FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (10)-12 

CB11-16

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

December 2010 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December decreased $5.0 billion or 2.5 percent to 

$191.0 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This decrease, down four of the last five months, 

followed a 0.1 percent November decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 0.5 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.5 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down four of the last 

five months, had the largest decrease, $5.8 billion or 

12.8 percent to $39.2 billion. This was due to 

nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased $5.0 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up three of the last four months, increased 

$2.8 billion or 1.4 percent to $200.4 billion. This 

followed a 0.5 percent November increase. 

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

largest increase, $1.7 billion or 6.7 percent to $27.1 

billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December, down following eight consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $3.6 billion or 0.4 percent to $822.8 

billion. This followed a 0.5 percent November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $8.7 billion or 1.8 

percent to $473.6 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up twelve consecutive months, increased 

$2.1 billion or 0.7 percent to $322.0 billion. This 

followed a 0.9 percent November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twelve consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $1.6 billion or 1.9 

percent to $86.3 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in December 

decreased $4.2 billion or 6.3 percent to $61.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.8 billion or 2.8 percent to $67.1 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.7 billion or 1.1 

percent to $498.8 billion. Inventories increased $1.2 

billion or 0.9 percent to $136.9 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in December 

decreased $0.3 billion or 3.6 percent to $8.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 1.5 percent to $8.9 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.4 billion or 0.3 

percent to $139.0 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 

billion or 0.8 percent to $17.6 billion. 

Revised November Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted November figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $424.5 

billion (revised from $423.8 billion); shipments, $426.0 

billion (revised from $424.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$826.4 billion (revised from $826.9 billion); and total 

inventories, $544.6 billion (revised from $543.8 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 February 3, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for January is scheduled for release on February 24, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for survey description and 2011 release schedule. 
 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

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec Change

2010 22010 r 2010 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2010 22010 r 2009 2010 2009 10/09

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 200,388 197,566 196,626 1.4 0.5 -0.9 201,290 192,490 193,302 2,357,354 2,197,852 7.3

 New Orders4.............................. 191,041 195,991 196,225 -2.5 -0.1 -3.1 204,978 187,547 192,940 2,318,004 2,040,285 13.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 152,495 150,833 148,543 1.1 1.5 -0.7 150,390 146,034 138,284 1,773,407 1,618,840 9.5

 New Orders4.............................. 151,869 151,057 144,510 0.5 4.5 -2.0 151,224 142,882 134,747 1,738,515 1,528,275 13.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 189,169 186,207 185,259 1.6 0.5 -0.5 189,006 181,119 178,865 2,208,667 2,037,529 8.4

 New Orders4.............................. 179,600 184,247 186,177 -2.5 -1.0 -1.6 188,125 177,167 175,913 2,168,994 1,894,724 14.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 146,934 144,471 142,941 1.7 1.1 -0.7 148,997 140,332 143,275 1,717,409 1,599,234 7.4

 New Orders.............................. 143,299 148,795 148,634 -3.7 0.1 -4.0 157,070 141,166 146,815 1,747,631 1,499,270 16.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 21,545 21,019 20,104 2.5 4.6 0.4 18,557 19,582 15,689 239,105 181,563 31.7

 New Orders.............................. 22,067 23,158 20,342 -4.7 13.8 0.1 19,680 20,809 15,968 243,739 177,998 36.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,742 27,554 27,275 0.7 1.0 -0.1 25,595 26,491 24,186 326,961 311,454 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 27,472 27,752 26,957 -1.0 2.9 -1.3 25,508 26,261 24,326 327,445 301,415 8.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 27,109 25,408 24,767 6.7 2.6 -2.9 28,223 23,625 24,072 297,765 275,300 8.2

 New Orders.............................. 30,234 27,333 27,253 10.6 0.3 -1.8 30,149 24,763 23,657 318,503 262,008 21.6

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Shipments................................ 32,945 33,778 33,743 -2.5 0.1 -1.9 36,055 33,836 34,126 396,752 356,842 11.2

 New Orders.............................. 28,214 28,547 26,815 -1.2 6.5 -7.7 34,416 27,541 31,532 330,098 295,903 11.6

