FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (10)-07 

CB10-127

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

July 2010 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $0.6 billion or 0.3 percent to $193.0 billion, 

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

followed two consecutive monthly decreases including a 

0.1 percent June decrease. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 3.8 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 0.3 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$6.1 billion or 13.1 percent to $52.6 billion. This was 

due to nondefense aircraft and parts, which increased 

$4.0 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

four of the last five months, increased $4.4 billion or 2.2 

percent to $200.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent 

June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up four of the last five 

months, had the largest increase, $3.4 billion or 6.9 

percent to $52.7 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, down following three consecutive monthly 

increases, decreased $1.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $802.8 

billion. This followed a 0.1 percent June increase. 

 Computers and electronic products, down following 

four consecutive monthly increases, had the largest 

decrease, $0.5 billion or 0.4 percent to $121.1 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

seven consecutive months, increased $1.8 billion or 0.6 

percent to $311.2 billion. This followed a 1.3 percent 

June increase. 

 Machinery, up five consecutive months, had the largest 

increase, $0.9 billion or 1.9 percent to $51.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

decreased $1.8 billion or 2.8 percent to $64.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.9 billion or 1.4 percent to $64.7 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.6 billion or 0.1 

percent to $487.2 billion. Inventories increased $1.0 

billion or 0.8 percent to $129.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$0.2 billion or 2.2 percent to $9.5 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.2 billion or 2.4 percent to $9.5 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased slightly to $139.7 billion. 

Inventories increased slightly or 0.1 percent to $17.9 

billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $408.6 

billion (revised from $406.4 billion); shipments, $412.4 

billion (revised from $411.2 billion); unfilled orders, 

$803.9 billion (revised from $802.8 billion); and total 

inventories, $520.7 billion (revised from $520.0 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 September 2, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on September 24, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders1

[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 

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul Change

2010 2 2010 r 2010 Jul 2 Jun r May 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2010 2009 10/09

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments ................................ 200,625 196,260 195,799 2.2 0.2 -0.7 187,487 211,231 172,764 1,345,219 1,244,848 8.1

 New Orders 4

.............................. 193,018 192,450 192,620 0.3 -0.1 -0.7 176,308 206,139 162,292 1,314,759 1,137,388 15.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 147,932 146,985 148,481 0.6 -1.0 -0.1 145,415 157,907 134,234 1,013,630 927,353 9.3

 New Orders 4

.............................. 140,411 145,919 145,596 -3.8 0.2 1.4 136,379 156,653 125,731 991,796 866,098 14.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 188,553 184,027 183,465 2.5 0.3 -0.2 176,526 198,127 160,531 1,256,272 1,155,851 8.7

 New Orders 4

.............................. 180,842 180,297 179,898 0.3 0.2 -0.6 167,116 193,545 152,554 1,226,640 1,054,674 16.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 145,179 143,985 143,024 0.8 0.7 -0.2 135,116 156,377 124,283 980,173 905,476 8.2

 New Orders .............................. 144,078 144,789 145,154 -0.5 -0.3 -0.9 132,133 154,562 120,753 989,830 830,816 19.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 19,834 19,848 20,105 -0.1 -1.3 0.3 19,560 21,397 14,806 138,227 101,058 36.8

 New Orders.............................. 19,517 19,373 20,065 0.7 -3.4 -0.4 19,635 20,768 15,348 140,107 97,474 43.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,225 27,473 27,631 -0.9 -0.6 0.3 26,922 29,336 25,834 188,218 179,716 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 27,265 27,530 27,046 -1.0 1.8 -2.4 26,783 28,543 25,009 190,600 172,068 10.8

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 24,106 25,260 24,817 -4.6 1.8 3.3 23,124 27,369 21,541 170,053 164,001 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 24,134 28,380 27,209 -15.0 4.3 11.1 23,365 30,018 21,074 179,652 151,060 18.9

