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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON DURABLE GOODS MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS SEPTEMBER 2020

Release Number: CB 20-157 M3-1 (20)-09

Statement Regarding COVID-19 Impact: The Census Bureau continues to monitor response and data 

quality and has determined that estimates in this release meet publication standards. For more 

information, see < M3 COVID-19 FAQs>.

OCTOBER 27, 2020 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the September advance report on durable goods 

manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders:

New Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in September increased $4.3 billion or 1.9 percent to $237.1

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up five consecutive months, followed a

0.4 percent August increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.8 percent. Excluding 

defense, new orders increased 3.4 percent. Transportation equipment, up four of the last five months, led

the increase, $3.0 billion or 4.1 percent to $76.8 billion.

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

SEPTEMBER 2020 $237.1 billion +1.9%°

AUGUST 2020

(revised) $232.7 billion +0.4%°

Next release: November 25, 2020

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes.

°Statistical significance is not measurable for this survey. The Manufacturers' Shipments, 

Inventories, and Orders estimates are not based on a probability sample, so the sampling 

error of these estimates cannot be measured nor can the confidence intervals be computed.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders, October 27, 

2020.

Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20

% Change -0.9% -0.1% -2.6% 2.8% -0.2% 2.0% -16.7% -18.3% 15.0% 7.7% 11.8% 0.4% 1.9%

-19.0%

-18.0%

-17.0%

-16.0%

-15.0%

-14.0%

-13.0%

-12.0%

-11.0%

-10.0%

-9.0%

-8.0%

-7.0%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

9.0%

10.0%

11.0%

12.0%

13.0%

14.0%

15.0%

16.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2019-2020

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, 

October 27, 2020.
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Shipments

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in September, up four of the last five months, increased $0.7

billion or 0.3 percent to $245.0 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent August decrease. Transportation 

equipment, also up four of the last five months, led the increase, $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $82.0

billion.

Unfilled Orders

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in September, down six of the last seven months,

decreased $2.6 billion or 0.2 percent to $1,075.7 billion. This followed a 0.6 percent August decrease. 

Transportation equipment, down seven consecutive months, drove the decrease, $5.2 billion or 0.7

percent to $722.0 billion.

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in September, up following three consecutive monthly 

decreases, increased $1.6 billion or 0.4 percent to $422.1 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent August

decrease. Transportation equipment, up twenty-four of the last twenty-five months, led the increase, $1.0

billion or 0.7 percent to $147.9 billion. 

Capital Goods

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in September increased $6.6 billion or 10.4 percent to $69.7

billion. Shipments increased less than $0.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $70.2 billion. Unfilled orders 

decreased $0.4 billion or 0.1 percent to $593.5 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 billion or 0.4 percent to 

$193.8 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods in September decreased $3.0 billion or 22.3 percent 

to $10.3 billion. Shipments decreased $0.1 billion or 0.7 percent to $12.1 billion. Unfilled orders 

decreased $1.8 billion or 1.0 percent to $179.5 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 billion or 1.2 percent to 

$21.5 billion.

Revised August Data

Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $469.6

billion (revised from $470.1 billion); shipments, $481.1 billion (revised from $481.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,078.3 billion (revised from $1,078.6 billion) and total inventories, $686.7 billion (revised from $686.6

billion).

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on November 3, 2020,

at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for October is scheduled for release on

November 25, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. EST. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room:
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<https://www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. The full text and tables of this release can be found at

<www.census.gov/m3>.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders 

exclude data for semiconductor manufacturing. 

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

decrease.

Description of the survey

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-ofmonth total inventory (at current cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication 

(materials and supplies, work-in-process, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are 

based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting units that represent approximately 3,100 

companies and provide an indication of month-to-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-tomonth 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 60

percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2017 Economic 

Census, and these companies include roughly 61 percent of the manufacturing companies with $500 

million or more in shipments in the 2017 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments data 

are currently reported in the M3 survey represent approximately 51 percent of the total value of

shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2017 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 
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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: <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.