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,090 6,461 6,470 -5.7 -0.1 -3.0 7,683 6,192 7,042 73,881 63,573 16.2

 New Orders.............................. 6,024 6,783 6,321 -11.2 7.3 -7.2 7,617 6,514 7,269 74,089 63,426 16.8

 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,192 3,442 3,335 -7.3 3.2 -2.0 3,676 3,782 4,426 42,107 44,434 -5.2

 New Orders.............................. 3,614 3,487 3,139 3.6 11.1 -13.3 4,672 2,945 4,622 42,007 44,696 -6.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,037 9,861 9,690 1.8 1.8 1.4 9,919 9,670 8,941 114,851 107,688 6.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,745 10,751 9,902 -0.1 8.6 -2.0 10,008 10,409 8,165 119,871 105,500 13.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 47,893 46,733 48,083 2.5 -2.8 -1.7 50,900 46,456 55,018 583,947 579,012 0.9

 New Orders.............................. 39,172 44,934 51,715 -12.8 -13.1 -6.2 53,754 44,665 58,193 579,489 512,010 13.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 29,976 29,455 30,067 1.8 -2.0 -1.2 29,024 29,373 28,947 360,887 331,272 8.9

 New Orders.............................. 30,136 29,645 30,345 1.7 -2.3 -0.9 29,612 29,624 29,290 360,724 329,692 9.4

 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,480 6,659 7,182 12.3 -7.3 2.6 9,936 6,641 12,026 84,602 97,024 -12.8

 New Orders.............................. 24 5,019 12,427 -99.5 -59.6 -6.8 10,573 5,744 14,076 90,520 54,571 65.9

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,575 4,859 4,798 -5.8 1.3 -5.4 5,404 4,724 6,699 62,049 65,603 -5.4

 New Orders.............................. 4,533 5,085 4,738 -10.9 7.3 -24.4 6,591 4,639 7,996 62,877 62,318 0.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,117 33,213 32,964 -0.3 0.8 0.6 32,041 32,830 31,270 397,973 385,993 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 33,137 33,516 33,241 -1.1 0.8 1.0 31,463 33,099 31,099 398,859 385,451 3.5

 Capital goods3:

 Shipments................................ 75,935 73,957 73,841 2.7 0.2 -1.3 83,599 72,221 80,897 884,466 846,897 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 69,827 74,291 78,938 -6.0 -5.9 -6.6 88,110 71,576 84,468 904,738 761,884 18.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 67,070 65,225 64,966 2.8 0.4 -0.2 74,279 63,361 69,600 766,214 717,215 6.8

 New Orders.............................. 61,383 65,535 71,307 -6.3 -8.1 -3.8 75,195 63,940 70,806 787,827 645,589 22.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,545 61,521 60,669 1.7 1.4 -1.0 67,755 59,592 61,069 716,356 655,050 9.4

 New Orders.......................... 64,975 64,109 62,153 1.4 3.1 -3.2 69,258 61,260 60,309 733,740 628,046 16.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,865 8,732 8,875 1.5 -1.6 -8.9 9,320 8,860 11,297 118,252 129,682 -8.8

 New Orders.............................. 8,444 8,756 7,631 -3.6 14.7 -26.8 12,915 7,636 13,662 116,911 116,295 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 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

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec 2010/

2010 22010 r 2010 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2010 22010 r 2009 2009

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 822,753 826,388 822,064 -0.4 0.5 0.7 822,908 814,835 792,686 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 322,039 319,946 317,215 0.7 0.9 0.6 314,610 321,649 288,071 9.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 349,200 344,114 337,991 1.5 1.8 0.6 344,409 339,190 309,729 11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 235,759 235,241 234,028 0.2 0.5 0.6 231,132 236,312 215,217 7.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 668,656 672,513 668,574 -0.6 0.6 1.1 669,033 665,529 639,134 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 299,060 296,858 294,524 0.7 0.8 0.6 291,807 298,593 265,009 10.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 822,753 826,388 822,064 -0.4 0.5 0.7 822,908 814,835 792,686 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 262,502 260,665 258,311 0.7 0.9 0.7 256,346 262,145 232,705 10.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,721 21,199 19,060 2.5 11.2 1.3 21,005 19,882 16,371 28.3

