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FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 AM EDT, THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 

MONTHLY FULL REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, INVENTORIES 

AND ORDERS MARCH 2018 

Release Number: CB 18-63 M3-2 (18)-03 

May 3, 2018 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the March full report on manufacturers’ shipments, 

inventories and orders: 

MANUFACTURED GOODS – NEW ORDERS

MARCH 2018 $507.7 billion            +1.6%°

FEBRUARY 2018  

(revised) $499.9 billion             +1.6%°

Next release: June 4, 2018

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, 

May 3, 2018. 

Summary 

New orders for manufactured goods in March, up seven of the last eight months, increased $7.8 billion or 

1.6 percent to $507.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 1.6 percent February 

increase. Shipments, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $2.1 billion or 0.4 percent to $502.8 

billion. This followed a 0.2 percent February increase. Unfilled orders, up six of the last seven months, 

increased $9.2 billion or 0.8 percent to $1,153.8 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent February increase. The 

unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.52, up from 6.51 in February. Inventories, up sixteen of the last 

seventeen months, increased $1.7 billion or 0.3 percent to $677.3 billion. This followed a 0.4 percent 

February increase. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.35, unchanged from February. 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March, up four of the last five months, increased $6.5 billion 

or 2.6 percent to $255.2 billion, unchanged from the previously published increase. This followed a 3.6 

percent February increase. Transportation equipment, also up four of the last five months, led the increase, 

$6.4 billion or 7.6 percent to $91.4 billion. New orders for manufactured nondurable goods increased $1.2 

billion or 0.5 percent to $252.4 billion.

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, up ten of the last eleven months, increased $0.9 billion 

Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Mar-18

% Change -0.3% -0.3% 3.2% -3.3% 1.2% 1.7% 0.4% 1.7% 1.8% -1.3% 1.6% 1.6%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

MANUFACTURERS' NEW ORDERS 2017-2018

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

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

May 3, 2018
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or 0.4 percent to $250.4 billion, up from the previously published 0.3 percent increase. This followed a 0.8 

percent February increase. Transportation equipment, up four of the last five months, drove the increase, 

$1.5 billion or 1.8 percent to $83.5 billion. Shipments of manufactured nondurable goods, up nine of the 

last ten months, increased $1.2 billion or 0.5 percent to $252.4 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent February 

decrease. Petroleum and coal products, up eight of the last nine months, led the increase, $0.8 billion or 1.5 

percent to $51.7 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in March, up six of the last seven months, increased $9.2 

billion or 0.8 percent to $1,153.8 billion, unchanged from the previously published increase. This followed 

a 0.3 percent February increase. Transportation equipment, up three of the last four months, led the 

increase, $7.9 billion or 1.0 percent to $782.8 billion. 

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in March, up twenty of the last twenty-one months, increased 

$0.5 billion or 0.1 percent to $411.5 billion, unchanged from the previously published increase. This 

followed a 0.5 percent February increase. Machinery, up four of the last five months, led the increase, $0.4 

billion or 0.5 percent to $71.0 billion. Inventories of manufactured nondurable goods, up ten consecutive 

months, increased $1.2 billion or 0.5 percent to $265.8 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent February 

increase. Petroleum and coal products, up nine consecutive months, led the increase, $0.8 billion or 1.9 

percent to $43.7 billion. By stage of fabrication, March materials and supplies increased 0.5 percent in 

durable goods and increased 0.2 percent nondurable goods. Work in process decreased 0.4 percent in 

durable goods and increased 2.0 percent in nondurable goods. Finished goods increased 0.4 percent in 

durable goods and were virtually unchanged in nondurable goods. 

The Advance Report on durable goods for April is scheduled for release on May 25, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. EDT 

and the Full Report on June 4, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing 

Room: <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. 
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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-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). 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-tomonth changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel effectively represent the monthto-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 64 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 57 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: 

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

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/>. 
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

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NEW TIME SERIES 

Beginning with the release of June 2018 data on July 26, 2018, historical estimates of the Monthly Advance 

Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders will be available on a seasonally adjusted 

basis as well as a not seasonally adjusted basis at: <https://www.census.gov/econ/currentdata/>. Also, 

monthly data for the Advance report will be available in the Census Application Programming Interface 

(API). 

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. 

Benchmark notice 

Revised historical data from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey will be 

issued on May 17, 2018. These revisions result from: 

• benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2016 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) and revised 2015 ASM data on a 2012 NAICS basis; 

• incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2016/2015 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders (M3UFO) Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments data, as 

well as incorporating revised unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years by applying them to the 

respective ASM shipments data; 

• adjusting the new orders data to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and unfilled orders data; 

• correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to previously 

reported data; 

• updating the seasonally adjusted data based on the results of benchmarking and the recent annual review 

of the seasonal adjustment models. 

These revisions will span the seasonally adjusted data for January 2002 through March 2018 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2007 through March 2018. An updated Press Release will contain 

revised monthly tables for January 2018 through March 2018. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 with 

any questions. 

###
Table 1. Value of Manufacturers' Shipments for Industry Groups1

[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 % Change

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2018/

2018p 2018r 2018 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2018p 2017 2017

 All manufacturing industries.................. 502,794 500,671 499,475 0.4 0.2 0.7 530,079 466,463 465,190 501,901 1,461,732 1,369,032 6.8

 Excluding transportation................... 419,313 418,672 417,834 0.2 0.2 0.7 435,861 387,536 393,147 411,907 1,216,544 1,137,380 7.0

 Excluding defense.............................. 490,431 487,709 485,899 0.6 0.4 0.7 515,845 454,201 454,226 487,603 1,424,272 1,333,632 6.8

 With unfilled orders............................ 176,889 175,920 174,862 0.6 0.6 0.6 192,262 164,212 157,827 181,870 514,301 478,659 7.4

 Durable goods industries......................... 250,353 249,465 247,537 0.4 0.8 0.5 271,121 233,991 224,974 257,455 730,086 683,107 6.9

 Wood products....................................... 9,441 9,480 9,515 -0.4 -0.4 -0.5 9,442 8,569 8,210 9,337 26,221 25,453 3.0

 Nonmetallic mineral products.................... 10,844 10,859 10,828 -0.1 0.3 -1.9 10,776 9,321 9,465 10,748 29,562 28,754 2.8

