FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (15)-11 

CB 15-213

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

November 2015 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November increased $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged 

to $238.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This increase, up two consecutive months, 

followed a 2.9 percent October increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 0.1 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 1.5 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, drove the increase, $0.3 billion or 0.4 percent to 

$82.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up two of the last three months, increased 

$2.1 billion, or 0.9 percent, to $241.8 billion. This 

followed a 1.2 percent October decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three 

months, drove the increase, $2.3 billion or 2.9 percent to 

$80.8 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November, up two consecutive months, increased $1.9 

billion or 0.2 percent to $1,194.0 billion. This followed 

a 0.3 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, led the increase, $1.3 billion or 0.2 percent to 

$799.5 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

November, down six of the last seven months, decreased 

$1.1 billion, or 0.3 percent, to $395.7 billion. This 

followed a 0.3 percent October decrease. 

 Transportation, down four of the last five months, led 

the decrease, $0.8 billion or 0.6 percent to $129.8 

billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November 

decreased $5.2 billion or 6.3 percent to $77.2 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.8 billion or 2.3 percent to $80.2 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $3.1 billion or 0.4 

percent to $754.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.7 

billion or 0.4 percent to $174.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in November 

increased $4.3 billion or 44.4 percent to $14.1 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.8 billion or 7.5 percent to $9.8 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $4.3 billion or 2.9 

percent to $151.3 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 

billion or 1.9 percent to $21.4 billion. 

Revised October Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $473.6 

billion (revised from $473.9 billion); shipments, $474.6 

billion (revised from $475.2 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,192.1 billion (revised from $1,191.8 billion); and 

total inventories, $643.1 billion (revised from $643.6 

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 January 6, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for December is 

scheduled for release on January 28, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for survey description. To receive the latest updates on the 

Nation's key economic indicators, download the America's Economy app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. To learn more 

about this release and the other indicators the U.S. Census Bureau publishes, join us for the Investigating Economic Indicators Webinar 

Series. For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar. 

“Virtually unchanged” indicates that the change is less than 0.05 percent for a percent increase or decrease. 
 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 Percent

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov Change

2015 2 2015 r 2015 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2015 2 2015 r 2014 2015 2014 2015/2014

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 241,830 239,689 242,610 0.9 -1.2 0.3 231,258 245,772 223,981 2,642,442 2,595,249 1.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 238,776 238,701 232,015 0.0 2.9 -0.8 227,606 240,111 222,153 2,555,130 2,652,064 -3.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 160,996 161,110 161,867 -0.1 -0.5 0.2 153,223 164,567 153,749 1,782,743 1,799,783 -0.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 156,593 156,821 156,034 -0.1 0.5 -0.1 145,950 157,684 147,308 1,722,699 1,768,562 -2.6

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 229,583 226,542 229,673 1.3 -1.4 0.0 218,582 232,838 211,237 2,508,695 2,465,292 1.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 222,256 225,564 218,940 -1.5 3.0 -1.6 212,466 227,705 212,364 2,429,040 2,522,205 -3.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 172,501 171,283 173,217 0.7 -1.1 -0.1 164,704 173,053 161,823 1,889,532 1,851,969 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 174,427 174,965 167,472 -0.3 4.5 -1.5 166,406 172,925 165,260 1,856,065 1,970,526 -5.8

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,735 20,018 20,208 -1.4 -0.9 -0.7 18,365 20,520 21,499 233,105 257,674 -9.5

 New Orders.............................. 19,599 20,136 19,709 -2.7 2.2 -2.8 18,534 20,371 21,733 230,731 259,162 -11.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,544 29,483 29,484 0.2 0.0 -0.5 27,954 30,743 28,256 329,999 332,039 -0.6

 New Orders.............................. 29,495 29,241 29,641 0.9 -1.3 1.9 26,822 29,612 27,608 327,853 336,560 -2.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,612 32,787 33,496 -0.5 -2.1 0.3 30,341 33,053 31,057 364,517 373,157 -2.3

 New Orders.............................. 32,605 33,109 32,874 -1.5 0.7 -0.2 29,939 32,946 30,187 356,977 384,433 -7.1

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 30,025 29,805 29,790 0.7 0.1 0.9 29,283 29,369 26,827 318,258 307,963 3.3

