FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (12)-6 

CB12-133

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

June 2012 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in June 

increased $3.4 billion or 1.6 percent to $221.6 billion, 

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

up two consecutive months, followed a 1.6 percent May 

increase. Excluding transportation, new orders 

decreased 1.1 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

decreased 0.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up four of the last five 

months, had the largest increase, $5.1 billion or 8.0 

percent to $68.8 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in June, up 

six of the last seven months, increased $0.2 billion or 0.1 

percent to $225.4 billion. This followed a 1.2 percent 

May increase. 

 Machinery, up four of the last five months, had the 

largest increase, $1.0 billion or 3.1 percent to $32.9 

billion. This was at the highest level since the series was 

first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 

1.2 percent May increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

June, up twenty-nine of the last thirty months, increased 

$3.7 billion or 0.4 percent to $988.6 billion. This 

followed a slight May increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up following three 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$4.4 billion or 0.8 percent to $568.5 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in June, up 

twenty-nine of the last thirty months, increased $1.2 

billion or 0.3 percent to $366.7 billion. This was at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis and followed a 0.4 percent May increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty-nine of the 

last thirty months, had the largest increase, $0.8 billion 

or 0.7 percent to $108.8 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in June 

increased $0.8 billion or 1.2 percent to $72.1 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $70.7 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $1.5 billion or 0.3 

percent to $586.5 billion. Inventories increased $1.2 

billion or 0.7 percent to $168.5 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in June increased 

$4.5 billion or 62.0 percent to $11.7 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 2.0 percent to $8.7 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $3.0 billion or 1.8 percent to 

$165.5 billion. Inventories increased slightly or 0.2 

percent to $20.9 billion. 

Revised May Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted May figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $469.8 

billion (revised from $469.0 billion); shipments, $476.8 

billion (revised from $476.0); unfilled orders, $984.8 

billion (revised from $984.4 billion); and total 

inventories, $604.9 billion (revised from $604.5 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 August 2, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for July is scheduled for release on August 24, 2012, 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 Percent

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

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Jun 2 May r Apr 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2012 2011 12/11

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 225,388 225,227 222,574 0.1 1.2 0.7 241,947 230,922 225,803 1,344,185 1,231,760 9.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 221,626 218,197 214,666 1.6 1.6 -0.3 232,239 219,767 217,689 1,328,154 1,231,408 7.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 160,989 160,204 158,506 0.5 1.1 -0.4 171,241 163,697 163,140 959,805 889,054 8.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 152,857 154,524 153,244 -1.1 0.8 -0.7 159,488 157,548 156,848 937,432 879,067 6.6

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 214,124 214,276 212,470 -0.1 0.9 1.2 229,608 219,942 213,403 1,279,842 1,162,692 10.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 206,975 208,488 206,213 -0.7 1.1 0.9 216,292 212,581 204,242 1,262,049 1,153,061 9.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 157,996 157,780 155,642 0.1 1.4 -0.8 170,737 162,728 161,016 948,502 871,750 8.8

 New Orders.............................. 161,719 157,874 154,206 2.4 2.4 -1.8 167,611 157,616 158,801 971,319 910,056 6.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 28,411 28,425 28,483 0.0 -0.2 0.3 29,812 30,311 26,995 177,252 146,397 21.1

 New Orders.............................. 27,752 27,494 28,400 0.9 -3.2 0.2 28,296 28,382 24,955 174,664 146,028 19.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 27,448 27,543 27,555 -0.3 0.0 0.1 28,760 28,730 28,081 165,291 155,109 6.6

 New Orders.............................. 27,820 28,150 27,954 -1.2 0.7 -1.6 28,029 29,571 27,768 171,416 160,791 6.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,916 31,916 31,543 3.1 1.2 -3.2 35,495 32,527 32,239 193,216 173,839 11.1

