FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (06)-4 

CB06-82

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

April 2006 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in April 

decreased $10.5 billion or 4.8 percent to $210.2 billion, 

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

follows two consecutive monthly increases, which 

includes a 6.6 percent March increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 1.1 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 3.8 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$8.8 billion or 12.7 percent to $61.0 billion. The 

decrease was led by nondefense aircraft and parts, which 

decreased $6.3 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $2.0 billion or 0.9 percent to $207.0 billion. 

This followed a 0.3 percent March increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$1.8 billion or 3.2 percent to $54.8 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

April, up eleven of the last twelve months, increased 

$9.3 billion or 1.5 percent to $609.2 billion. This was at 

the highest level since the series was first stated on a 

NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 3.2 percent March 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up eleven of the last twelve 

months, had the largest increase, $6.2 billion or 2.0 

percent to $322.0 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up 

three of the last four months, increased $2.2 billion or 

0.8 percent to $277.8 billion. This followed a 1.0 

percent March increase. 

 Computer and electronic products, up three of the last 

four months, had the largest increase, $0.6 billion or 1.5 

percent to $44.3 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April 

decreased $4.6 billion or 6.0 percent to $72.5 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $65.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.9 billion or 2.3 

percent to $311.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.8 

billion or 0.8 percent to $108.5 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in April 

decreased $2.4 billion or 24.2 percent to $7.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 1.5 percent to $7.9 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2 

percent to $126.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 1.2 percent to $14.3 billion. 

Revised and Recently Benchmarked March Data 

 Revised and recently benchmarked seasonally adjusted 

March figures for all manufacturing industries are: new 

orders, $406.6 billion (revised from $419.6 billion); 

shipments, $394.9 billion (revised from $408.0); unfilled 

orders, $599.9 billion (revised from $662.6 billion); and 

total inventories, $457.8 billion (revised from $477.1 

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 June 2, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for May is scheduled for release on June 23, 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

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

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2006 2005 06/05

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 207,014 208,990 208,362 -0.9 0.3 0.3 199,324 233,710 194,694 817,543 765,095 6.9

 New Orders4.............................. 210,160 220,658 207,037 -4.8 6.6 3.6 201,600 246,289 187,614 835,186 752,517 11.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 152,210 152,348 152,571 -0.1 -0.1 0.3 147,243 166,959 139,481 594,511 548,654 8.4

 New Orders4.............................. 149,127 150,777 145,698 -1.1 3.5 -1.2 145,156 165,735 134,493 588,900 538,180 9.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 197,459 199,533 199,382 -1.0 0.1 0.6 190,090 223,273 186,162 781,745 731,442 6.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 201,059 209,024 196,619 -3.8 6.3 1.2 193,259 231,442 181,089 796,348 720,397 10.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 142,870 142,873 141,166 0.0 1.2 -0.3 138,176 159,523 131,983 559,255 518,389 7.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 152,148 161,258 148,006 -5.6 9.0 5.6 146,142 179,415 130,624 603,827 530,064 13.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,766 17,608 17,187 0.9 2.4 -1.6 17,933 19,281 16,666 71,650 66,613 7.6

 New Orders.............................. 18,303 17,739 17,014 3.2 4.3 -3.6 17,968 19,513 15,742 73,290 66,203 10.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,453 24,349 24,319 0.4 0.1 -0.2 23,946 25,840 22,919 95,441 88,399 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 25,176 24,708 24,237 1.9 1.9 -2.4 24,865 26,959 23,420 99,165 91,823 8.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 26,538 26,511 25,809 0.1 2.7 -2.6 27,154 30,262 25,120 105,401 95,485 10.4

 New Orders.............................. 27,465 27,531 26,049 -0.2 5.7 -7.4 28,611 31,427 26,341 112,645 100,741 11.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 34,766 34,950 36,181 -0.5 -3.4 5.1 31,316 39,809 29,277 133,574 122,627 8.9

