FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-08 

CB11-163

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

August 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in August 

decreased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $201.8 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

decrease, down two of the last three months, followed a 

4.1 percent July increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders decreased 0.1 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders decreased 0.1 percent. 

 

 Primary metals, down following five consecutive 

monthly increases, had the largest decrease, $0.2 billion 

or 0.8 percent to $24.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, 

down following three consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $0.4 billion or 0.2 percent to $201.0 billion. 

This followed a 2.1 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$2.3 billion or 4.6 percent to $47.1 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

August, up sixteen of the last seventeen months, 

increased $7.6 billion or 0.9 percent to $878.6 billion. 

This followed a 0.9 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up eight consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $6.0 billion or 1.2 

percent to $507.6 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, 

up twenty consecutive months, increased $3.2 billion or 

0.9 percent to $365.3 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 1.1 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $1.4 billion or 1.3 

percent to $112.3 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August 

increased $3.9 billion or 5.2 percent to $78.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.9 billion or 2.7 percent to $71.3 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $6.7 billion or 1.3 

percent to $516.9 billion. Inventories increased $1.9 

billion or 1.1 percent to $166.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in August 

decreased $0.5 billion or 5.7 percent to $7.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 2.9 percent to $7.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.2 billion or 0.1 

percent to $151.5 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 

billion or 0.7 percent to $20.6 billion. 

Revised July Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $452.8 

billion (revised from $453.2 billion); shipments, $452.2 

billion (revised from $453.2 billion); unfilled orders, 

$871.0 billion (revised from $870.4 billion); and total 

inventories, $599.3 billion (revised from $598.0 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 October 4, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for September is scheduled for release on October 26, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. 
 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 

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

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 201,030 201,407 197,263 -0.2 2.1 1.1 209,302 186,225 190,606 1,558,682 1,446,806 7.7

 New Orders4

.............................. 201,757 201,991 193,953 -0.1 4.1 -1.1 207,346 182,504 181,747 1,551,128 1,408,667 10.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 153,945 152,046 151,162 1.2 0.6 1.4 159,747 146,789 143,698 1,192,851 1,095,477 8.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 148,626 148,725 147,634 -0.1 0.7 0.7 151,685 141,726 138,618 1,169,638 1,070,348 9.3

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 191,152 191,924 187,262 -0.4 2.5 1.2 199,627 177,780 179,663 1,479,769 1,351,013 9.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 191,592 191,809 182,967 -0.1 4.8 -0.8 198,452 175,729 172,056 1,466,822 1,315,627 11.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 144,716 143,836 142,720 0.6 0.8 1.3 149,908 133,234 136,309 1,122,473 1,040,481 7.9

 New Orders.............................. 152,285 151,296 145,513 0.7 4.0 -2.0 154,820 137,560 133,684 1,167,520 1,049,913 11.2

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 24,201 24,369 23,941 -0.7 1.8 3.4 25,882 23,591 19,537 188,398 146,660 28.5

 New Orders.............................. 24,221 24,405 22,749 -0.8 7.3 0.3 25,792 23,709 19,843 188,484 152,273 23.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,974 24,792 25,053 0.7 -1.0 1.0 27,225 24,056 25,465 198,308 187,698 5.7

 New Orders.............................. 25,437 25,570 25,865 -0.5 -1.1 4.0 27,093 24,769 25,217 203,934 190,281 7.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 31,282 29,750 29,527 5.1 0.8 4.2 31,446 27,793 26,170 231,160 206,339 12.0

 New Orders.............................. 32,660 32,634 32,015 0.1 1.9 -1.4 32,142 30,707 27,155 252,808 216,570 16.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 31,119 31,054 30,467 0.2 1.9 -1.2 30,316 30,111 30,129 239,628 233,696 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 24,084 23,764 24,618 1.3 -3.5 0.9 22,657 20,868 24,297 185,571 185,610 0.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,767 5,770 5,744 -0.1 0.5 2.4 5,339 5,905 5,303 43,396 38,847 11.7

 New Orders.............................. 5,746 5,446 5,874 5.5 -7.3 1.7 5,318 5,581 5,339 43,040 38,794 10.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,047 3,033 3,077 0.5 -1.4 -1.3 2,911 2,651 3,538 24,112 28,818 -16.3

 New Orders.............................. 2,950 2,736 3,466 7.8 -21.1 15.8 2,863 2,111 4,215 22,419 28,106 -20.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,237 9,931 10,150 3.1 -2.2 0.0 10,733 9,360 10,059 79,961 75,096 6.5

 New Orders.............................. 10,312 10,175 10,440 1.3 -2.5 0.4 10,519 9,880 10,151 82,963 78,665 5.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 47,085 49,361 46,101 -4.6 7.1 0.3 49,555 39,436 46,908 365,831 351,329 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 53,131 53,266 46,319 -0.3 15.0 -6.6 55,661 40,778 43,129 381,490 338,319 12.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 29,063 31,775 28,879 -8.5 10.0 -0.2 31,819 24,499 29,388 230,896 209,227 10.4

 New Orders.............................. 29,190 31,911 28,959 -8.5 10.2 0.1 31,597 24,666 29,103 230,428 207,926 10.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,753 7,550 6,937 2.7 8.8 3.2 7,768 6,319 6,938 54,657 51,241 6.7

 New Orders.............................. 13,515 10,947 7,302 23.5 49.9 -24.0 14,463 8,879 4,935 69,460 47,543 46.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,061 3,819 4,213 6.3 -9.4 -0.7 3,871 3,320 4,461 32,188 39,104 -17.7