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 33,775 31,623 32,664 6.8 -3.2 -2.9 33,055 33,250 30,145 221,705 197,674 12.2

 New Orders .............................. 26,744 27,414 27,733 -2.4 -1.2 0.3 23,982 30,169 22,110 180,917 162,193 11.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,934 6,037 5,981 -1.7 0.9 -1.2 5,874 6,961 5,667 39,513 35,923 10.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,523 6,327 6,276 -12.7 0.8 4.5 5,463 7,251 5,091 39,415 34,392 14.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,527 3,464 3,694 1.8 -6.2 -4.9 3,114 4,173 3,387 24,260 24,269 0.0

 New Orders.............................. 3,355 3,228 3,182 3.9 1.4 -11.9 2,892 3,667 3,332 22,910 24,888 -7.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,524 9,510 9,445 0.1 0.7 -0.9 9,298 10,375 8,742 65,198 62,308 4.6

 New Orders.............................. 9,488 10,081 9,714 -5.9 3.8 -0.5 9,445 11,041 9,001 68,964 61,068 12.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 52,693 49,275 47,318 6.9 4.1 -2.3 42,072 53,324 38,530 331,589 317,495 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 52,607 46,531 47,024 13.1 -1.0 -6.6 39,929 49,486 36,561 322,963 271,290 19.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 32,869 31,212 29,783 5.3 4.8 1.6 25,119 32,780 21,076 203,130 179,302 13.3

 New Orders.............................. 32,539 30,909 29,725 5.3 4.0 1.7 24,931 32,354 20,901 202,015 177,942 13.5

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,567 6,643 6,193 29.0 7.3 -10.6 7,069 8,130 6,442 46,784 54,055 -13.5

 New Orders.............................. 9,306 5,291 7,084 75.9 -25.3 -30.2 6,912 6,156 6,672 45,116 23,013 96.0

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,016 5,217 5,037 -3.9 3.6 -10.0 4,489 5,807 4,678 36,662 35,324 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,855 5,295 5,011 -8.3 5.7 -5.1 4,067 5,941 4,572 36,861 35,593 3.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,468 33,271 33,819 0.6 -1.6 -0.2 33,456 36,180 33,166 230,229 222,596 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 33,263 33,141 33,829 0.4 -2.0 -0.2 33,169 36,114 33,189 231,556 222,235 4.2

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 74,230 73,545 72,565 0.9 1.4 -0.6 68,992 80,466 65,399 501,510 482,671 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 73,610 75,662 75,480 -2.7 0.2 -0.8 66,035 80,752 61,308 506,276 421,185 20.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 64,735 63,812 62,640 1.4 1.9 0.3 60,315 70,235 55,412 429,729 410,621 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 64,139 65,974 65,218 -2.8 1.2 -0.4 59,158 70,951 53,931 435,832 354,961 22.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 59,001 59,900 59,295 -1.5 1.0 1.6 55,788 65,361 51,596 402,312 376,741 6.8

 New Orders.......................... 58,234 63,288 61,094 -8.0 3.6 4.7 55,254 67,685 49,749 409,990 353,948 15.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,495 9,733 9,925 -2.4 -1.9 -6.2 8,677 10,231 9,987 71,781 72,050 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 9,471 9,688 10,262 -2.2 -5.6 -3.4 6,877 9,801 7,377 70,444 66,224 6.4

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 Inventories1

[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 

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2010/

2010 2 2010 r 2010 Jul 2 Jun r May 2010 2 2010 r 2009 2009

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 802,781 803,882 803,078 -0.1 0.1 0.3 802,343 805,326 817,990 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 311,202 309,446 305,591 0.6 1.3 1.2 313,206 307,868 305,364 2.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 326,097 327,112 323,564 -0.3 1.1 0.8 328,012 328,852 314,236 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 231,159 229,366 226,418 0.8 1.3 1.3 231,875 228,015 225,405 2.9