 New Orders4.............................. 28,658 31,998 28,576 -10.4 12.0 6.3 25,802 36,386 23,347 112,274 103,153 8.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,851 6,790 6,576 0.9 3.3 1.7 6,456 7,925 6,392 25,386 24,331 4.3

 New Orders.............................. 6,725 6,812 6,528 -1.3 4.4 6.4 6,330 7,947 6,460 24,904 23,727 5.0 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 6,292 6,029 5,890 4.4 2.4 -2.8 5,337 6,901 4,072 22,268 18,676 19.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,409 7,447 6,191 -27.4 20.3 10.5 4,621 8,614 4,316 24,069 21,206 13.5

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 6,132 6,717 8,165 -8.7 -17.7 25.8 5,690 7,313 5,721 26,929 24,253 11.0

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,068 9,994 9,876 0.7 1.2 -0.9 9,517 10,773 8,855 38,289 34,731 10.2

 New Orders.............................. 10,589 10,063 10,389 5.2 -3.1 -2.4 10,058 10,600 8,946 40,813 35,737 14.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 54,804 56,642 55,791 -3.2 1.5 0.1 52,081 66,751 55,213 223,032 216,441 3.0

 New Orders.............................. 61,033 69,881 61,339 -12.7 13.9 17.1 56,444 80,554 53,121 246,286 214,337 14.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 39,101 40,237 39,070 -2.8 3.0 -2.6 37,451 47,118 40,813 160,776 161,153 -0.2

 New Orders.............................. 39,896 40,547 39,201 -1.6 3.4 -3.1 38,124 47,151 40,784 162,786 161,246 1.0 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 6,525 7,460 8,084 -12.5 -7.7 17.9 5,899 9,648 5,914 28,478 21,714 31.2

 New Orders.............................. 13,214 19,495 11,624 -32.2 67.7 72.0 11,148 20,634 4,885 48,506 20,664 134.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,589 3,459 3,484 3.8 -0.7 2.2 3,389 3,866 3,156 13,014 12,544 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 2,622 3,469 3,444 -24.4 0.7 -18.7 2,467 4,973 2,236 14,943 10,355 44.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,619 38,936 39,199 -0.8 -0.7 -0.4 37,377 40,994 36,644 150,156 140,799 6.6

 New Orders.............................. 38,936 38,738 39,433 0.5 -1.8 0.5 37,852 40,850 36,697 150,713 140,523 7.3

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 73,488 73,843 72,668 -0.5 1.6 0.3 69,979 84,451 65,093 284,671 256,367 11.0

 New Orders.............................. 80,160 87,223 77,657 -8.1 12.3 11.6 75,426 98,910 64,515 312,929 264,959 18.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 65,564 66,035 65,161 -0.7 1.3 1.1 62,301 75,859 57,858 254,707 227,799 11.8

 New Orders.............................. 72,488 77,107 68,884 -6.0 11.9 4.7 68,560 85,882 59,188 280,786 237,227 18.4

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 61,653 61,084 59,843 0.9 2.1 -0.9 58,867 69,140 54,739 236,801 217,352 8.9

 New Orders.......................... 62,500 63,585 61,404 -1.7 3.6 -1.0 60,639 71,867 56,774 249,211 227,209 9.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,924 7,808 7,507 1.5 4.0 -6.0 7,678 8,592 7,235 29,964 28,568 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 7,672 10,116 8,773 -24.2 15.3 130.7 6,866 13,028 5,327 32,143 27,732 15.9

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

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr 2006/

2006 2 2006 r 2006 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2006 2 2006 r 2005 2005

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 609,181 599,903 581,518 1.5 3.2 1.2 617,000 609,034 502,912 22.7

 Total Inventories....................... 277,826 275,657 273,012 0.8 1.0 -0.5 279,897 275,044 271,818 3.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 287,152 284,103 278,957 1.1 1.8 0.5 292,606 289,003 257,169 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 212,932 211,332 209,238 0.8 1.0 -0.3 214,520 210,998 207,497 3.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 469,169 459,437 443,229 2.1 3.7 1.2 473,415 464,556 355,100 33.3