 New Orders.............................. 5,013 4,093 4,090 22.5 0.1 -20.5 4,426 2,931 3,429 35,108 38,399 -8.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,132 32,150 32,024 -0.1 0.4 0.5 34,145 31,878 32,338 255,396 245,988 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 31,912 32,177 31,947 -0.8 0.7 0.5 33,482 31,793 31,955 255,878 246,949 3.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 78,862 76,762 76,144 2.7 0.8 1.7 78,840 70,908 71,746 593,244 563,095 5.4

 New Orders.............................. 85,805 82,385 79,870 4.2 3.1 -2.4 84,924 73,301 70,037 630,264 565,366 11.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,331 69,442 68,410 2.7 1.5 2.1 71,366 64,288 63,077 531,319 485,534 9.4

 New Orders.............................. 78,063 74,175 71,136 5.2 4.3 -2.4 77,948 67,969 62,165 562,769 490,742 14.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 66,560 64,749 64,513 2.8 0.4 2.0 66,504 60,485 58,857 500,078 455,005 9.9

 New Orders.......................... 67,690 66,947 67,097 1.1 -0.2 0.8 66,434 62,494 59,835 518,853 463,678 11.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,531 7,320 7,734 2.9 -5.4 -1.9 7,474 6,620 8,669 61,925 77,561 -20.2

 New Orders.............................. 7,742 8,210 8,734 -5.7 -6.0 -3.0 6,976 5,332 7,872 67,495 74,624 -9.6

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 

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 878,570 871,001 863,541 0.9 0.9 0.3 874,505 869,593 808,105 8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 365,311 362,075 358,215 0.9 1.1 0.6 368,075 364,901 325,155 13.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 370,974 369,451 365,896 0.4 1.0 0.7 369,586 370,780 327,201 13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 253,012 251,213 249,110 0.7 0.8 0.4 254,848 252,928 230,107 10.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 708,050 700,768 694,007 1.0 1.0 0.3 705,708 700,015 646,895 9.1

 Total Inventories....................... 339,252 336,132 332,423 0.9 1.1 0.8 342,100 338,945 300,309 13.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 878,570 871,001 863,541 0.9 0.9 0.3 874,505 869,593 808,105 8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 300,253 297,387 294,156 1.0 1.1 0.8 302,479 299,991 264,460 14.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 31,571 31,551 31,515 0.1 0.1 -3.6 31,747 31,837 29,314 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 34,895 34,301 33,853 1.7 1.3 0.2 35,120 34,975 29,502 19.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 64,819 64,356 63,578 0.7 1.2 1.3 64,914 65,046 61,238 6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 46,052 45,712 45,269 0.7 1.0 0.5 46,239 46,241 41,369 11.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 116,341 114,963 112,079 1.2 2.6 2.3 115,926 115,230 86,513 34.0

 Total Inventories....................... 59,280 58,567 57,759 1.2 1.4 0.9 59,491 58,527 51,857 14.7

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 123,722 123,915 124,329 -0.2 -0.3 0.2 122,415 123,206 120,126 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 48,361 48,503 48,259 -0.3 0.5 0.3 49,143 48,746 45,994 6.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,298 3,319 3,643 -0.6 -8.9 3.7 3,298 3,319 3,491 -5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 5,906 6,002 5,786 -1.6 3.7 1.5 6,237 6,032 6,076 2.6

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,272 28,369 28,666 -0.3 -1.0 1.4 27,898 27,946 28,859 -3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 10,056 9,923 9,943 1.3 -0.2 2.0 10,094 9,862 9,193 9.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,117 26,042 25,798 0.3 0.9 1.1 26,254 26,468 22,200 18.3

 Total Inventories....................... 15,598 15,527 15,519 0.5 0.1 0.2 15,802 15,739 14,860 6.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 507,596 501,550 497,645 1.2 0.8 0.0 504,919 498,813 480,904 5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 112,299 110,862 109,105 1.3 1.6 1.2 113,227 111,973 95,048 19.1

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,846 13,719 13,583 0.9 1.0 0.6 13,328 13,550 12,599 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 25,655 25,485 25,006 0.7 1.9 0.5 26,002 25,741 23,133 12.4

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 353,412 347,650 344,253 1.7 1.0 0.1 352,219 345,524 327,381 7.6

 Total Inventories....................... 61,462 60,313 59,188 1.9 1.9 2.3 61,933 61,114 47,159 31.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 55,579 54,627 54,353 1.7 0.5 -0.2 55,025 54,470 50,366 9.3

 Total Inventories....................... 14,413 14,368 14,265 0.3 0.7 -2.3 14,484 14,458 13,981 3.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,404 8,624 8,597 -2.6 0.3 -0.9 8,330 8,993 7,810 6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 48,826 48,603 48,451 0.5 0.3 0.0 49,053 48,700 46,525 5.4

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 668,482 661,539 655,916 1.0 0.9 0.6 665,232 659,148 612,472 8.6

 Total Inventories....................... 187,377 185,377 183,270 1.1 1.1 1.0 188,818 186,342 162,384 16.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 516,935 510,203 505,470 1.3 0.9 0.5 514,990 508,408 468,048 10.0

 Total Inventories....................... 166,824 164,965 162,954 1.1 1.2 1.4 168,420 166,007 142,672 18.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 205,798 204,668 202,470 0.6 1.1 1.3 204,869 204,939 178,294 14.9

 Total Inventories................... 114,010 113,158 112,084 0.8 1.0 0.9 115,253 113,453 103,573 11.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 151,547 151,336 150,446 0.1 0.6 0.7 150,242 150,740 144,424 4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 20,553 20,412 20,316 0.7 0.5 -2.3 20,398 20,335 19,712 3.5

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 65 

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.