Table 2. Value of Manufacturers' New Orders for Industry Groups1

January 2023 - March 2023

[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

Industry Percent

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. change

2023 2023 2023 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2023 2023 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023/

2022

All manufacturing industries2........................ 573,809 571,265 581,049 0.4 -1.7 0.0 618,458 532,423 542,609 614,653 1,693,490 1,655,878 2.3

 Excluding transportation2...................... 480,824 485,546 487,600 -1.0 -0.4 0.9 508,467 450,774 462,194 517,251 1,421,435 1,397,781 1.7

 Excluding defense2.............................. 558,249 555,847 564,163 0.4 -1.5 -0.2 597,936 518,089 529,198 596,400 1,645,223 1,614,754 1.9

 With unfilled orders............................. 198,491 190,665 197,315 4.1 -3.4 -1.9 223,287 182,385 182,836 213,110 588,508 582,105 1.1

 Durable goods industries2......................... 278,517 270,825 278,372 2.8 -2.7 -1.3 312,044 256,827 254,810 298,698 823,681 803,989 2.4

 Primary metals........................................ 26,920 26,708 26,548 0.8 0.6 0.7 29,373 26,530 26,580 30,244 82,483 83,546 -1.3

 Iron and steel mills.............................. 15,095 14,863 14,452 1.6 2.8 -1.9 16,481 14,652 14,423 15,915 45,556 44,659 2.0

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals.......... 10,115 10,113 10,458 0.0 -3.3 4.4 11,024 10,176 10,539 12,474 31,739 33,983 -6.6

 Ferrous metal foundries....................... 1,710 1,732 1,638 -1.3 5.7 1.9 1,868 1,702 1,618 1,855 5,188 4,904 5.8

 Fabricated metal products........................ 35,209 35,056 34,958 0.4 0.3 -0.8 39,004 33,820 33,915 39,548 106,739 108,453 -1.6

 Machinery............................................. 36,863 37,201 37,254 -0.9 -0.1 0.2 40,698 36,279 36,487 40,634 113,464 111,750 1.5

 Construction machinery........................ 4,169 3,665 3,860 13.8 -5.1 0.0 4,688 3,740 4,041 4,003 12,469 11,281 10.5

 Mining, oil field, and

 gas field machinery.......................... 1,573 1,933 1,605 -18.6 20.4 0.8 1,683 1,803 1,516 1,425 5,002 3,881 28.9

 Industrial machinery............................ 3,604 3,886 4,192 -7.3 -7.3 13.9 3,981 3,228 4,372 4,383 11,581 11,610 -0.2

 Photographic equipment....................... 694 720 640 -3.6 12.5 2.6 734 787 536 655 2,057 1,773 16.0

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............... 4,907 4,713 4,829 4.1 -2.4 -1.7 5,543 4,135 4,390 4,892 14,068 13,246 6.2

 Metalworking machinery....................... 2,649 2,896 2,758 -8.5 5.0 3.2 2,730 2,967 2,665 3,044 8,362 8,509 -1.7

 Turbines, generators, and other 

 power transmission equipment........... 3,915 3,865 3,563 1.3 8.5 -7.0 3,995 3,886 3,390 3,601 11,271 10,675 5.6

 Material handling equipment.................. 3,797 3,809 3,980 -0.3 -4.3 2.6 4,243 3,767 3,907 4,434 11,917 11,795 1.0

 Computers and electronic products2........... 24,509 23,976 23,850 2.2 0.5 -0.2 27,768 21,339 20,820 26,791 69,927 68,319 2.4

 Computers........................................ 815 799 819 2.0 -2.4 8.5 776 630 718 694 2,124 1,913 11.0

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 2,885 2,897 2,942 -0.4 -1.5 1.6 3,451 2,415 2,298 3,461 8,164 8,232 -0.8

 Defense communications equipment...... 195 201 201 -3.0 0.0 3.1 201 202 172 202 575 549 4.7

 Electronic components......................... 4,695 4,742 4,589 -1.0 3.3 -0.6 4,897 4,352 4,358 5,060 13,607 13,838 -1.7

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 1,761 1,709 1,647 3.0 3.8 -14.0 2,040 1,612 1,575 2,020 5,227 5,298 -1.3

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 3,626 3,208 3,157 13.0 1.6 2.9 4,521 2,968 2,431 3,938 9,920 8,955 10.8

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments..................... 8,837 8,776 8,729 0.7 0.5 -1.1 10,055 7,815 7,677 9,801 25,547 25,334 0.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components................................... 14,200 14,165 13,975 0.2 1.4 2.9 15,565 13,299 13,081 14,673 41,945 38,849 8.0

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,336 1,296 1,223 3.1 6.0 -10.1 1,438 1,192 1,115 1,316 3,745 3,526 6.2

 Household appliances.......................... 2,423 2,547 2,439 -4.9 4.4 -2.7 2,780 2,060 2,010 2,696 6,850 6,436 6.4

 Electrical equipment............................ 4,503 4,523 4,574 -0.4 -1.1 13.3 5,064 4,443 4,669 4,694 14,176 13,129 8.0

 Transportation equipment........................ 92,985 85,719 93,449 8.5 -8.3 -4.2 109,991 81,649 80,415 97,402 272,055 258,097 5.4

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers..................................... 29,104 29,362 28,888 -0.9 1.6 1.4 32,030 29,754 27,920 30,654 89,704 84,421 6.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 16,598 8,560 14,770 93.9 -42.0 -27.8 20,211 6,942 10,186 14,202 37,339 47,084 -20.7

 Defense aircraft and parts.................... 5,528 4,598 5,281 20.2 -12.9 12.7 6,681 3,638 4,888 4,961 15,207 11,224 35.5

 Ships and boats.................................. 2,725 3,474 4,441 -21.6 -21.8 -0.6 4,402 4,739 4,201 5,092 13,342 11,608 14.9

 Furniture and related products................... 6,854 6,955 7,013 -1.5 -0.8 1.4 7,125 6,877 6,727 6,999 20,729 19,845 4.5

 Nondurable goods industries..................... 295,292 300,440 302,677 -1.7 -0.7 1.2 306,414 275,596 287,799 315,955 869,809 851,889 2.1

Year to date

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

 Data on new orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for new orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Note: 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 <https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, Benchmark Report, May 12, 2023. 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>. 

The Census Bureau has reviewed this data product to ensure appropriate access, use, and disclosure avoidance protection of the confidential source data (Project No. P-6000307, Disclosure Review Board (DRB) approval number: CBDRBFY23-0294).