 Total Inventories....................... 31,700 31,505 31,002 0.6 1.6 1.3 31,401 31,499 27,094 15.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,722 53,992 53,794 -0.5 0.4 -0.6 52,558 52,645 52,074 0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 42,518 42,372 42,079 0.3 0.7 0.5 41,798 42,064 38,982 7.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 109,426 106,301 104,376 2.9 1.8 2.4 107,904 105,978 87,166 23.8

 Total Inventories....................... 52,944 52,959 52,497 0.0 0.9 1.0 51,641 53,654 48,578 6.3

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,246 123,265 122,597 0.8 0.5 -0.7 124,427 121,681 121,509 2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 46,150 46,029 46,086 0.3 -0.1 0.6 45,217 46,810 42,765 5.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 5,579 5,645 5,323 -1.2 6.0 -2.7 5,579 5,645 5,371 3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 4,421 4,567 4,724 -3.2 -3.3 2.8 4,199 4,759 4,250 -1.2

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,706 28,284 28,239 1.5 0.2 -0.7 28,674 27,678 28,774 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 8,367 8,395 8,341 -0.3 0.6 1.4 8,353 8,592 7,671 8.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,135 26,427 25,537 2.7 3.5 0.8 26,121 26,032 21,101 23.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,747 14,860 14,909 -0.8 -0.3 0.5 14,278 14,781 12,941 10.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 473,553 482,274 484,073 -1.8 -0.4 0.8 478,499 475,645 482,957 -0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 86,280 84,705 83,187 1.9 1.8 0.4 83,478 85,337 72,854 14.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,340 14,180 13,990 1.1 1.4 2.0 14,485 13,897 14,648 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 21,840 21,776 21,390 0.3 1.8 0.9 21,228 21,940 17,628 20.4

 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 324,470 331,926 333,566 -2.2 -0.5 1.6 329,483 328,846 323,565 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 41,793 40,214 39,500 3.9 1.8 0.7 40,044 40,655 31,997 25.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,884 48,926 48,700 -0.1 0.5 -0.1 48,576 47,389 47,748 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 12,029 12,157 11,865 -1.1 2.5 -0.3 11,880 12,117 11,766 1.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,950 12,930 12,627 0.2 2.4 2.2 12,394 12,972 11,508 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 47,700 47,516 47,455 0.4 0.1 0.0 46,797 47,504 44,857 4.3

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 637,820 643,928 643,594 -0.9 0.1 0.8 640,724 636,213 620,452 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 154,430 153,382 151,995 0.7 0.9 0.7 150,460 155,213 137,099 9.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 498,849 504,536 504,226 -1.1 0.1 1.3 501,782 500,866 480,169 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 136,876 135,681 134,651 0.9 0.8 0.8 132,933 137,504 119,417 11.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 206,487 204,057 201,469 1.2 1.3 0.7 204,246 202,743 186,862 9.3

 Total Inventories................... 103,690 103,768 103,373 -0.1 0.4 0.7 101,246 105,226 95,348 6.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,971 139,392 139,368 -0.3 0.0 -0.9 138,942 135,347 140,283 -1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 17,554 17,701 17,344 -0.8 2.1 0.0 17,527 17,709 17,682 -0.9

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 4,300 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 64 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 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-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.

2011 Release Dates for M3 Survey 

Survey Month Advance Report 8:30 A.M. Full Report 10:00 A.M.

November 2010 Dec. 23, 2010 Jan. 4, 2011 

December 2010 Jan. 27, 2011 Feb. 3, 2011 

January 2011 Feb. 24, 2011 Mar. 4, 2011 

February 2011 Mar. 24, 2011 Mar. 31, 2011 

March 2011 Apr. 27, 2011 May 3, 2011 

April 2011 May 25, 2011 Jun. 2, 2011 

May 2011 Jun. 24, 2011 Jul. 5, 2011 

June 2011 Jul. 27, 2011 Aug. 3, 2011 

July 2011 Aug. 24, 2011 Aug. 31, 2011 

August 2011 Sep. 28, 2011 Oct. 4, 2011 

September 2011 Oct. 26, 2011 Nov. 3, 2011 

October 2011 Nov. 23, 2011 Dec. 5, 2011 

November 2011 Dec. 23, 2011