FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2008, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (08)-06 

CB08-114

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

June 2008 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in June 

increased $1.6 billion or 0.8 percent to $215.4 billion, 

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

second consecutive monthly increase and followed a 0.1 

percent May increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders increased 2.0 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders increased 0.1 percent. 

 

 Primary metals, up five of the last six months, had the 

largest increase, $1.1 billion or 5.1 percent to $23.1 

billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in June, up 

two of the last three months, increased $1.1 billion or 0.5 

percent to $212.2 billion. This followed a 1.2 percent 

May decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $0.7 billion or 1.4 

percent to $52.6 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

June, up twenty-eight of the last twenty-nine months, 

increased $7.2 billion or 0.9 percent to $817.6 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.9 

percent May increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-four of the last 

twenty-five months, had the largest increase, $2.9 billion 

or 0.6 percent to $461.2 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in June, up 

eleven of the last twelve months, increased $1.8 billion 

or 0.5 percent to $332.2 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 0.5 percent May increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-one of the last 

twenty-two months, had the largest increase, $0.7 billion 

or 0.8 percent to $87.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in June 

decreased $2.3 billion or 3.2 percent to $71.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.3 billion or 0.5 percent to $68.0 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.4 billion or 0.7 

percent to $474.0 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 

billion or 0.5 percent to $136.2 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in June increased 

$1.5 billion or 15.8 percent to $11.3 billion. Shipments 

increased 0.3 percent to $9.1 billion. Unfilled orders 

increased $2.3 billion or 1.7 percent to $139.3 billion. 

Inventories decreased $0.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $19.2 

billion. 

Revised May Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted May figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $449.5 

billion (revised from $448.7 billion); shipments, $446.9 

billion (revised from $446.4 billion); unfilled orders, 

$810.3 billion (revised from $810.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $548.6 billion (revised from $548.4 billion).

Figures in text 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 August 4, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for July is scheduled for release on August 27, 2008, 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

Jun May Apr May - Apr - Mar - Jun May Jun Change

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Jun 2 May r Apr 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2008 2007 08/07

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 212,162 211,111 213,591 0.5 -1.2 1.8 230,247 215,349 232,417 1,283,461 1,286,290 -0.2

 New Orders 4

........................... 215,429 213,791 213,475 0.8 0.1 -1.0 228,444 213,321 231,358 1,300,627 1,304,922 -0.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 159,586 159,273 159,705 0.2 -0.3 2.1 172,526 161,504 168,755 954,645 933,443 2.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 159,990 156,864 157,618 2.0 -0.5 1.9 169,240 157,968 159,747 947,553 915,603 3.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 200,431 199,212 201,630 0.6 -1.2 1.6 217,652 203,373 222,666 1,215,586 1,231,132 -1.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 201,198 201,081 202,314 0.1 -0.6 -0.8 213,943 203,182 223,276 1,228,379 1,252,378 -1.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 153,574 152,045 152,422 1.0 -0.2 1.3 167,334 154,616 162,468 916,846 893,183 2.6

 New Orders 4

........................... 160,795 159,410 158,280 0.9 0.7 -1.5 169,211 157,165 166,233 964,490 945,254 2.0

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 22,916 22,294 21,978 2.8 1.4 3.0 24,346 23,492 21,283 135,027 123,331 9.5

 New Orders.............................. 23,121 22,001 22,408 5.1 -1.8 2.5 23,866 22,791 19,417 137,260 123,618 11.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 27,865 27,698 27,803 0.6 -0.4 2.0 29,506 28,858 28,855 165,640 163,601 1.2

 New Orders.............................. 28,082 27,612 27,694 1.7 -0.3 -2.4 28,883 29,490 28,472 169,979 167,788 1.3

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 29,553 28,854 28,816 2.4 0.1 -0.8 31,926 29,663 30,112 177,966 165,884 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 31,528 30,831 32,006 2.3 -3.7 4.8 32,281 30,867 29,099 189,303 170,489 11.0

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 31,127 32,389 33,333 -3.9 -2.8 5.9 35,311 30,414 36,258 191,450 190,500 0.5