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 649,237 650,442 649,558 -0.2 0.1 0.3 649,619 650,833 655,959 -1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 287,997 286,309 282,505 0.6 1.3 1.4 290,030 284,820 282,306 2.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 802,781 803,882 803,078 -0.1 0.1 0.3 802,343 805,326 817,990 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 252,942 251,287 248,014 0.7 1.3 1.1 254,788 250,057 246,285 3.5

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,789 18,106 18,581 -1.8 -2.6 -0.2 18,251 18,176 16,352 11.6

 Total Inventories....................... 31,045 30,898 30,669 0.5 0.7 3.0 31,221 30,768 27,018 15.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 53,827 53,787 53,730 0.1 0.1 -1.1 54,456 54,595 54,465 0.0

 Total Inventories....................... 42,076 41,810 41,188 0.6 1.5 0.8 42,330 41,693 40,771 3.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 96,638 96,610 93,490 0.0 3.3 2.6 96,765 96,524 87,517 10.6

 Total Inventories....................... 51,383 50,446 50,000 1.9 0.9 0.8 51,214 50,019 51,804 -1.1

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 121,070 121,595 121,190 -0.4 0.3 0.3 120,838 121,715 122,164 -1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 45,485 45,202 44,092 0.6 2.5 1.5 45,596 44,583 43,829 4.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 5,273 5,684 5,394 -7.2 5.4 5.8 5,273 5,684 3,987 32.3

 Total Inventories....................... 4,932 4,962 4,690 -0.6 5.8 4.5 4,868 4,908 4,286 13.6

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,490 27,662 27,898 -0.6 -0.8 -1.8 27,424 27,646 29,131 -5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 8,069 7,936 7,627 1.7 4.1 1.4 7,997 7,680 7,609 5.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,316 24,352 23,781 -0.1 2.4 1.1 24,867 24,720 22,049 12.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,276 14,179 13,906 0.7 2.0 1.8 14,431 14,181 14,209 1.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 476,684 476,770 479,514 0.0 -0.6 -0.1 474,331 476,474 503,754 -5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 80,043 80,080 79,173 0.0 1.1 0.9 81,331 79,853 79,959 1.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,456 13,786 14,089 -2.4 -2.2 -0.4 13,533 13,721 14,868 -9.0

 Total Inventories....................... 20,903 20,759 20,480 0.7 1.4 2.0 21,021 20,338 18,378 14.4

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 323,587 322,848 324,200 0.2 -0.4 0.3 321,897 322,054 334,976 -3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 36,444 36,500 36,039 -0.2 1.3 1.3 37,556 36,802 36,624 2.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 47,767 47,928 47,850 -0.3 0.2 -0.1 47,947 48,369 51,302 -6.5

 Total Inventories....................... 12,107 12,033 12,142 0.6 -0.9 -0.4 12,165 12,059 12,327 -1.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,457 12,662 12,792 -1.6 -1.0 0.1 12,835 13,122 11,689 9.8

 Total Inventories....................... 46,894 46,831 46,563 0.1 0.6 0.9 47,083 46,771 47,774 -1.4

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 626,980 627,600 625,483 -0.1 0.3 0.5 625,218 628,175 643,979 -2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 147,671 146,601 144,726 0.7 1.3 0.9 148,716 146,047 146,680 1.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 487,248 487,844 485,682 -0.1 0.4 0.5 486,272 487,429 496,135 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 129,759 128,712 126,883 0.8 1.4 1.2 130,891 128,273 128,986 1.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 193,913 194,680 191,292 -0.4 1.8 0.9 194,540 195,074 191,073 1.8

 Total Inventories................... 101,596 100,441 99,077 1.1 1.4 1.1 101,655 99,591 101,001 0.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 139,732 139,756 139,801 0.0 0.0 0.2 138,946 140,746 147,844 -6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 17,912 17,889 17,843 0.1 0.3 -0.8 17,825 17,774 17,694 0.7

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. 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.