2021 Release Dates for the M3 Survey

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time)

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time)

Nov-20 Thu 12/24/2020 Wed 1/6/2021

Dec-20 Wed 1/27/2021 Thu 2/4/2021

Jan-21 Thu 2/25/2021 Thu 3/4/2021

Feb-21 Wed 3/24/2021 Mon 4/5/2021

Mar-21 Mon 4/26/2021 Tue 5/4/2021

Apr-21 Thu 5/27/2021 Fri 6/4/2021

May-21 Thu 6/24/2021 Fri 7/2/2021

Jun-21 Tue 7/27/2021 Tue 8/3/2021

Jul-21 Wed 8/25/2021 Thu 9/2/2021

Aug-21 Mon 9/27/2021 Mon 10/4/2021

Sep-21 Wed 10/27/2021 Wed 11/3/2021

Oct-21 Wed 11/24/2021 Fri 12/3/2021

Nov-21 Thu 12/23/2021 Not available at this time

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/pfei_schedule_release_dates_2021.pdf 
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RESOURCES

API

The Census Bureau’s application programming interface (API) lets developers create custom apps to reach 

new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever 

before.

<www.census.gov/developers/>

FRED Mobile App

Receive the latest updates on the nation’s key economic indicators by downloading 

the FRED App <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/fred-mobile/> for both Apple and 

Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. 

Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau’s 13 economic indicators.

###
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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep Change

2020 22020 r

2020 Sep 2

Aug r

Jul 2020 2

2020 r

2019 2020 2019 2020/2019

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 244,953 244,254 244,876 0.3 -0.3 7.6 259,085 249,317 256,891 2,080,675 2,249,497 -7.5

 New Orders4.............................. 237,057 232,744 231,914 1.9 0.4 11.8 248,332 232,752 249,437 1,964,828 2,184,973 -10.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 163,000 162,742 161,779 0.2 0.6 3.1 172,369 166,102 168,838 1,436,071 1,468,854 -2.2

 New Orders4.............................. 160,281 158,966 157,435 0.8 1.0 3.3 167,790 159,155 161,947 1,398,671 1,429,905 -2.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 231,217 230,391 230,910 0.4 -0.2 8.0 243,903 235,710 241,720 1,956,956 2,125,202 -7.9

 New Orders4.............................. 225,630 218,241 216,266 3.4 0.9 10.5 234,335 220,493 230,125 1,840,121 2,060,034 -10.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 163,037 163,440 162,074 -0.2 0.8 4.0 172,309 166,003 178,549 1,451,317 1,563,548 -7.2

 New Orders.............................. 160,450 156,966 154,253 2.2 1.8 9.7 167,520 154,901 176,162 1,379,247 1,541,927 -10.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 18,259 18,348 18,119 -0.5 1.3 1.3 18,547 18,625 19,550 167,204 183,697 -9.0

 New Orders.............................. 19,259 18,525 18,189 4.0 1.8 1.6 18,978 18,511 18,869 166,675 183,115 -9.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,050 30,033 30,187 0.1 -0.5 3.5 31,463 31,336 32,756 271,882 287,470 -5.4

 New Orders.............................. 30,830 30,472 30,491 1.2 -0.1 3.8 31,620 31,239 31,397 273,655 289,528 -5.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,705 31,045 30,548 -1.1 1.6 2.4 31,528 30,691 32,084 274,691 290,881 -5.6

 New Orders.............................. 31,244 31,336 30,761 -0.3 1.9 2.8 31,624 30,426 31,655 277,280 289,793 -4.3

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Shipments................................ 30,274 29,917 29,778 1.2 0.5 4.1 34,008 30,316 31,440 258,774 251,488 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 25,016 24,864 24,577 0.6 1.2 2.9 28,583 24,022 27,229 215,626 210,732 2.3

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,779 1,875 1,860 -5.1 0.8 9.3 2,012 1,886 2,070 15,781 14,793 6.7