 Primary metals....................................... 21,698 21,330 20,866 1.7 2.2 0.9 23,146 20,556 20,831 20,635 64,533 57,290 12.6

 Iron and steel mills............................ 10,226 10,058 9,767 1.7 3.0 1.7 10,792 9,606 9,781 9,525 30,179 26,465 14.0

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals.......... 10,126 9,928 9,768 2.0 1.6 0.1 10,909 9,672 9,799 9,697 30,380 26,992 12.6

 Ferrous metal foundries....................... 1,346 1,344 1,331 0.1 1.0 0.0 1,445 1,278 1,251 1,413 3,974 3,833 3.7

 Fabricated metal products....................... 33,916 34,026 33,781 -0.3 0.7 1.3 35,087 31,854 31,845 32,744 98,786 90,369 9.3

 Machinery............................................. 32,724 33,250 32,759 -1.6 1.5 0.0 36,478 31,580 29,303 34,642 97,361 89,672 8.6

 Farm machinery................................. 3,055 3,100 2,980 -1.5 4.0 0.7 3,926 3,475 2,739 3,281 10,140 8,438 20.2

 Construction machinery..................... 2,227 2,310 2,271 -3.6 1.7 1.3 2,515 2,252 1,959 2,327 6,726 5,847 15.0

 Mining, oil field, and 

 gas field machinery.......................... 1,065 1,060 1,083 0.5 -2.1 -4.6 1,149 984 1,023 1,046 3,156 2,764 14.2

 Industrial machinery.......................... 2,739 2,912 2,909 -5.9 0.1 2.1 3,107 2,564 2,417 3,317 8,088 8,073 0.2

 Photographic equipment...................... 540 559 519 -3.4 7.7 5.3 650 483 435 669 1,568 1,581 -0.8

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............ 3,814 3,804 3,899 0.3 -2.4 0.6 4,119 3,132 3,208 4,248 10,459 10,304 1.5

 Metalworking machinery..................... 3,332 3,490 3,308 -4.5 5.5 2.2 3,560 3,115 3,059 3,216 9,734 8,492 14.6

 Turbines, generators, and other

 power transmission equipment....... 4,385 4,309 4,156 1.8 3.7 -3.8 4,547 4,294 3,963 4,000 12,804 11,171 14.6

 Material handling equipment............... 2,997 3,016 2,960 -0.6 1.9 2.4 3,209 2,842 2,687 3,048 8,738 8,038 8.7

 Computers and electronic products2

.......... 28,150 28,343 28,257 -0.7 0.3 0.9 30,302 24,903 25,603 28,619 80,808 76,242 6.0

 Computers........................................ 630 657 651 -4.1 0.9 3.8 658 483 520 785 1,661 2,007 -17.2

 Computer storage devices..................... 509 584 557 -12.8 4.8 9.0 746 391 382 991 1,519 1,918 -20.8

 Other peripheral equipment................ 582 625 715 -6.9 -12.6 11.0 667 476 569 639 1,712 1,495 14.5

 Nondefense communications

 equipment.................................... 3,023 3,007 3,033 0.5 -0.9 -0.5 3,599 2,429 2,400 3,256 8,428 7,584 11.1

 Defense communications equipment.... 259 255 248 1.6 2.8 5.5 278 256 202 252 736 683 7.8

 Audio and video equipment.................... 399 409 361 -2.4 13.3 6.8 399 367 277 311 1,043 854 22.1

 Electronic components......................... 4,185 4,249 4,277 -1.5 -0.7 0.2 4,359 3,760 3,780 4,256 11,899 11,155 6.7

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 1,501 1,506 1,520 -0.3 -0.9 -3.6 1,712 1,415 1,346 1,666 4,473 4,193 6.7

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment..................................... 2,715 2,719 2,832 -0.1 -4.0 4.2 2,846 2,565 2,354 2,754 7,765 7,359 5.5

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments................. 9,809 9,687 9,592 1.3 1.0 -0.9 11,038 8,688 8,135 9,573 27,861 24,534 13.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components................................... 10,455 10,457 10,322 0.0 1.3 0.9 11,084 9,592 9,311 10,820 29,987 28,767 4.2

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,039 1,047 1,050 -0.8 -0.3 1.0 1,069 978 955 1,131 3,002 3,104 -3.3

 Household appliances........................ 1,489 1,507 1,510 -1.2 -0.2 -2.3 1,589 1,332 1,257 1,725 4,178 4,417 -5.4

 Electrical equipment............................ 2,829 2,803 2,701 0.9 3.8 0.8 3,221 2,615 2,397 3,133 8,233 8,135 1.2

 Batteries........................................... 895 915 932 -2.2 -1.8 1.7 840 793 867 878 2,500 2,488 0.5

 Transportation equipment........................ 83,481 81,999 81,641 1.8 0.4 0.9 94,218 78,927 72,043 89,994 245,188 231,652 5.8

 Automobiles..................................... 7,741 7,873 7,797 -1.7 1.0 -0.8 8,428 7,811 7,419 8,774 23,658 24,269 -2.5

 Light trucks and utility vehicles.............. 18,304 17,876 17,477 2.4 2.3 1.7 20,983 18,041 15,646 18,905 54,670 49,178 11.2

 Heavy duty trucks ............................. 2,804 2,796 2,748 0.3 1.7 1.5 3,061 2,519 2,413 2,558 7,993 6,404 24.8

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers.................................... 28,596 28,842 28,582 -0.9 0.9 0.7 31,302 28,940 26,929 30,359 87,171 82,690 5.4

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 13,389 11,571 11,435 15.7 1.2 0.6 15,659 9,520 8,786 14,328 33,965 32,622 4.1

 Defense aircraft and parts.................. 3,783 4,191 4,240 -9.7 -1.2 0.2 4,609 3,646 3,114 4,994 11,369 11,031 3.1

 Ships and boats................................. 3,096 3,200 3,208 -3.3 -0.2 1.6 3,439 3,133 2,607 3,469 9,179 8,984 2.2

 Furniture and related products.................. 6,654 6,730 6,600 -1.1 2.0 -0.8 6,792 6,516 6,179 6,634 19,487 18,906 3.1