 New Orders.............................. 32,033 32,397 30,781 -1.1 5.2 -3.4 32,752 33,072 34,043 197,765 194,528 1.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,045 28,991 27,913 0.2 3.9 1.4 30,744 27,114 30,590 166,085 166,748 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 21,814 22,943 22,957 -4.9 -0.1 1.6 23,938 21,132 24,768 133,285 127,740 4.3

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,820 2,934 2,865 -3.9 2.4 -0.4 3,668 2,437 4,049 16,500 16,951 -2.7

 New Orders.............................. 2,944 2,988 2,862 -1.5 4.4 -2.0 3,792 2,491 4,082 16,648 16,907 -1.5

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,119 3,304 3,059 -5.6 8.0 -0.5 3,624 3,141 3,637 18,248 19,392 -5.9

 New Orders.............................. 3,536 3,707 3,562 -4.6 4.1 -7.2 3,951 3,131 4,089 20,878 18,146 15.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,951 10,020 9,918 -0.7 1.0 -1.0 10,709 10,262 10,521 59,708 57,580 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 10,205 10,272 10,062 -0.7 2.1 0.0 10,885 10,478 10,748 61,040 59,511 2.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 64,399 65,023 64,068 -1.0 1.5 3.5 70,706 67,225 62,663 384,380 342,706 12.2

 New Orders.............................. 68,769 63,673 61,422 8.0 3.7 0.8 72,751 62,219 60,841 390,722 352,341 10.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 43,901 44,275 44,169 -0.8 0.2 6.1 47,222 46,607 40,954 263,466 231,003 14.1

 New Orders.............................. 43,934 44,217 44,073 -0.6 0.3 5.7 46,887 46,210 40,592 262,603 230,527 13.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 9,236 9,657 9,447 -4.4 2.2 5.8 10,937 9,490 9,126 55,208 43,711 26.3

 New Orders.............................. 10,972 9,598 8,918 14.3 7.6 0.1 10,419 8,122 7,887 64,355 49,474 30.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,727 4,670 4,156 1.2 12.4 -17.9 5,515 4,545 5,507 27,541 27,920 -1.4

 New Orders.............................. 5,154 4,159 3,740 23.9 11.2 -36.1 5,864 3,232 5,269 28,782 30,750 -6.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 33,218 33,309 33,094 -0.3 0.6 0.0 35,721 34,753 34,714 198,253 189,381 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 33,233 33,268 33,090 -0.1 0.5 0.1 35,588 34,913 34,566 199,262 190,469 4.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 79,327 78,718 77,254 0.8 1.9 -1.5 86,455 78,669 81,338 467,092 434,672 7.5

 New Orders.............................. 83,781 78,476 75,827 6.8 3.5 -3.4 86,809 74,559 83,038 489,432 467,755 4.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,654 70,217 69,507 0.6 1.0 -0.6 77,170 70,060 71,826 417,278 378,941 10.1

 New Orders.............................. 72,117 71,277 69,417 1.2 2.7 -0.9 74,284 69,385 72,394 438,295 403,354 8.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 64,782 63,997 63,312 1.2 1.1 -1.5 70,229 63,805 66,576 382,040 354,119 7.9

 New Orders.......................... 64,827 65,725 64,011 -1.4 2.7 -1.5 67,693 65,020 68,186 394,790 374,267 5.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,673 8,501 7,747 2.0 9.7 -9.0 9,285 8,609 9,512 49,814 55,731 -10.6

 New Orders.............................. 11,664 7,199 6,410 62.0 12.3 -24.2 12,525 5,174 10,644 51,137 64,401 -20.6