 New Orders.............................. 1,800 1,857 1,849 -3.1 0.4 11.3 2,033 1,868 2,108 15,629 14,748 6.0

 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,247 4,154 4,072 2.2 2.0 8.2 5,215 3,798 4,469 34,468 31,619 9.0

 New Orders.............................. 4,254 4,197 4,086 1.4 2.7 10.3 5,203 3,752 4,502 34,378 31,733 8.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,472 10,595 10,602 -1.2 -0.1 2.9 11,347 10,934 11,793 95,539 98,477 -3.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,659 10,879 10,840 -2.0 0.4 5.1 11,414 10,938 11,557 96,859 99,388 -2.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 81,953 81,512 83,097 0.5 -1.9 17.7 86,716 83,215 88,053 644,604 780,643 -17.4

 New Orders.............................. 76,776 73,778 74,479 4.1 -0.9 35.3 80,542 73,597 87,490 566,157 755,068 -25.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 62,301 61,298 64,152 1.6 -4.4 23.7 64,991 63,554 60,709 458,053 546,650 -16.2

 New Orders.............................. 62,353 61,437 64,040 1.5 -4.1 21.7 65,150 63,778 60,544 458,135 545,016 -15.9

 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts5:

 Shipments................................ 4,978 5,271 3,947 -5.6 33.5 -5.6 5,734 4,933 11,306 53,428 101,468 -47.3

 New Orders.............................. 1,799 -3,248 -5,970 (NA) (NA) (NA) 570 -3,820 7,123 -26,764 79,411 -133.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,745 4,095 4,275 -8.5 -4.2 8.0 4,229 4,074 4,965 36,158 41,566 -13.0

 New Orders.............................. 2,143 3,979 4,616 -46.1 -13.8 75.2 2,701 2,994 7,285 32,269 41,729 -22.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 43,240 42,804 42,545 1.0 0.6 3.5 45,476 44,200 41,215 367,981 356,841 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 43,273 42,890 42,577 0.9 0.7 3.7 45,571 44,019 41,240 368,576 357,349 3.1

 Capital goods3:

 Shipments................................ 82,251 82,293 80,146 -0.1 2.7 2.2 88,979 81,166 90,426 722,799 768,904 -6.0

 New Orders.............................. 80,046 76,434 72,596 4.7 5.3 14.4 85,115 72,406 86,587 654,858 747,611 -12.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,172 70,123 67,900 0.1 3.3 2.5 75,735 69,236 77,344 614,414 661,016 -7.1

 New Orders.............................. 69,742 63,165 58,475 10.4 8.0 11.0 72,581 60,942 70,766 541,354 639,471 -15.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 67,493 67,261 66,255 0.3 1.5 3.0 72,386 66,556 69,732 585,153 594,665 -1.6

 New Orders.......................... 68,715 68,016 66,585 1.0 2.1 2.6 73,154 66,053 69,098 591,390 594,571 -0.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 12,079 12,170 12,246 -0.7 -0.6 0.6 13,244 11,930 13,082 108,385 107,888 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 10,304 13,269 14,121 -22.3 -6.0 30.8 12,534 11,464 15,821 113,504 108,140 5.0

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. 

5

 (NA) - New Orders month-to-month percent change is not provided for Nondefense aircraft and parts because the denominator has a negative value. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, September Advance Report, October 27, 2020. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website at 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 
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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep 2020/

2020 2 2020 r 2020 Sep 2Aug r

Jul 2020 2 2020

 r

2019 2019

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,075,748 1,078,335 1,084,809 -0.2 -0.6 -0.7 1,070,072 1,074,861 1,142,639 -6.4

 Total Inventories....................... 422,070 420,478 420,990 0.4 -0.1 -0.8 422,188 423,576 419,563 0.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 353,758 351,168 349,908 0.7 0.4 0.2 351,502 350,117 347,968 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 274,213 273,585 274,966 0.2 -0.5 -1.1 273,573 275,560 282,528 -3.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 856,494 856,772 863,886 0.0 -0.8 -1.1 852,236 855,840 935,488 -8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 396,351 394,993 395,698 0.3 -0.2 -0.8 396,455 397,982 394,447 0.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,075,748 1,078,335 1,084,809 -0.2 -0.6 -0.7 1,070,072 1,074,861 1,142,639 -6.4

