FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (15)-07 

CB 15-140

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

July 2015 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $4.6 billion or 2.0 percent to $241.1 billion, 

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

up two consecutive months, followed a 4.1 percent June 

increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 

0.6 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 

1.0 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, led the increase, $3.8 billion or 4.7 percent to 

$83.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

two consecutive months, increased $2.3 billion or 1.0 

percent to $243.2 billion. This followed a 0.9 percent 

June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, led the increase, $1.9 billion or 2.5 percent to 

$80.3 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up two consecutive months, increased $2.3 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $1197.5 billion. This followed a 

virtually unchanged June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive 

months, drove the increase, $2.9 billion or 0.4 percent to 

$802.6 billion.

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, 

down two of the last three months, decreased $0.1 

billion or virtually unchanged to $402.1 billion. This 

followed a 0.4 percent June increase. 

 Primary metals, down six consecutive months, drove 

the decrease, $0.2 billion or 0.5 percent to $37.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $0.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $82.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.1 percent to $79.3 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.1 billion or 0.4 

percent to $762.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 0.1 percent to $177.3 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July increased 

$2.0 billion or 22.3 percent to $11.0 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 1.5 percent to $10.6 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $0.5 billion or 0.3 percent to 

$149.8 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 billion or 1.0 

percent to $23.0 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $480.0 

billion (revised from $478.5 billion); shipments, $484.4 

billion (revised from $483.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,195.2 billion (revised from $1,194.7 billion); and 

total inventories, $652.6 billion (revised from $653.6 

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, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for August is 

scheduled for release on September 24, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. To receive the latest updates on the 

Nation's key economic indicators, download the America's Economy app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. To learn more 

about this release and the other indicators the U.S. Census Bureau publishes, join us for the Investigating Economic Indicators Webinar 

Series. For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar. 

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

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

2015 2 2015 r 2015 Jul 2 Jun r May 2015 2 2015 r 2014 2015 2014 2015/2014

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 243,167 240,851 238,793 1.0 0.9 -0.4 229,928 262,391 230,326 1,662,127 1,621,843 2.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 241,108 236,489 227,279 2.0 4.1 -2.3 225,648 259,464 283,634 1,610,784 1,697,435 -5.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 162,824 162,450 161,782 0.2 0.4 -0.4 160,456 176,059 164,041 1,130,224 1,128,825 0.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 157,877 157,013 155,472 0.6 1.0 -0.3 153,336 169,357 157,729 1,099,584 1,121,728 -2.0

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 230,129 227,988 227,089 0.9 0.4 -0.5 218,384 248,302 219,757 1,580,403 1,541,312 2.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 227,838 225,572 216,429 1.0 4.2 -2.5 215,054 244,590 276,058 1,536,364 1,609,141 -4.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 173,707 172,690 171,032 0.6 1.0 -0.6 164,297 189,112 163,867 1,192,093 1,156,732 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 176,004 173,151 164,728 1.6 5.1 -2.9 165,253 190,288 224,713 1,174,009 1,271,329 -7.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 20,943 21,127 21,325 -0.9 -0.9 -0.8 20,642 21,983 23,679 152,876 162,441 -5.9

 New Orders.............................. 20,611 20,993 21,550 -1.8 -2.6 0.2 20,175 21,751 23,796 152,322 165,391 -7.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,960 29,946 29,903 0.0 0.1 -0.5 29,802 31,893 30,241 209,451 207,485 0.9

 New Orders.............................. 29,955 30,350 29,703 -1.3 2.2 0.5 29,683 31,623 30,471 210,929 213,434 -1.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 33,832 33,915 33,429 -0.2 1.5 0.6 32,835 37,019 33,047 234,138 236,173 -0.9

 New Orders.............................. 33,119 32,634 31,901 1.5 2.3 0.4 31,778 34,980 33,871 228,725 249,953 -8.5

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,231 29,267 29,322 -0.1 -0.2 1.1 28,015 32,995 28,360 197,221 193,499 1.9

 New Orders.............................. 25,504 25,016 24,813 2.0 0.8 0.5 23,212 28,865 21,228 170,062 160,475 6.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,242 2,173 2,095 3.2 3.7 -1.2 1,752 3,231 1,730 14,325 15,527 -7.7