 Miscellaneous durable goods................. 12,990 12,991 12,968 0.0 0.2 -2.0 13,796 12,173 12,184 13,282 38,153 36,002 6.0

 Nondurable goods industries..................... 252,441 251,206 251,938 0.5 -0.3 1.0 258,958 232,472 240,216 244,446 731,646 685,925 6.7

 Food products....................................... 69,753 69,667 68,861 0.1 1.2 0.6 71,299 66,664 66,632 68,868 204,595 197,409 3.6

 Grain and oilseed milling....................... 8,090 7,985 7,731 1.3 3.3 0.4 8,230 7,701 7,901 7,569 23,832 22,310 6.8

 Dairy products.................................. 9,821 9,780 9,512 0.4 2.8 -0.2 10,015 9,031 9,323 10,014 28,369 28,735 -1.3

 Meat, poultry, and seafood products... 19,802 19,799 19,706 0.0 0.5 1.2 20,099 18,863 18,628 19,633 57,590 55,574 3.6

 Beverage and tobacco products................ 13,200 13,041 12,914 1.2 1.0 0.6 13,475 12,101 11,900 13,587 37,476 37,645 -0.4

 Beverages......................................... 9,236 9,366 9,190 -1.4 1.9 2.6 9,511 8,426 8,176 9,859 26,113 27,064 -3.5

 Tobacco............................................ 3,964 3,675 3,724 7.9 -1.3 -3.9 3,964 3,675 3,724 3,728 11,363 10,581 7.4

 Textile mills........................................... 2,641 2,650 2,654 -0.3 -0.2 0.3 2,773 2,585 2,477 2,750 7,835 7,710 1.6

 Textile products................................... 2,291 2,302 2,259 -0.5 1.9 -0.4 2,391 2,249 2,039 2,289 6,679 6,393 4.5

 Apparel................................................ 1,096 1,091 1,104 0.5 -1.2 2.5 1,025 1,033 1,019 944 3,077 2,884 6.7

 Leather and allied products...................... 383 375 368 2.1 1.9 -1.1 400 372 334 402 1,106 1,160 -4.7

 Paper products...................................... 16,505 16,510 16,484 0.0 0.2 0.4 16,829 15,379 16,400 16,276 48,608 46,030 5.6

 Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills....... 6,713 6,725 6,685 -0.2 0.6 0.5 6,842 6,236 6,766 6,774 19,844 19,401 2.3

 Paperboard containers........................ 5,604 5,614 5,635 -0.2 -0.4 0.5 5,775 5,213 5,662 5,687 16,650 15,925 4.6

 Printing................................................. 6,415 6,435 6,400 -0.3 0.5 0.9 6,598 5,844 6,187 6,676 18,629 18,779 -0.8

 Petroleum and coal products.................. 51,676 50,895 52,500 1.5 -3.1 3.5 50,468 43,904 48,673 41,146 143,045 117,690 21.5

 Petroleum refineries.......................... 47,446 46,517 47,939 2.0 -3.0 3.9 46,540 40,337 45,094 37,298 131,971 107,870 22.3

 Chemical products..................................... 68,164 67,886 68,040 0.4 -0.2 -0.1 72,514 63,456 65,440 70,435 201,410 192,194 4.8

 Pesticides, fertilizers, and other

 agricultural chemicals....................... 2,720 2,808 2,966 -3.1 -5.3 -2.7 3,821 3,080 2,532 4,128 9,433 9,846 -4.2

 Pharmaceuticals and medicines............. 23,443 23,444 23,626 0.0 -0.8 -0.8 23,923 21,540 23,525 22,717 68,988 63,097 9.3

 Paints, coatings, and adhesives.......... 4,099 4,066 4,068 0.8 0.0 1.6 4,429 3,673 3,628 4,105 11,730 10,603 10.6

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 20,317 20,354 20,354 -0.2 0.0 0.1 21,186 18,885 19,115 21,073 59,186 58,031 2.0

Year to date

p

 Preliminary 

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

 Estimates and percent changes of shipments for the semiconductor industry are included in computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. 

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 

<http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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. Value of Manufacturers' New Orders for Industry Groups1

[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 % Change

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2018/

2018p 2018r 2018 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2018p 2017 2017

All manufacturing industries2........................ 507,690 499,915 492,033 1.6 1.6 -1.3 541,456 467,059 460,283 504,579 1,468,798 1,363,535 7.7

 Excluding transportation2

...................... 416,262 414,923 414,011 0.3 0.2 0.4 436,442 388,106 393,162 412,355 1,217,710 1,138,853 6.9

 Excluding defense2

.............................. 495,373 487,424 481,104 1.6 1.3 -0.8 525,091 456,121 451,460 488,659 1,432,672 1,328,906 7.8

 With unfilled orders2............................. 186,093 179,594 171,683 3.6 4.6 -5.0 207,399 168,682 158,359 188,495 534,440 487,081 9.7

 Durable goods industries2......................... 255,249 248,709 240,095 2.6 3.6 -3.6 282,498 234,587 220,067 260,133 737,152 677,610 8.8

 Primary metals........................................ 22,314 21,864 20,920 2.1 4.5 0.1 24,052 21,641 21,517 20,896 67,210 58,804 14.3

 Iron and steel mills.............................. 10,709 10,573 9,981 1.3 5.9 1.7 11,505 10,438 10,543 9,737 32,486 27,344 18.8

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals.......... 10,247 9,970 9,651 2.8 3.3 -1.5 11,115 9,904 9,633 9,745 30,652 27,456 11.6

 Ferrous metal foundries....................... 1,358 1,321 1,288 2.8 2.6 -0.4 1,432 1,299 1,341 1,414 4,072 4,004 1.7

 Fabricated metal products........................ 34,449 34,329 34,287 0.3 0.1 0.8 36,930 33,342 33,362 34,887 103,634 94,358 9.8

 Machinery............................................. 32,602 33,226 33,019 -1.9 0.6 -0.2 36,247 32,558 31,611 34,885 100,416 93,710 7.2

 Construction machinery........................ 2,296 2,420 2,293 -5.1 5.5 8.2 2,579 2,494 2,322 2,679 7,395 6,797 8.8