 Total Inventories....................... 345,213 343,356 343,741 0.5 -0.1 -0.8 345,428 346,127 340,576 1.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 31,831 30,831 30,654 3.2 0.6 0.2 30,930 30,499 30,354 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 33,525 33,117 33,310 1.2 -0.6 -1.8 33,345 33,210 35,508 -6.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,215 73,435 72,996 1.1 0.6 0.4 74,223 74,066 74,974 -1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 51,171 51,182 51,434 0.0 -0.5 -2.1 51,178 51,393 53,726 -4.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 98,067 97,528 97,237 0.6 0.3 0.2 97,317 97,221 95,974 1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 69,116 68,982 69,488 0.2 -0.7 -1.3 69,493 69,743 72,657 -4.4

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 118,682 118,631 118,648 0.0 0.0 -0.1 118,371 117,832 117,770 0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 43,628 43,610 43,976 0.0 -0.8 -0.5 43,454 44,168 43,802 -0.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,856 1,835 1,853 1.1 -1.0 -0.6 1,856 1,835 1,946 -4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 3,907 3,877 3,855 0.8 0.6 -1.1 4,009 4,005 3,924 2.2

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,616 25,609 25,566 0.0 0.2 0.1 25,499 25,511 25,552 -0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 5,333 5,263 5,246 1.3 0.3 0.9 5,274 5,400 5,132 2.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,330 22,143 21,859 0.8 1.3 1.1 22,103 22,036 20,717 6.7

 Total Inventories....................... 19,678 19,696 19,746 -0.1 -0.3 -0.2 19,369 19,899 19,481 -0.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 721,990 727,167 734,901 -0.7 -1.1 -1.2 718,570 724,744 794,671 -9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 147,857 146,893 146,024 0.7 0.6 -0.2 148,615 148,016 137,035 8.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,212 21,160 21,021 0.2 0.7 -0.5 20,830 20,671 20,269 2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 38,888 39,055 39,135 -0.4 -0.2 -2.5 39,201 39,466 40,264 -2.6

 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 481,300 484,479 492,998 -0.7 -1.7 -2.0 479,782 484,946 568,247 -15.6

 Total Inventories....................... 79,247 78,381 77,726 1.1 0.8 1.0 79,538 78,660 68,271 16.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 82,360 83,962 84,078 -1.9 -0.1 0.4 81,148 82,676 80,341 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 12,421 12,431 12,327 -0.1 0.8 -1.2 12,399 12,456 12,083 2.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,633 8,600 8,514 0.4 1.0 0.4 8,558 8,463 8,179 4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 57,095 56,998 57,012 0.2 0.0 -0.4 56,734 57,147 57,354 -1.1

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 772,976 775,181 781,040 -0.3 -0.8 -1.0 770,332 774,196 844,725 -8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 215,352 214,356 213,905 0.5 0.2 0.0 215,808 216,545 206,320 4.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 593,484 593,914 600,872 -0.1 -1.2 -1.5 591,604 594,758 678,753 -12.8

 Total Inventories....................... 193,833 193,096 192,838 0.4 0.1 0.0 194,253 195,201 185,317 4.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 219,417 218,195 217,440 0.6 0.3 0.2 218,371 217,603 213,321 2.4

 Total Inventories................... 127,303 127,414 127,671 -0.1 -0.2 -0.6 127,435 129,089 128,757 -1.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 179,492 181,267 180,168 -1.0 0.6 1.1 178,728 179,438 165,972 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 21,519 21,260 21,067 1.2 0.9 -0.4 21,555 21,344 21,003 2.6

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 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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, September Advance Report, October 27, 2020. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our 

website at <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.