 New Orders 4

........................... 27,928 28,060 27,330 -0.5 2.7 -2.0 31,755 25,139 30,448 163,220 159,080 2.6

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 5,257 5,316 5,170 -1.1 2.8 -4.5 6,451 4,637 6,735 31,100 31,485 -1.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,459 5,521 5,052 -1.1 9.3 -10.5 6,653 4,842 6,839 31,196 31,474 -0.9 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 6,015 5,792 5,539 3.9 4.6 -4.5 7,166 5,423 6,677 33,772 33,104 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,799 6,065 5,789 -4.4 4.8 -0.4 6,656 5,445 6,173 34,680 33,897 2.3

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 3,954 4,685 5,974 -15.6 -21.6 35.3 3,680 4,577 4,824 30,478 33,439 -8.9

 New Orders 4

........................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 10,657 10,700 10,657 -0.4 0.4 1.1 11,422 10,929 11,343 63,628 63,111 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 11,734 11,175 10,956 5.0 2.0 18.1 12,218 11,462 11,244 66,447 65,931 0.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 52,576 51,838 53,886 1.4 -3.8 0.9 57,721 53,845 63,662 328,816 352,847 -6.8

 New Orders.............................. 55,439 56,927 55,857 -2.6 1.9 -8.3 59,204 55,353 71,611 353,074 389,319 -9.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 32,765 32,256 33,497 1.6 -3.7 -3.1 35,125 34,011 43,680 212,711 250,128 -15.0

 New Orders.............................. 32,818 32,249 33,448 1.8 -3.6 -3.4 34,926 33,711 43,135 211,581 249,390 -15.2 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 8,233 8,208 8,647 0.3 -5.1 9.3 9,926 8,197 10,103 50,323 48,541 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 9,579 12,783 12,058 -25.1 6.0 -24.6 10,779 11,182 19,064 73,365 83,978 -12.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 4,602 4,504 4,628 2.2 -2.7 2.8 5,182 4,444 3,523 25,862 18,970 36.3

 New Orders.............................. 4,729 5,172 4,510 -8.6 14.7 -2.8 5,048 4,626 3,220 27,509 15,423 78.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,468 37,338 37,118 0.3 0.6 1.1 40,015 38,148 40,904 220,934 227,016 -2.7

 New Orders.............................. 37,597 37,185 37,224 1.1 -0.1 1.2 40,237 38,219 41,067 221,344 228,697 -3.2

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 77,091 76,744 77,135 0.5 -0.5 2.4 85,332 76,353 82,230 459,151 438,465 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 82,774 83,560 82,188 -0.9 1.7 -1.9 88,100 78,725 88,137 497,890 482,987 3.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 68,023 67,703 67,879 0.5 -0.3 1.8 75,858 67,194 74,395 406,488 393,174 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 71,439 73,771 73,609 -3.2 0.2 -2.4 76,868 71,163 81,963 442,223 439,507 0.6

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,704 63,251 63,121 0.7 0.2 1.0 70,540 62,470 68,536 379,330 366,117 3.6

 New Orders........................ 66,020 65,133 65,174 1.4 -0.1 3.1 70,698 63,684 67,576 393,785 379,360 3.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 9,068 9,041 9,256 0.3 -2.3 6.9 9,474 9,159 7,835 52,663 45,291 16.3

 New Orders.............................. 11,335 9,789 8,579 15.8 14.1 3.3 11,232 7,562 6,174 55,667 43,480 28.0

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 not 

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, which

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(07), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2004-2007."