 Mining, oil field, and

 gas field machinery.......................... 1,121 1,093 1,076 2.6 1.6 -8.4 1,180 1,101 1,036 1,024 3,317 2,883 15.1

 Industrial machinery............................ 2,810 2,931 2,928 -4.1 0.1 1.5 3,176 2,605 2,851 3,274 8,632 8,457 2.1

 Photographic equipment....................... 544 539 499 0.9 8.0 -13.5 634 475 448 634 1,557 1,597 -2.5

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............... 3,772 3,936 3,968 -4.2 -0.8 -3.9 4,200 3,410 3,478 4,472 11,088 10,937 1.4

 Metalworking machinery....................... 3,179 3,180 3,424 0.0 -7.1 3.9 3,280 2,952 3,396 3,068 9,628 8,403 14.6

 Turbines, generators, and other 

 power transmission equipment........... 4,337 4,244 4,134 2.2 2.7 0.2 4,377 4,189 4,008 3,838 12,574 11,321 11.1

 Material handling equipment.................. 3,047 3,003 2,964 1.5 1.3 4.3 3,347 3,055 2,832 3,233 9,234 8,797 5.0

 Computers and electronic products2........... 24,119 23,877 23,913 1.0 -0.2 -0.3 27,708 21,307 20,629 25,565 69,644 65,148 6.9

 Computers........................................ 726 680 659 6.8 3.2 -0.3 754 506 528 788 1,788 2,075 -13.8

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 3,082 2,820 3,088 9.3 -8.7 1.1 3,692 2,721 2,522 3,308 8,935 8,841 1.1

 Defense communications equipment....... 247 264 246 -6.4 7.3 8.4 323 265 197 318 785 740 6.1

 Electronic components......................... 4,249 4,332 4,383 -1.9 -1.2 -0.5 4,260 3,987 4,116 4,129 12,363 11,428 8.2

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 1,572 1,606 1,450 -2.1 10.8 -18.4 1,744 1,440 1,436 1,676 4,620 4,422 4.5

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 2,822 2,638 2,545 7.0 3.7 3.7 3,456 2,373 2,021 3,101 7,850 7,536 4.2

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments..................... 9,701 9,704 9,701 0.0 0.0 -0.2 11,427 8,582 8,382 10,115 28,391 25,298 12.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components................................... 10,470 10,409 10,082 0.6 3.2 0.1 11,312 9,955 9,633 11,132 30,900 30,417 1.6

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,048 1,046 1,053 0.2 -0.7 3.2 1,085 994 1,012 1,132 3,091 3,200 -3.4

 Household appliances.......................... 1,553 1,532 1,568 1.4 -2.3 3.0 1,721 1,238 1,390 1,732 4,349 4,442 -2.1

 Electrical equipment............................ 2,727 2,754 2,629 -1.0 4.8 -3.3 3,092 2,679 2,517 3,160 8,288 8,574 -3.3

 Transportation equipment........................ 91,428 84,992 78,022 7.6 8.9 -9.8 105,014 78,953 67,121 92,224 251,088 224,682 11.8

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers..................................... 28,873 29,162 28,587 -1.0 2.0 -0.6 31,642 29,806 27,059 30,485 88,507 83,782 5.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 20,997 14,535 10,446 44.5 39.1 -27.9 24,565 9,762 5,828 15,320 40,155 25,905 55.0

 Defense aircraft and parts.................... 3,058 3,375 2,612 -9.4 29.2 -48.5 4,322 2,268 2,467 5,919 9,057 12,321 -26.5

 Ships and boats.................................. 3,324 3,559 2,685 -6.6 32.6 14.7 3,904 3,981 2,224 3,191 10,109 7,769 30.1

 Furniture and related products................... 6,586 6,685 6,540 -1.5 2.2 -3.1 7,215 6,771 6,334 7,170 20,320 20,270 0.2

 Nondurable goods industries..................... 252,441 251,206 251,938 0.5 -0.3 1.0 258,958 232,472 240,216 244,446 731,646 685,925 6.7

Year to date

p

 Preliminary 

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

 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 

<http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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 3. Value of Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders for Industry Groups1

[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 % Change

Industry March

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2018/

2018p 2018r 2018 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2017

All manufacturing industries2...................... 1,153,823 1,144,619 1,140,945 0.8 0.3 -0.3 1,164,758 1,149,621 1,145,151 1,131,164 3.0

 Excluding transportation2...................... 371,038 369,781 369,100 0.3 0.2 0.1 375,943 371,602 367,158 360,055 4.4

 Excluding defense2

............................. 979,896 970,646 966,501 1.0 0.4 -0.1 988,842 975,836 970,042 952,047 3.9

 Durable goods industries2........................ 1,153,823 1,144,619 1,140,945 0.8 0.3 -0.3 1,164,758 1,149,621 1,145,151 1,131,164 3.0

 Primary metals........................................ 32,831 32,215 31,681 1.9 1.7 0.2 33,898 32,992 31,907 30,456 11.3

 Iron and steel mills............................... 17,313 16,830 16,315 2.9 3.2 1.3 17,965 17,252 16,420 15,076 19.2

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals............. 11,146 11,025 10,983 1.1 0.4 -1.1 11,477 11,271 11,039 11,248 2.0

 Ferrous metal foundries........................ 4,372 4,360 4,383 0.3 -0.5 -1.0 4,456 4,469 4,448 4,132 7.8

 Fabricated metal products......................... 83,263 82,730 82,427 0.6 0.4 0.6 84,199 82,356 80,868 77,248 9.0

 Machinery.............................................. 102,168 102,290 102,314 -0.1 0.0 0.3 103,336 103,567 102,589 99,687 3.7

 Construction machinery......................... 6,120 6,051 5,941 1.1 1.9 0.4 6,546 6,482 6,240 5,704 14.8

 Mining, oil field, and

 gas field machinery.......................... 5,356 5,300 5,267 1.1 0.6 -0.1 5,396 5,365 5,248 5,226 3.3

 Industrial machinery............................. 8,186 8,115 8,096 0.9 0.2 0.2 8,257 8,188 8,147 8,253 0.0

 Photographic equipment........................ 1,261 1,257 1,277 0.3 -1.6 -1.5 1,299 1,315 1,323 1,407 -7.7