 New Orders.............................. 2,213 2,237 2,021 -1.1 10.7 -8.4 1,723 3,295 1,806 14,453 15,799 -8.5

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,698 3,687 3,628 0.3 1.6 -4.1 3,221 4,524 3,228 25,066 24,671 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 4,075 4,003 3,884 1.8 3.1 2.9 3,555 4,356 3,463 27,693 27,783 -0.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,355 10,196 10,296 1.6 -1.0 -1.4 10,018 11,139 10,310 71,917 71,987 -0.1

 New Orders.............................. 10,223 10,095 9,975 1.3 1.2 -3.9 9,495 11,188 10,036 71,901 74,074 -2.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 80,343 78,401 77,011 2.5 1.8 -0.7 69,472 86,332 66,285 531,903 493,018 7.9

 New Orders.............................. 83,231 79,476 71,807 4.7 10.7 -6.3 72,312 90,107 125,905 511,200 575,707 -11.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 53,228 51,251 50,782 3.9 0.9 0.0 45,917 55,256 42,835 351,712 321,832 9.3

 New Orders.............................. 53,253 51,226 50,799 4.0 0.8 -0.2 45,333 54,811 42,553 350,555 322,424 8.7

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,890 14,176 14,364 -2.0 -1.3 -3.3 12,118 16,690 11,906 95,564 82,505 15.8

 New Orders.............................. 16,507 17,556 10,343 -6.0 69.7 -31.7 16,246 20,530 73,722 83,950 155,325 -46.0

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,276 5,440 4,513 -3.0 20.5 1.0 4,503 6,144 4,006 31,799 32,068 -0.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,415 5,081 3,876 -13.1 31.1 -9.8 3,337 6,655 3,349 26,713 31,660 -15.6

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,503 37,999 37,507 1.3 1.3 -1.7 39,144 41,030 38,404 264,621 257,240 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 38,465 37,925 37,530 1.4 1.1 -1.3 38,993 40,950 38,327 265,645 258,401 2.8

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 89,834 89,603 88,052 0.3 1.8 -1.2 83,679 100,114 81,983 609,426 591,393 3.0

 New Orders.............................. 93,337 90,449 82,448 3.2 9.7 -5.6 86,117 102,690 139,649 596,895 685,252 -12.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 79,277 79,203 78,665 0.1 0.7 -1.2 74,257 88,896 73,611 543,721 527,519 3.1

 New Orders.............................. 82,327 81,443 73,608 1.1 10.6 -7.1 77,138 90,288 133,831 535,467 614,413 -12.8

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 69,967 69,548 68,901 0.6 0.9 -0.4 66,136 77,476 65,768 479,574 473,893 1.2

 New Orders.......................... 69,982 68,479 67,530 2.2 1.4 -0.8 65,308 75,286 67,895 480,693 497,672 -3.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,557 10,400 9,387 1.5 10.8 -0.6 9,422 11,218 8,372 65,705 63,874 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 11,010 9,006 8,840 22.3 1.9 9.0 8,979 12,402 5,818 61,428 70,839 -13.3

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. 
 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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2015/

2015 2 2015 r 2015 Jul 2 Jun r May 2015 2 2015 r 2014 2014

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,197,453 1,195,156 1,194,695 0.2 0.0 -0.5 1,196,818 1,195,862 1,204,408 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 402,114 402,206 400,446 0.0 0.4 -0.2 404,736 399,481 392,140 3.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 394,859 395,450 396,064 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 396,768 398,652 397,294 -0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 270,271 270,360 270,217 0.0 0.1 -0.4 271,927 268,875 267,079 1.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 1,014,709 1,012,644 1,010,237 0.2 0.2 -0.5 1,013,088 1,011,182 1,006,221 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 374,217 374,549 373,498 -0.1 0.3 -0.4 376,618 371,797 366,550 2.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,197,453 1,195,156 1,194,695 0.2 0.0 -0.5 1,196,818 1,195,862 1,204,408 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 328,339 328,168 326,829 0.1 0.4 -0.3 331,204 326,465 321,234 3.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,384 35,716 35,850 -0.9 -0.4 0.6 35,628 36,095 37,536 -5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 37,126 37,301 37,750 -0.5 -1.2 -0.7 36,984 36,962 38,154 -3.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 82,256 82,261 81,857 0.0 0.5 -0.2 83,304 83,423 83,598 -0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 49,107 49,168 49,085 -0.1 0.2 -0.4 49,542 49,163 48,519 2.1

