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. 

The advance report on durable goods for September is scheduled for release on October 26, 2006, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See 

back page for survey description. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item Percent

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

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2006 2005 06/05

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 214,247 210,255 212,998 1.9 -1.3 0.2 218,586 182,767 204,570 1,670,071 1,552,066 7.6

 New Orders4.............................. 209,746 210,773 216,667 -0.5 -2.7 3.3 209,974 182,738 202,704 1,671,756 1,541,309 8.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 157,348 156,503 155,955 0.5 0.4 0.6 159,073 144,299 146,379 1,224,213 1,120,821 9.2

 New Orders4.............................. 150,985 154,134 154,112 -2.0 0.0 1.8 150,098 142,313 142,674 1,197,858 1,090,704 9.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 204,415 200,938 203,555 1.7 -1.3 0.2 208,836 174,223 195,850 1,596,512 1,483,107 7.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 198,666 200,278 204,695 -0.8 -2.2 1.5 200,707 175,035 197,083 1,598,230 1,482,585 7.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 150,270 147,647 147,049 1.8 0.4 0.5 152,632 130,350 137,623 1,152,618 1,052,100 9.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 152,703 155,040 157,353 -1.5 -1.5 4.6 150,856 136,410 142,391 1,208,096 1,090,342 10.8

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 20,109 19,978 19,532 0.7 2.3 2.3 20,710 18,184 16,433 150,922 129,809 16.3

 New Orders.............................. 19,627 20,052 19,725 -2.1 1.7 0.1 20,375 18,169 17,476 152,556 129,188 18.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,040 24,692 24,888 1.4 -0.8 0.6 26,520 23,101 24,416 197,315 182,058 8.4

 New Orders.............................. 25,488 24,844 26,639 2.6 -6.7 5.3 26,336 23,399 24,814 203,772 187,709 8.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 27,769 27,661 27,429 0.4 0.8 1.8 27,111 25,904 24,371 216,366 193,869 11.6

 New Orders.............................. 28,285 28,878 28,737 -2.1 0.5 0.4 26,926 26,706 24,743 224,920 199,370 12.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 35,722 35,492 34,949 0.6 1.6 -0.4 34,296 31,321 32,329 272,545 250,471 8.8

 New Orders4.............................. 29,541 30,992 29,479 -4.7 5.1 5.7 27,157 27,049 26,031 225,577 207,465 8.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,762 6,929 6,019 -2.4 15.1 -3.9 6,062 6,612 6,140 50,663 49,525 2.3

 New Orders.............................. 6,406 7,060 6,128 -9.3 15.2 -1.7 5,706 6,743 6,404 50,045 49,205 1.7 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 5,597 5,346 6,072 4.7 -12.0 3.5 5,344 4,395 5,017 44,915 38,776 15.8

 New Orders.............................. 6,389 5,971 6,580 7.0 -9.3 15.0 5,285 4,808 4,480 46,738 41,055 13.8

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 6,934 6,875 6,635 0.9 3.6 -5.7 6,836 6,089 6,634 53,793 48,999 9.8

 New Orders4.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,396 10,291 10,238 1.0 0.5 -1.7 10,651 9,362 9,807 79,811 72,211 10.5

 New Orders.............................. 9,844 10,843 10,817 -9.2 0.2 -2.2 9,909 10,213 10,299 83,636 74,247 12.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 56,899 53,752 57,043 5.9 -5.8 -1.0 59,513 38,468 58,191 445,858 431,245 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 58,761 56,639 62,555 3.7 -9.5 7.0 59,876 40,425 60,030 473,898 450,605 5.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 39,665 37,513 40,459 5.7 -7.3 -0.8 42,669 24,968 43,655 317,125 317,098 0.0

 New Orders.............................. 39,569 37,904 40,703 4.4 -6.9 -0.3 42,214 25,837 43,559 318,758 317,242 0.5 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,081 7,467 7,986 8.2 -6.5 0.5 7,691 5,800 5,933 60,071 45,998 30.6

 New Orders.............................. 7,706 9,872 11,282 -21.9 -12.5 7.2 7,319 8,360 11,152 87,530 72,334 21.0

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,602 3,396 3,231 6.1 5.1 -8.1 3,579 3,025 3,273 26,387 25,428 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 3,351 3,051 2,999 9.8 1.7 9.0 2,513 2,102 1,841 24,452 18,445 32.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,312 38,389 38,919 -0.2 -1.4 0.4 39,785 36,427 39,023 307,254 292,403 5.1

 New Orders.............................. 38,200 38,525 38,715 -0.8 -0.5 -0.3 39,395 36,777 39,311 307,397 292,725 5.0

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 75,697 74,656 74,452 1.4 0.3 -0.1 73,910 67,413 67,476 583,793 525,829 11.0

 New Orders.............................. 78,195 80,122 82,081 -2.4 -2.4 6.2 73,115 70,573 70,107 620,404 556,418 11.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 67,494 66,874 66,434 0.9 0.7 -0.2 65,760 60,190 60,076 521,969 467,242 11.7

 New Orders.............................. 68,738 71,211 71,652 -3.5 -0.6 1.7 65,214 64,069 65,364 558,392 506,066 10.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,315 62,156 61,200 0.3 1.6 -0.2 60,776 56,754 56,426 483,526 443,518 9.0