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment................ 6,776 6,818 6,686 -0.6 2.0 1.0 6,975 6,894 6,616 6,111 14.1

 Metalworking machinery........................ 7,608 7,761 8,071 -2.0 -3.8 1.5 7,600 7,880 8,043 7,920 -4.0

 Turbines, generators, and other 

 power transmission equipment............ 29,001 29,049 29,114 -0.2 -0.2 -0.1 28,913 29,083 29,188 29,727 -2.7

 Material handling equipment................... 13,030 12,980 12,993 0.4 -0.1 0.0 13,283 13,145 12,932 11,938 11.3

 Computers and electronic products2............. 120,083 119,806 119,842 0.2 0.0 -0.1 121,052 119,886 119,608 118,733 2.0

 Computers......................................... 2,132 2,036 2,013 4.7 1.1 0.4 2,132 2,036 2,013 1,757 21.3

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 26,705 26,646 26,833 0.2 -0.7 0.2 26,993 26,900 26,608 25,473 6.0

 Defense communications equipment........ 1,677 1,689 1,680 -0.7 0.5 -0.1 1,694 1,649 1,640 1,614 5.0

 Electronic components.......................... 12,168 12,104 12,021 0.5 0.7 0.9 12,228 12,327 12,100 11,338 7.8

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment....................................... 19,118 19,047 18,947 0.4 0.5 -0.4 18,981 18,949 18,924 18,189 4.4

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment....................................... 26,208 26,101 26,182 0.4 -0.3 -1.1 26,534 25,924 26,116 28,080 -5.5

 Electromedical, measuring,

 and control instruments...................... 32,075 32,183 32,166 -0.3 0.1 0.3 32,490 32,101 32,207 32,282 0.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components.................................... 22,336 22,321 22,369 0.1 -0.2 -1.1 23,015 22,787 22,424 23,287 -1.2

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 1,642 1,633 1,634 0.6 -0.1 0.2 1,648 1,632 1,616 1,527 7.9

 Household appliances........................... 1,294 1,230 1,205 5.2 2.1 5.1 1,319 1,187 1,281 1,084 21.7

 Electrical equipment............................. 8,173 8,275 8,324 -1.2 -0.6 -0.9 8,287 8,416 8,352 8,590 -3.5

 Transportation equipment......................... 782,785 774,838 771,845 1.0 0.4 -0.5 788,815 778,019 777,993 771,109 2.3

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers...................................... 25,234 24,957 24,637 1.1 1.3 0.0 26,097 25,757 24,891 23,992 8.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 591,825 584,217 581,253 1.3 0.5 -0.2 595,409 586,503 586,261 577,062 3.2

 Defense aircraft and parts..................... 69,231 69,956 70,772 -1.0 -1.2 -2.2 69,780 70,067 71,445 72,690 -4.0

 Ships and boats.................................. 23,385 23,157 22,798 1.0 1.6 -2.2 23,999 23,534 22,686 24,416 -1.7

 Furniture and related products................... 9,627 9,695 9,740 -0.7 -0.5 -0.6 9,713 9,290 9,035 9,930 -2.2

p

 Preliminary 

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

 Data on unfilled orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for unfilled 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 <http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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 4. Value of Manufacturers' Inventories for Industry Groups1

[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 % Change

Industry March

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2018/

2018p 2018r 2018 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2017

 All manufacturing industries...................... 677,285 675,570 672,949 0.3 0.4 0.4 676,197 680,087 672,030 646,595 4.6

 Excluding transportation........................ 545,554 543,037 541,007 0.5 0.4 0.3 544,241 545,805 540,082 516,961 5.3

 Excluding defense............................. 649,914 648,223 645,621 0.3 0.4 0.4 648,806 652,681 644,910 620,504 4.6

 With unfilled orders............................. 334,737 334,401 332,832 0.1 0.5 0.4 334,241 336,809 331,872 319,787 4.5

 Durable goods industries........................ 411,489 410,974 409,006 0.1 0.5 0.4 411,161 414,992 408,668 393,283 4.5

 Wood products........................................ 12,195 12,114 12,010 0.7 0.9 0.0 12,465 12,536 12,334 11,822 5.4

 Nonmetallic mineral products..................... 13,696 13,638 13,654 0.4 -0.1 -0.1 13,994 13,903 13,701 13,314 5.1

 Primary metals......................................... 35,003 34,798 34,564 0.6 0.7 0.6 34,833 34,919 34,820 32,194 8.2

 Iron and steel mills............................... 19,682 19,573 19,503 0.6 0.4 0.9 19,507 19,594 19,701 18,024 8.2

 Aluminum and nonferrous metals............ 13,291 13,181 13,017 0.8 1.3 0.1 13,264 13,207 13,068 12,227 8.5

 Ferrous metal foundries........................ 2,030 2,044 2,044 -0.7 0.0 0.8 2,062 2,118 2,051 1,943 6.1

 Fabricated metal products......................... 52,048 51,750 51,450 0.6 0.6 0.5 52,300 51,975 51,411 48,486 7.9

 Machinery.............................................. 70,980 70,629 70,170 0.5 0.7 -0.2 70,910 71,210 69,861 67,135 5.6

 Farm machinery.................................. 3,805 3,788 3,728 0.4 1.6 0.8 4,011 4,080 3,893 3,767 6.5

 Construction machinery......................... 5,592 5,584 5,544 0.1 0.7 0.6 5,628 5,623 5,519 5,147 9.3

 Mining, oil field, 

 and gas field machinery.................... 7,613 7,572 7,623 0.5 -0.7 -1.9 7,627 7,645 7,661 7,875 -3.1

 Industrial machinery............................. 8,033 7,964 7,799 0.9 2.1 -0.7 8,176 8,008 7,643 7,715 6.0

 Photographic equipment....................... 1,384 1,367 1,362 1.2 0.4 -1.2 1,321 1,394 1,375 1,307 1.1

 Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning,

 and refrigeration equipment............... 5,234 5,188 5,149 0.9 0.8 -0.1 5,358 5,288 4,983 5,106 4.9

 Metalworking machinery........................ 5,959 5,972 6,025 -0.2 -0.9 0.6 5,879 6,012 5,979 5,641 4.2

 Turbines, generators, and other

 power transmission equipment............ 10,616 10,511 10,290 1.0 2.1 0.3 10,311 10,450 10,112 9,176 12.4