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 Change

Jun May Apr May - Apr - Mar - Jun May Jun 2012/

2012 2 2012 r 2012 Jun2 May r Apr 2012 2 2012 r 2011 2011

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 988,567 984,844 984,750 0.4 0.0 -0.1 988,740 991,866 914,580 8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 366,702 365,463 363,968 0.3 0.4 0.3 365,812 369,749 346,054 5.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 420,115 420,762 419,318 -0.2 0.3 0.3 421,732 426,903 390,676 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 257,884 257,401 257,293 0.2 0.0 0.4 257,390 260,321 247,040 4.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 798,721 798,385 797,049 0.0 0.2 0.0 797,463 804,197 720,348 10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 341,108 339,844 338,427 0.4 0.4 0.2 340,291 344,049 319,910 6.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 988,567 984,844 984,750 0.4 0.0 -0.1 988,740 991,866 914,580 8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 297,657 296,450 294,990 0.4 0.5 0.3 297,216 300,119 279,999 6.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,725 34,384 35,315 -1.9 -2.6 -0.2 33,414 34,930 32,781 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 34,369 34,435 34,511 -0.2 -0.2 -1.6 34,804 35,057 34,809 0.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 82,346 81,974 81,367 0.5 0.7 0.5 83,496 84,227 77,082 8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 46,045 45,964 45,894 0.2 0.2 0.4 46,205 46,300 44,704 3.4

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,795 139,678 139,197 -0.6 0.3 -0.5 139,011 141,754 123,615 12.5

 Total Inventories....................... 66,112 65,695 65,216 0.6 0.7 1.7 65,514 66,577 58,183 12.6

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 136,041 135,787 134,711 0.2 0.8 1.1 136,160 136,384 130,562 4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 45,639 45,729 46,234 -0.2 -1.1 0.2 45,189 46,298 45,455 -0.6

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,304 1,180 1,126 10.5 4.8 -0.3 1,304 1,180 1,220 6.9

 Total Inventories....................... 3,887 4,015 4,149 -3.2 -3.2 0.2 3,798 4,193 3,877 -2.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,764 33,347 32,944 1.3 1.2 1.6 33,591 33,264 31,156 7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 8,288 8,324 8,554 -0.4 -2.7 -0.3 8,067 8,352 8,934 -9.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,067 21,813 21,561 1.2 1.2 0.7 22,060 21,884 19,060 15.7

 Total Inventories....................... 15,476 15,462 15,415 0.1 0.3 0.3 15,529 15,720 15,128 2.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 568,452 564,082 565,432 0.8 -0.2 -0.5 567,008 564,963 523,904 8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 108,818 108,062 106,675 0.7 1.3 0.0 108,422 109,428 99,014 9.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,633 16,600 16,658 0.2 -0.3 -0.6 16,255 16,590 16,067 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 24,491 24,451 24,259 0.2 0.8 -1.5 23,967 24,704 22,945 4.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 396,968 395,232 395,291 0.4 0.0 -0.1 394,904 395,422 347,317 13.7

 Total Inventories....................... 58,369 57,667 56,747 1.2 1.6 0.4 58,616 58,716 50,917 15.1

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 60,036 59,609 60,120 0.7 -0.8 -0.7 60,597 60,248 58,967 2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,218 13,208 13,023 0.1 1.4 1.4 13,227 13,228 12,894 2.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,141 7,126 7,167 0.2 -0.6 -0.1 7,591 7,724 7,576 0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 50,243 50,116 50,023 0.3 0.2 0.4 50,149 50,369 48,761 2.8

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 751,985 747,531 747,773 0.6 0.0 -0.2 751,786 751,432 687,298 9.4

 Total Inventories....................... 189,367 188,139 186,809 0.7 0.7 0.8 188,829 190,679 174,256 8.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 586,518 585,055 583,995 0.3 0.2 0.0 585,132 588,018 517,098 13.2

 Total Inventories....................... 168,487 167,308 166,102 0.7 0.7 0.7 168,031 169,787 153,370 9.6

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 245,674 245,629 243,901 0.0 0.7 0.3 246,157 248,693 221,258 11.3

 Total Inventories................... 119,586 119,129 118,662 0.4 0.4 0.8 118,690 120,662 110,662 7.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 165,467 162,476 163,778 1.8 -0.8 -0.8 166,654 163,414 170,200 -2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 20,880 20,831 20,707 0.2 0.6 1.7 20,798 20,892 20,886 -0.4

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.