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 111,670 112,383 113,664 -0.6 -1.1 -1.3 111,766 112,823 121,850 -8.3

 Total Inventories....................... 66,793 66,886 66,946 -0.1 -0.1 -0.4 67,349 66,438 66,730 0.9

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 134,503 133,874 133,302 0.5 0.4 0.5 134,615 134,182 124,064 8.5

 Total Inventories....................... 46,270 46,076 45,860 0.4 0.5 -0.3 46,707 45,471 44,490 5.0

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,600 2,629 2,565 -1.1 2.5 -2.8 2,600 2,629 2,261 15.0

 Total Inventories....................... 3,977 4,056 3,994 -1.9 1.6 1.6 4,059 3,934 4,044 0.4

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 39,322 38,945 38,629 1.0 0.8 0.7 39,272 38,938 34,572 13.6

 Total Inventories....................... 5,614 5,615 5,733 0.0 -2.1 -0.6 5,596 5,524 6,080 -8.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,541 22,673 22,774 -0.6 -0.4 -1.4 22,543 23,066 21,943 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 16,657 16,614 16,547 0.3 0.4 -0.8 16,918 16,646 16,664 1.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 802,594 799,706 798,631 0.4 0.1 -0.6 800,050 797,210 807,114 -0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 131,843 131,846 130,229 0.0 1.2 0.1 132,809 130,606 125,061 6.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,651 21,626 21,651 0.1 -0.1 0.1 20,873 21,457 19,512 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 35,964 36,306 36,192 -0.9 0.3 0.2 35,987 35,289 32,985 9.1

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 614,835 612,218 608,838 0.4 0.6 -0.7 612,162 608,034 608,105 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 67,032 66,741 65,951 0.4 1.2 -0.4 67,721 66,624 65,119 4.0

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 64,319 65,180 65,539 -1.3 -0.5 -1.0 64,303 65,469 70,177 -8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 12,411 12,433 12,923 -0.2 -3.8 -0.3 12,559 12,403 12,941 -3.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,505 8,543 8,617 -0.4 -0.9 0.3 8,912 9,063 8,303 7.3

 Total Inventories....................... 54,318 54,315 54,029 0.0 0.5 -0.1 54,427 54,195 52,522 3.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 911,998 908,495 907,649 0.4 0.1 -0.6 911,703 909,265 917,117 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 200,256 199,845 198,109 0.2 0.9 -0.4 202,164 199,116 196,250 3.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 762,222 759,172 756,932 0.4 0.3 -0.7 760,740 757,859 753,661 0.9

 Total Inventories....................... 177,299 177,124 176,176 0.1 0.5 -0.6 179,134 176,338 175,696 2.0

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 246,537 246,522 247,591 0.0 -0.4 -0.6 247,485 248,313 245,304 0.9

 Total Inventories................... 121,322 121,455 121,313 -0.1 0.1 -0.5 122,457 120,597 121,505 0.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 149,776 149,323 150,717 0.3 -0.9 -0.4 150,963 151,406 163,456 -7.6

 Total Inventories....................... 22,957 22,721 21,933 1.0 3.6 1.3 23,030 22,778 20,554 12.0

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, 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-of-month total inventory 

(at current cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication (materials and supplies, work-inprocess, and finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 

4,800 reporting units that represent approximately 3,000 companies and provide an indication of month-tomonth 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-to-month 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 61 percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 

Economic Census, and these companies include almost two-thirds of the manufacturing companies with 

$500 million or more in shipments in the 2012 Economic Census. The companies for which shipments 

data are currently reported in the M3 survey represent approximately 54 percent of the total value of 

shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 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 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.