 Material handling equipment.................. 5,419 5,437 5,495 -0.3 -1.1 1.3 5,347 5,345 5,355 4,846 10.3

 Computers and electronic products2

............ 46,011 45,893 45,645 0.3 0.5 0.4 45,367 46,486 45,171 43,370 4.6

 Computers......................................... 1,824 1,844 1,863 -1.1 -1.0 0.9 1,720 1,886 1,833 1,667 3.2

 Computer storage devices.................... 1,377 1,418 1,428 -2.9 -0.7 2.4 1,288 1,526 1,448 1,330 -3.2

 Other peripheral equipment................... 1,116 1,101 1,104 1.4 -0.3 -2.4 1,069 1,114 1,115 1,164 -8.2

 Nondefense communications

 equipment...................................... 4,053 4,032 4,024 0.5 0.2 0.2 3,998 4,132 3,986 3,953 1.1

 Defense communications equipment........ 585 583 577 0.3 1.0 1.2 585 583 577 563 3.9

 Audio and video equipment.................... 659 636 636 3.6 0.0 1.9 605 620 631 679 -10.9

 Electronic components.......................... 8,151 8,064 7,939 1.1 1.6 -0.3 8,115 8,091 7,999 7,570 7.2

 Nondefense search and navigation

 equipment...................................... 3,139 3,123 3,117 0.5 0.2 0.8 3,101 3,105 3,120 3,041 2.0

 Defense search and navigation

 equipment....................................... 3,131 3,134 3,139 -0.1 -0.2 0.4 3,162 3,179 3,107 3,115 1.5

 Electromedical, measuring 

 and control instruments...................... 15,098 15,008 14,924 0.6 0.6 0.2 14,896 15,000 14,581 14,182 5.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components.................................... 18,483 18,363 18,293 0.7 0.4 0.9 18,481 18,454 18,208 17,397 6.2

 Electric lighting equipment..................... 2,267 2,262 2,258 0.2 0.2 0.5 2,235 2,263 2,288 2,081 7.4

 Household appliances........................... 2,559 2,556 2,560 0.1 -0.2 0.9 2,578 2,607 2,532 2,423 6.4

 Electrical equipment............................. 5,134 5,065 5,039 1.4 0.5 2.5 5,111 5,128 5,046 4,790 6.7

 Batteries............................................ 1,819 1,814 1,803 0.3 0.6 -0.1 1,793 1,752 1,724 1,738 3.2

 Transportation equipment......................... 131,731 132,533 131,942 -0.6 0.4 0.6 131,956 134,282 131,948 129,634 1.8

 Automobiles....................................... 4,599 4,623 4,512 -0.5 2.5 1.9 4,583 4,706 4,535 4,309 6.4

 Light trucks and utility vehicles.............. 4,037 4,026 3,986 0.3 1.0 3.0 3,886 4,065 4,072 3,428 13.4

 Heavy duty trucks ............................... 2,086 2,060 2,002 1.3 2.9 0.4 2,113 2,121 2,055 2,054 2.9

 Motor vehicle bodies, parts, 

 and trailers...................................... 24,941 24,834 24,922 0.4 -0.4 0.2 24,965 25,061 25,174 24,185 3.2

 Nondefense aircraft and parts................ 67,296 68,199 67,800 -1.3 0.6 1.1 67,709 69,513 67,644 67,926 -0.3

 Defense aircraft and parts..................... 13,172 13,196 13,180 -0.2 0.1 -1.6 13,106 13,190 13,098 12,060 8.7

 Ships and boats.................................. 3,208 3,267 3,248 -1.8 0.6 2.3 3,261 3,269 3,203 3,423 -4.7

 Furniture and related products.................... 8,103 8,052 8,109 0.6 -0.7 1.2 7,909 8,015 8,095 7,453 6.1

 Miscellaneous durable goods..................... 23,239 23,204 23,169 0.2 0.2 0.0 22,946 23,212 23,119 22,478 2.1

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 265,796 264,596 263,943 0.5 0.2 0.4 265,036 265,095 263,362 253,312 4.6

 Food products........................................ 56,186 56,041 55,754 0.3 0.5 0.1 54,965 55,714 55,354 54,564 0.7

 Grain and oilseed milling........................ 5,528 5,500 5,440 0.5 1.1 -1.1 5,490 5,663 5,637 5,679 -3.3

 Dairy products.................................... 8,037 8,001 8,090 0.4 -1.1 -2.3 8,031 7,934 7,863 8,328 -3.6

 Meat, poultry, and seafood products....... 9,586 9,589 9,416 0.0 1.8 2.4 9,592 9,630 9,242 9,243 3.8

 Beverage and tobacco products................ 24,198 24,128 23,981 0.3 0.6 0.6 24,318 24,450 24,300 23,604 3.0

 Beverages......................................... 19,799 19,711 19,560 0.4 0.8 0.8 19,847 19,827 19,660 19,150 3.6

 Tobacco............................................ 4,399 4,417 4,421 -0.4 -0.1 -0.1 4,471 4,623 4,640 4,454 0.4

 Textile mills............................................ 3,335 3,333 3,336 0.1 -0.1 0.3 3,321 3,331 3,332 3,177 4.5

 Textile products...................................... 3,467 3,464 3,455 0.1 0.3 0.4 3,478 3,507 3,475 3,397 2.4

 Apparel................................................. 2,118 2,100 2,083 0.9 0.8 0.7 2,046 2,080 2,076 2,027 0.9

 Leather and allied products....................... 803 802 799 0.1 0.4 1.0 784 785 790 779 0.6

 Paper products....................................... 15,728 15,719 15,739 0.1 -0.1 -0.1 15,857 15,895 15,851 15,651 1.3

 Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills........... 6,173 6,162 6,173 0.2 -0.2 0.0 6,251 6,250 6,204 6,301 -0.8

 Paperboard containers......................... 5,107 5,091 5,067 0.3 0.5 0.1 5,158 5,175 5,143 4,874 5.8

 Printing.................................................. 5,462 5,440 5,439 0.4 0.0 -1.5 5,444 5,418 5,324 5,440 0.1