 Total Inventories....................... 258,864 256,609 254,193 0.9 1.0 -0.5 260,916 256,051 252,884 3.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 609,181 599,903 581,518 1.5 3.2 1.2 617,000 609,034 502,912 22.7

 Total Inventories....................... 215,963 214,233 212,563 0.8 0.8 -0.1 217,562 213,680 210,904 3.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,303 25,766 25,635 2.1 0.5 -0.7 26,914 26,879 21,372 25.9

 Total Inventories....................... 26,335 26,021 25,953 1.2 0.3 1.2 26,490 26,042 26,054 1.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 50,055 49,332 48,973 1.5 0.7 -0.2 50,829 49,910 44,147 15.1

 Total Inventories....................... 35,085 34,954 34,824 0.4 0.4 0.2 35,558 35,417 35,353 0.6

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 66,738 65,811 64,791 1.4 1.6 0.4 68,949 67,492 57,321 20.3

 Total Inventories....................... 44,480 44,240 43,773 0.5 1.1 -0.1 44,751 44,343 42,682 4.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 111,579 111,555 107,790 0.0 3.5 0.5 113,204 113,028 106,099 6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 44,333 43,689 42,421 1.5 3.0 -2.3 44,290 42,494 41,515 6.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,220 4,346 4,324 -2.9 0.5 -1.1 4,220 4,346 4,330 -2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 4,158 4,227 4,149 -1.6 1.9 -0.5 4,125 3,968 4,348 -5.1

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,021 34,904 33,486 -2.5 4.2 0.9 34,813 35,529 34,233 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 10,484 10,092 10,293 3.9 -2.0 0.4 10,425 9,825 9,837 6.0

 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......................... 20,123 19,602 19,533 2.7 0.4 2.7 20,358 19,817 15,985 27.4

 Total Inventories....................... 13,169 13,157 13,084 0.1 0.6 -0.1 13,547 13,359 12,835 5.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 322,029 315,800 302,561 2.0 4.4 1.9 324,394 320,031 245,743 32.0

 Total Inventories....................... 64,894 64,325 63,774 0.9 0.9 -0.9 65,377 64,046 64,321 1.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,633 17,838 17,528 4.5 1.8 0.8 19,102 18,429 15,553 22.8

 Total Inventories....................... 23,611 23,406 23,416 0.9 0.0 -0.4 23,908 23,436 24,276 -1.5 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 188,334 181,645 169,610 3.7 7.1 2.1 187,462 182,213 107,224 74.8

 Total Inventories....................... 22,454 22,034 21,762 1.9 1.2 -1.5 22,550 21,763 21,094 6.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 46,051 47,018 47,008 -2.1 0.0 -0.1 47,437 48,359 46,641 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 11,473 11,458 11,376 0.1 0.7 -0.8 11,491 11,439 11,048 4.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,354 12,037 12,235 2.6 -1.6 1.9 12,352 11,877 12,245 0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 49,530 49,271 49,183 0.5 0.2 0.0 49,884 49,343 49,058 1.7

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 438,030 431,358 417,978 1.5 3.2 1.2 442,953 437,506 356,462 24.3

 Total Inventories....................... 122,760 122,093 121,104 0.5 0.8 -0.1 123,235 121,148 117,936 4.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 311,158 304,234 293,162 2.3 3.8 1.3 312,993 306,734 221,400 41.4

 Total Inventories....................... 108,481 107,646 106,804 0.8 0.8 -0.2 108,955 106,737 103,458 5.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 148,423 147,576 145,075 0.6 1.7 1.1 151,616 149,844 134,879 12.4

 Total Inventories................... 91,256 90,714 90,146 0.6 0.6 0.1 91,705 89,982 88,017 4.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 126,872 127,124 124,816 -0.2 1.8 1.0 129,960 130,772 135,062 -3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,279 14,447 14,300 -1.2 1.0 0.1 14,280 14,411 14,478 -1.4

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.