 New Orders.............................. 25,789 25,695 25,178 0.4 2.1 -0.3 23,477 24,237 21,780 270,714 255,807 5.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,949 2,029 1,965 -3.9 3.3 -2.5 1,675 1,691 1,702 21,789 23,470 -7.2

 New Orders.............................. 2,038 2,057 1,953 -0.9 5.3 -2.6 1,764 1,719 1,756 22,002 23,973 -8.2

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,602 3,594 3,704 0.2 -3.0 2.0 3,291 3,340 3,092 39,721 38,947 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 4,153 4,003 3,914 3.7 2.3 1.6 3,180 3,785 3,605 43,017 43,546 -1.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,923 10,081 10,175 -1.6 -0.9 0.1 9,704 10,256 10,343 113,101 115,522 -2.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,929 9,674 9,991 2.6 -3.2 -1.6 9,544 9,839 10,086 112,051 118,027 -5.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 80,834 78,579 80,743 2.9 -2.7 0.3 78,035 81,205 70,232 859,699 795,466 8.1

 New Orders.............................. 82,183 81,880 75,981 0.4 7.8 -2.2 81,656 82,427 74,845 832,431 883,502 -5.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 52,559 51,635 53,151 1.8 -2.9 0.7 50,429 55,737 44,756 568,418 517,841 9.8

 New Orders.............................. 52,432 51,654 53,208 1.5 -2.9 1.0 50,901 55,436 45,991 567,539 520,131 9.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 15,973 13,770 14,376 16.0 -4.2 -6.2 15,418 12,402 12,245 154,476 135,224 14.2

 New Orders.............................. 13,442 17,272 9,663 -22.2 78.7 -32.2 15,847 14,257 17,696 137,193 217,420 -36.9

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,658 5,443 5,388 -14.4 1.0 6.3 4,734 5,330 4,958 52,853 51,282 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 8,238 5,607 6,495 46.9 -13.7 29.2 7,843 6,320 4,664 51,726 48,832 5.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 39,157 38,936 38,714 0.6 0.6 0.8 37,576 40,626 35,767 423,763 413,428 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 39,176 38,966 38,641 0.5 0.8 0.4 37,634 40,679 35,914 424,373 414,573 2.4

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 90,068 89,050 90,484 1.1 -1.6 0.3 86,269 87,610 83,411 969,858 949,255 2.2

 New Orders.............................. 91,261 92,147 83,043 -1.0 11.0 -4.3 87,518 86,911 86,265 941,663 1,044,323 -9.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 80,231 78,418 79,949 2.3 -1.9 -0.4 76,024 77,198 73,188 862,067 845,764 1.9

 New Orders.............................. 77,157 82,382 73,509 -6.3 12.1 -6.0 74,742 79,055 79,113 841,282 941,931 -10.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 68,774 69,126 69,842 -0.5 -1.0 0.8 65,075 68,851 65,069 756,141 755,545 0.1

 New Orders.......................... 69,347 69,634 69,186 -0.4 0.6 0.5 64,015 68,735 64,589 752,953 781,017 -3.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,837 10,632 10,535 -7.5 0.9 5.4 10,245 10,412 10,223 107,791 103,491 4.2

 New Orders.............................. 14,104 9,765 9,534 44.4 2.4 10.7 12,776 7,856 7,152 100,381 102,392 -2.0

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. 
 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 Change

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2015/

2015 2 2015 r 2015 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2015 2 2015 r 2014 2014

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,194,047 1,192,121 1,188,439 0.2 0.3 -0.5 1,181,435 1,179,733 1,208,368 -2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 395,673 396,755 398,047 -0.3 -0.3 -0.6 396,135 397,389 397,271 -0.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 394,551 393,974 393,593 0.1 0.1 -0.2 387,950 389,869 395,907 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 265,904 266,194 266,922 -0.1 -0.3 -0.5 265,796 265,943 268,946 -1.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 1,007,373 1,009,720 1,006,028 -0.2 0.4 -0.6 998,058 998,820 1,018,042 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 369,176 369,853 370,505 -0.2 -0.2 -0.4 369,621 370,546 371,498 -0.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,194,047 1,192,121 1,188,439 0.2 0.3 -0.5 1,181,435 1,179,733 1,208,368 -2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 322,112 323,477 325,084 -0.4 -0.5 -0.6 322,442 324,074 325,518 -0.9