 Petroleum and coal products..................... 43,707 42,882 42,558 1.9 0.8 2.0 42,551 42,231 42,272 34,750 22.4

 Petroleum refineries............................. 38,756 38,095 37,815 1.7 0.7 2.5 37,640 37,348 37,425 30,244 24.5

 Chemical products..................................... 84,611 84,482 84,528 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 85,627 85,045 84,347 84,231 1.7

 Pesticides, fertilizers, and other

 agricultural chemicals........................ 4,088 4,050 3,936 0.9 2.9 -1.3 4,375 4,399 4,247 4,485 -2.5

 Pharmaceuticals and medicines.............. 35,532 35,355 35,524 0.5 -0.5 0.2 35,926 35,347 35,245 35,425 1.4

 Paints, coatings, and adhesives.............. 4,032 4,007 4,021 0.6 -0.3 0.1 4,155 4,109 4,040 3,901 6.5

 Plastics and rubber products..................... 26,181 26,205 26,271 -0.1 -0.3 0.4 26,645 26,639 26,241 25,692 3.7

p Preliminary 

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

 Estimates of inventories for the semiconductor industry data are included in computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. 

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 

<http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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 5. Value of Manufacturers' Shipments, New Orders, Unfilled Orders, and Total Inventories for 

 Topical Series1, 2

[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

Industry % Change6

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2018/

2018p 2018r 2018 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2018p 2017 2017

SHIPMENTS

 All manufacturing industries................... 502,794 500,671 499,475 0.4 0.2 0.7 530,079 466,463 465,190 501,901 1,461,732 1,369,032 6.8

 Construction materials and supplies....... 51,812 51,783 51,927 0.1 -0.3 -0.2 52,442 46,111 46,044 51,047 144,597 137,502 5.2

 Information technology......................... 24,400 24,408 24,365 0.0 0.2 1.1 27,198 21,626 20,654 25,038 69,478 63,372 9.6

 Computers and related products........... 1,721 1,866 1,923 -7.8 -3.0 7.9 2,071 1,350 1,471 2,415 4,892 5,420 -9.7

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 57,445 57,387 56,604 0.1 1.4 0.8 63,774 57,311 52,407 60,596 173,492 162,541 6.7

 Capital goods...................................... 87,503 86,208 85,868 1.5 0.4 0.4 97,586 78,918 74,171 90,701 250,675 230,717 8.7

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 76,935 75,332 74,376 2.1 1.3 0.0 85,536 68,422 64,819 79,135 218,777 201,106 8.8

 Excluding aircraft............................. 67,380 67,935 67,135 -0.8 1.2 0.0 74,390 62,811 59,929 69,821 197,130 181,402 8.7

 Defense capital goods4........................ 10,568 10,876 11,492 -2.8 -5.4 2.9 12,050 10,496 9,352 11,566 31,898 29,611 7.7

 Consumer goods.................................. 210,333 209,069 209,008 0.6 0.0 1.1 216,422 195,739 198,710 200,905 610,871 564,286 8.3

 Consumer durable goods..................... 39,620 39,456 38,820 0.4 1.6 0.3 44,073 39,165 35,262 42,052 118,500 112,290 5.5

 Consumer nondurable goods................ 170,713 169,613 170,188 0.6 -0.3 1.3 172,349 156,574 163,448 158,853 492,371 451,996 8.9

 All manufacturing industries5

................... 507,690 499,915 492,033 1.6 1.6 -1.3 541,456 467,059 460,283 504,579 1,468,798 1,363,535 7.7

 Construction materials and supplies....... 52,357 52,564 52,407 -0.4 0.3 -0.4 54,026 47,528 47,127 52,987 148,681 140,472 5.8

 Information technology......................... 24,661 24,246 23,929 1.7 1.3 -0.5 28,656 22,046 20,808 26,300 71,510 67,030 6.7

 Computers and related products........... 1,817 1,889 1,931 -3.8 -2.2 6.3 2,167 1,373 1,479 2,418 5,019 5,488 -8.5

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 57,722 57,707 56,609 0.0 1.9 0.2 64,114 58,177 52,537 60,722 174,828 163,633 6.8

 Capital goods...................................... 93,684 88,989 83,225 5.3 6.9 -4.7 108,285 80,172 72,018 94,937 260,475 231,940 12.3

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 83,030 78,450 74,090 5.8 5.9 -1.0 93,871 70,923 64,545 82,060 229,339 204,102 12.4

 Excluding aircraft............................. 67,126 67,377 66,718 -0.4 1.0 -0.3 75,294 64,502 62,350 71,518 202,146 189,845 6.5

 Defense capital goods4

........................ 10,654 10,539 9,135 1.1 15.4 -26.6 14,414 9,249 7,473 12,877 31,136 27,838 11.8

 Consumer goods.................................. 210,435 209,070 209,052 0.7 0.0 1.2 216,612 195,718 199,088 200,922 611,418 564,743 8.3

 Consumer durable goods..................... 39,722 39,457 38,864 0.7 1.5 0.8 44,263 39,144 35,640 42,069 119,047 112,747 5.6

 Consumer nondurable goods.............. 170,713 169,613 170,188 0.6 -0.3 1.3 172,349 156,574 163,448 158,853 492,371 451,996 8.9

 All manufacturing industries5

................... 1,153,823 1,144,619 1,140,945 0.8 0.3 -0.3 1,164,758 1,149,621 1,145,151 1,131,164 (X) (X) 3.0

 Construction materials and supplies....... 56,548 56,003 55,222 1.0 1.4 0.9 56,993 55,409 53,992 51,645 (X) (X) 10.4

 Information technology......................... 120,403 120,142 120,304 0.2 -0.1 -0.4 121,884 120,426 120,006 120,888 (X) (X) 0.8

 Computers and related products........... 2,132 2,036 2,013 4.7 1.1 0.4 2,132 2,036 2,013 1,757 (X) (X) 21.3

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 25,234 24,957 24,637 1.1 1.3 0.0 26,097 25,757 24,891 23,992 (X) (X) 8.8

 Capital goods...................................... 856,530 850,349 847,568 0.7 0.3 -0.3 863,380 852,681 851,427 845,400 (X) (X) 2.1

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 715,811 709,716 706,598 0.9 0.4 0.0 720,673 712,338 709,837 701,685 (X) (X) 2.7