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 equipmen

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 separately.
 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

Jun May Apr May - Apr - Mar - Jun May Jun 2008/

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Jun2 May r Apr 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2007

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 817,558 810,337 802,972 0.9 0.9 0.7 819,460 817,583 709,949 15.4

 Total Inventories....................... 332,247 330,467 328,911 0.5 0.5 0.6 330,035 333,479 311,505 5.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 356,330 351,972 349,696 1.2 0.7 1.1 358,407 358,013 325,038 10.3

 Total Inventories....................... 245,165 244,105 243,315 0.4 0.3 0.4 243,603 246,193 235,174 3.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 662,392 657,671 651,117 0.7 1.0 1.0 663,778 663,807 565,914 17.3

 Total Inventories....................... 307,746 305,945 304,407 0.6 0.5 0.5 305,480 308,824 289,720 5.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 817,558 810,337 802,972 0.9 0.9 0.7 819,460 817,583 709,949 15.4

 Total Inventories....................... 265,935 264,545 262,913 0.5 0.6 0.8 264,471 267,129 246,443 7.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 29,206 29,001 29,294 0.7 -1.0 1.5 29,496 29,976 27,232 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 33,401 32,959 32,282 1.3 2.1 1.9 33,405 33,108 31,237 6.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,518 62,301 62,387 0.3 -0.1 -0.2 63,758 64,381 59,436 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 43,267 42,991 42,860 0.6 0.3 1.0 43,280 43,359 41,793 3.6

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 101,524 99,549 97,572 2.0 2.0 3.4 101,724 101,369 82,989 22.6

 Total Inventories....................... 53,827 53,581 53,407 0.5 0.3 -0.3 53,277 54,070 50,383 5.7

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 124,036 123,281 122,925 0.6 0.3 0.0 124,015 123,891 116,772 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 46,223 46,390 46,363 -0.4 0.1 0.7 45,338 46,882 43,906 3.3

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,813 3,611 3,406 5.6 6.0 -3.3 3,813 3,611 3,474 9.8

 Total Inventories....................... 5,069 5,149 5,178 -1.6 -0.6 -1.5 4,871 5,339 4,496 8.3

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,136 37,352 37,079 -0.6 0.7 0.7 37,325 37,835 35,843 4.1

 Total Inventories....................... 9,707 9,898 9,933 -1.9 -0.4 1.7 9,276 9,950 8,276 12.1

 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......................... 25,837 24,760 24,285 4.3 2.0 1.2 25,883 25,087 24,670 4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 15,261 15,118 15,285 0.9 -1.1 1.1 15,183 15,373 14,184 7.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 461,228 458,365 453,276 0.6 1.1 0.4 461,053 459,570 384,911 19.8

 Total Inventories....................... 87,082 86,362 85,596 0.8 0.9 0.9 86,432 87,286 76,331 13.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,678 17,625 17,632 0.3 0.0 -0.3 17,435 17,634 19,695 -11.5

 Total Inventories....................... 23,794 23,647 23,720 0.6 -0.3 -1.3 23,440 23,848 24,768 -5.4 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 304,044 302,698 298,123 0.4 1.5 1.2 303,657 302,804 232,695 30.5

 Total Inventories....................... 37,481 37,082 36,356 1.1 2.0 1.6 37,282 37,647 29,152 27.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,572 44,445 43,777 0.3 1.5 -0.3 44,949 45,083 38,600 16.4

 Total Inventories....................... 14,511 14,251 13,976 1.8 2.0 1.5 14,602 14,316 12,513 16.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,209 13,080 13,233 1.0 -1.2 0.8 13,531 13,309 13,939 -2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 53,186 53,066 53,118 0.2 -0.1 -0.5 53,120 53,401 53,671 -1.0

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 613,312 607,629 600,813 0.9 1.1 0.8 614,196 611,428 520,894 17.9

 Total Inventories....................... 155,396 154,823 153,972 0.4 0.6 0.9 153,921 156,349 139,384 10.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 474,008 470,592 464,524 0.7 1.3 1.2 474,550 473,540 390,128 21.6

 Total Inventories....................... 136,208 135,510 134,612 0.5 0.7 0.8 134,770 136,968 122,149 10.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 202,227 199,911 198,029 1.2 1.0 1.0 203,239 203,081 186,265 9.1

 Total Inventories................... 107,078 106,688 106,620 0.4 0.1 0.4 105,805 107,779 100,310 5.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 139,304 137,037 136,289 1.7 0.5 -0.5 139,646 137,888 130,766 6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 19,188 19,313 19,360 -0.6 -0.2 1.8 19,151 19,381 17,235 11.1

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 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 61 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.