 New Orders.......................... 63,954 64,123 63,523 -0.3 0.9 0.9 60,548 58,291 56,818 498,577 454,469 9.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,203 7,782 8,018 5.4 -2.9 1.2 8,150 7,223 7,400 61,824 58,587 5.5

 New Orders.............................. 9,457 8,911 10,429 6.1 -14.6 51.7 7,901 6,504 4,743 62,012 50,352 23.2

NA Not Available r Revised

1

 Shipments and new orders are the totals for the period and are adjusted for trading-day and calendar-month variations; unfilled orders and total inventories are as of the end of the period and are no

adjusted for trading-day or calendar-month variations

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, whic

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(05), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2005

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; vendin

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

other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, an

control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; an

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 equipme

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 separatel
 3

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

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2006/

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2005

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 631,866 629,433 622,040 0.4 1.2 1.7 627,906 629,682 529,479 18.6

 Total Inventories....................... 287,082 286,384 283,293 0.2 1.1 0.9 290,171 289,179 272,836 6.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 300,631 300,060 295,554 0.2 1.5 1.6 298,726 300,865 262,272 13.9

 Total Inventories....................... 220,645 219,244 216,864 0.6 1.1 0.7 222,869 221,073 208,322 7.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 488,923 487,738 481,523 0.2 1.3 1.6 487,394 488,687 390,369 24.9

 Total Inventories....................... 268,001 267,293 264,501 0.3 1.1 1.1 270,920 269,927 253,669 6.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 631,866 629,433 622,040 0.4 1.2 1.7 627,906 629,682 529,479 18.6

 Total Inventories....................... 222,649 222,467 220,283 0.1 1.0 0.8 224,794 224,616 210,534 6.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,000 27,482 27,408 -1.8 0.3 0.7 26,908 27,243 21,161 27.2

 Total Inventories....................... 28,419 28,024 27,475 1.4 2.0 1.1 28,459 28,205 25,486 11.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,211 52,763 52,611 0.8 0.3 3.4 53,562 53,746 46,374 15.5

 Total Inventories....................... 36,757 36,445 36,040 0.9 1.1 1.5 36,910 36,903 34,413 7.3

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 71,332 70,816 69,599 0.7 1.7 1.9 70,259 70,444 57,566 22.0

 Total Inventories....................... 45,317 45,155 44,860 0.4 0.7 -0.1 45,775 45,186 43,705 4.7

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 115,577 114,824 112,449 0.7 2.1 1.0 114,400 114,703 107,313 6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 45,041 45,064 44,627 -0.1 1.0 0.4 46,227 45,902 42,712 8.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,084 4,440 4,309 -8.0 3.0 2.6 4,084 4,440 4,614 -11.5

 Total Inventories....................... 4,199 4,204 4,179 -0.1 0.6 2.5 4,491 4,286 4,741 -5.3

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,631 34,839 34,214 2.3 1.8 1.5 34,835 34,894 33,982 2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 9,821 9,931 9,896 -1.1 0.4 -2.8 9,951 9,975 10,031 -0.8

 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......................... 21,581 22,133 21,581 -2.5 2.6 2.8 21,659 22,401 17,015 27.3

 Total Inventories....................... 14,051 13,862 13,602 1.4 1.9 2.1 14,090 13,880 12,431 13.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 331,235 329,373 326,486 0.6 0.9 1.7 329,180 328,817 267,207 23.2

 Total Inventories....................... 66,437 67,140 66,429 -1.0 1.1 1.3 67,302 68,106 64,514 4.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 19,031 19,127 18,736 -0.5 2.1 1.3 18,725 19,180 15,604 20.0

 Total Inventories....................... 24,205 24,025 23,715 0.7 1.3 0.4 24,484 24,337 23,872 2.6 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 195,006 195,381 192,976 -0.2 1.2 1.7 194,893 195,265 134,610 44.8

 Total Inventories....................... 22,757 23,665 23,490 -3.8 0.7 3.4 23,144 24,126 21,150 9.4

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,181 44,432 44,777 -0.6 -0.8 -0.5 43,573 44,639 41,847 4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 11,760 11,837 11,714 -0.7 1.1 0.0 11,847 11,970 11,348 4.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,930 12,042 11,906 -0.9 1.1 -1.7 11,938 12,328 12,843 -7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 51,060 50,694 50,260 0.7 0.9 0.7 51,408 50,997 49,575 3.7

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 455,459 452,961 447,495 0.6 1.2 1.7 451,306 452,101 378,459 19.2

 Total Inventories....................... 124,676 125,328 124,088 -0.5 1.0 0.8 126,459 126,230 121,010 4.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 325,255 324,011 319,674 0.4 1.4 1.7 323,337 323,883 250,796 28.9

 Total Inventories....................... 110,316 110,923 109,976 -0.5 0.9 1.1 112,016 111,797 106,457 5.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 155,857 154,218 152,251 1.1 1.3 1.5 154,257 154,485 135,973 13.4

 Total Inventories................... 93,282 92,880 92,022 0.4 0.9 0.6 94,700 93,375 90,222 5.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 130,204 128,950 127,821 1.0 0.9 1.9 127,969 128,218 127,663 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 14,360 14,405 14,112 -0.3 2.1 -1.4 14,443 14,433 14,553 -0.8

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-in-process, and finished goods). The M3 includes 

approximately 4,200 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-tomonth changes of the total operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-tomonth 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 62 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 4,200 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 4,200 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-tomonth 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.