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,944 35,080 34,962 -0.4 0.3 -1.4 33,808 33,639 36,074 -6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 35,291 35,680 36,022 -1.1 -0.9 -1.1 35,078 35,447 39,109 -10.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 81,629 81,678 81,920 -0.1 -0.3 0.2 79,680 80,812 82,170 -3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 49,146 49,077 49,031 0.1 0.1 0.2 48,590 48,607 48,175 0.9

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 111,100 111,107 110,785 0.0 0.3 -0.6 109,639 110,041 119,346 -8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 65,922 65,944 66,114 0.0 -0.3 -0.3 66,486 66,069 67,397 -1.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 136,390 135,646 135,086 0.5 0.4 0.2 134,816 135,268 127,669 5.6

 Total Inventories....................... 44,538 44,776 44,922 -0.5 -0.3 -1.4 44,985 45,310 45,050 -0.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,685 2,596 2,568 3.4 1.1 -0.5 2,685 2,596 2,492 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 3,421 3,403 3,429 0.5 -0.8 -4.6 3,561 3,506 4,078 -12.7

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 40,739 40,188 39,779 1.4 1.0 0.5 39,941 40,052 36,059 10.8

 Total Inventories....................... 5,399 5,428 5,447 -0.5 -0.3 -2.2 5,535 5,472 6,022 -8.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,934 21,928 22,335 0.0 -1.8 -0.8 21,509 21,669 22,361 -3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 16,363 16,364 16,463 0.0 -0.6 -0.7 16,222 16,373 16,395 -1.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 799,496 798,147 794,846 0.2 0.4 -0.6 793,485 789,864 812,461 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 129,769 130,561 131,125 -0.6 -0.4 -1.0 130,339 131,446 128,325 1.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,585 21,712 21,693 -0.6 0.1 0.3 21,151 20,679 21,210 -0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 35,643 35,585 35,402 0.2 0.5 -1.2 35,801 35,940 34,269 4.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 609,540 612,071 608,569 -0.4 0.6 -0.8 606,493 606,064 617,481 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 66,822 67,195 67,346 -0.6 -0.2 0.4 67,041 67,605 66,563 0.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 69,069 65,489 65,325 5.5 0.3 1.7 68,262 65,153 68,135 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 11,932 11,873 11,953 0.5 -0.7 -6.5 11,935 11,870 12,781 -6.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,554 8,535 8,505 0.2 0.4 -0.9 8,498 8,440 8,287 2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 54,644 54,353 54,370 0.5 0.0 0.1 54,435 54,137 52,820 3.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 905,566 904,373 901,276 0.1 0.3 -0.8 896,039 894,790 918,326 -2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 195,764 196,839 197,948 -0.5 -0.6 -0.8 197,444 198,005 199,429 -1.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 754,299 757,373 753,409 -0.4 0.5 -0.8 748,209 749,491 762,934 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 174,340 175,000 175,447 -0.4 -0.3 -0.3 176,006 176,222 178,556 -1.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 246,564 245,991 245,483 0.2 0.2 -0.3 243,178 244,238 246,997 -1.5

 Total Inventories................... 118,950 119,059 119,598 -0.1 -0.5 -0.5 120,448 119,910 122,834 -1.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 151,267 147,000 147,867 2.9 -0.6 -0.7 147,830 145,299 155,392 -4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 21,424 21,839 22,501 -1.9 -2.9 -4.7 21,438 21,783 20,873 2.7

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, 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-inprocess, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 

4,800 reporting units that represent approximately 3,000 companies and provide an indication of monthto-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 61 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 54 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: http://www.census.gov/m3. 

Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time) 

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time) 

October 2015 November 25, 2015 December 3, 2015 

November 2015 December 23, 2015 January 6, 2016 

December 2015 January 28, 2016 February 4, 2016 

January 2016 February 25, 2016 March 3, 2016 

February 2016 March 24, 2016 April 4, 2016 

March 2016 April 26, 2016 May 4, 2016 

April 2016 May 26, 2016 June 3, 2016 

May 2016 June 24, 2016 July 5, 2016 

June 2016 July 27, 2016 August 4, 2016 

July 2016 August 25, 2016 September 2, 2016 

August 2016 September 28, 2016 October 5, 2016 

September 2016 October 27, 2016 November 3, 2016 

October 2016 November 23, 2016 December 6, 2016 

November 2016 December 22, 2016 Not available at this time 

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/statpolicy/pfei-schedule-of-releasedates-2016.pdf