 Excluding aircraft............................. 227,906 228,160 228,718 -0.1 -0.2 -0.2 230,410 229,506 227,815 228,008 (X) (X) 1.1

 Defense capital goods4........................ 140,719 140,633 140,970 0.1 -0.2 -1.6 142,707 140,343 141,590 143,715 (X) (X) -0.7

 Consumer goods.................................. 5,481 5,379 5,378 1.9 0.0 0.8 5,707 5,517 5,538 5,461 (X) (X) 4.5

 Consumer durable goods..................... 5,481 5,379 5,378 1.9 0.0 0.8 5,707 5,517 5,538 5,461 (X) (X) 4.5

 All manufacturing industries................... 677,285 675,570 672,949 0.3 0.4 0.4 676,197 680,087 672,030 646,595 (X) (X) 4.6

 Construction materials and supplies....... 70,219 69,810 69,343 0.6 0.7 0.5 71,047 70,766 69,621 66,193 (X) (X) 7.3

 Information technology......................... 39,282 39,128 39,032 0.4 0.2 0.3 38,711 39,459 38,617 37,570 (X) (X) 3.0

 Computers and related products........... 4,317 4,363 4,395 -1.1 -0.7 0.5 4,077 4,526 4,396 4,161 (X) (X) -2.0

 Motor vehicle and parts......................... 35,663 35,543 35,422 0.3 0.3 0.8 35,547 35,953 35,836 33,976 (X) (X) 4.6

 Capital goods...................................... 206,018 206,301 205,174 -0.1 0.5 0.4 205,790 208,171 203,742 198,960 (X) (X) 3.4

 Nondefense capital goods3

.................. 182,766 183,092 182,000 -0.2 0.6 0.5 182,452 184,897 180,694 177,187 (X) (X) 3.0

 Excluding aircraft............................. 126,728 126,218 125,621 0.4 0.5 0.1 125,834 126,887 124,575 120,698 (X) (X) 4.3

 Defense capital goods4

........................ 23,252 23,209 23,174 0.2 0.2 -0.6 23,338 23,274 23,048 21,773 (X) (X) 7.2

 Consumer goods.................................. 204,999 203,655 203,060 0.7 0.3 0.7 202,609 203,381 202,874 191,987 (X) (X) 5.5

 Consumer durable goods..................... 30,534 30,411 30,332 0.4 0.3 0.9 30,062 30,786 30,800 28,740 (X) (X) 4.6

 Consumer nondurable goods................ 174,465 173,244 172,728 0.7 0.3 0.6 172,547 172,595 172,074 163,247 (X) (X) 5.7

NEW ORDERS 

UNFILLED ORDERS 

TOTAL INVENTORIES 

X

 Not Applicable 

p

 Preliminary 

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 Topical series are regroupings of the separate industry categories. 

3

 Nondefense capital goods industries include: 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. 4

 Defense capital goods industries include: small arms and ordnance; communications equipment; aircraft; missiles, space vehicles, and parts; ships and boats; and search and navigation equipment. 5 Estimates and percent changes exclude semiconductor industry data. 6

 Based on year-to-date for shipments and new orders, but on same month prior year for unfilled orders and inventories. 

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 

<http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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 6. Value of Manufacturers' Inventories, by Stage of Fabrication, by Industry Group1 

[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 % Change

Industry March

Mar. Feb. Jan. Feb. - Jan. - Dec. - Mar. Feb. Jan. Mar. 2018/

2018p 2018r 2018 Mar. Feb. Jan. 2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2017

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

 All manufacturing industries....................... 230,532 229,719 228,250 0.4 0.6 0.3 230,157 230,637 228,924 219,315 4.9

 Durable goods industries.......................... 139,157 138,488 137,530 0.5 0.7 0.5 138,717 139,033 137,868 131,668 5.4

 Wood products................................... 5,075 5,021 4,983 1.1 0.8 -0.1 5,046 5,195 5,198 4,734 6.6

 Nonmetallic mineral products................. 5,748 5,711 5,657 0.6 1.0 1.4 5,784 5,731 5,657 5,453 6.1

 Primary metals.................................... 13,143 13,245 12,982 -0.8 2.0 1.2 12,872 13,200 13,146 11,939 7.8

 Fabricated metal products........................ 18,846 18,719 18,651 0.7 0.4 0.2 18,823 18,688 18,654 17,715 6.3

 Machinery.......................................... 25,626 25,529 25,340 0.4 0.7 0.3 25,567 25,565 25,286 23,495 8.8

 Computers and electronic products........ 19,076 19,143 18,743 -0.3 2.1 1.2 19,008 19,333 18,658 17,764 7.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................... 7,444 7,264 7,181 2.5 1.2 0.8 7,454 7,239 7,169 6,946 7.3

 Transportation equipment..................... 32,465 32,137 32,182 1.0 -0.1 0.0 32,602 32,400 32,248 32,446 0.5

 Furniture and related products............... 3,822 3,827 3,896 -0.1 -1.8 2.6 3,779 3,830 3,937 3,628 4.2

 Miscellaneous products......................... 7,912 7,892 7,915 0.3 -0.3 -0.5 7,782 7,852 7,915 7,548 3.1

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 91,375 91,231 90,720 0.2 0.6 -0.1 91,440 91,604 91,056 87,647 4.3

 Food products.................................... 18,731 18,490 18,179 1.3 1.7 -3.3 18,469 18,366 18,379 19,190 -3.8

 Beverage and tobacco products................... 5,907 5,975 5,938 -1.1 0.6 0.4 5,986 6,098 6,051 5,916 1.2

 Textiles.............................................. 1,147 1,144 1,142 0.3 0.2 0.3 1,145 1,142 1,141 1,114 2.8

 Textile products................................... 1,270 1,273 1,272 -0.2 0.1 0.3 1,268 1,279 1,270 1,245 1.8

 Apparel............................................. 522 525 517 -0.6 1.5 1.6 512 522 514 565 -9.4

 Leather and allied products.................... 231 232 230 -0.4 0.9 1.8 225 227 225 221 1.8

 Paper products.................................... 7,912 7,898 7,883 0.2 0.2 0.1 8,005 8,017 7,970 7,719 3.7

 Printing ............................................. 2,687 2,683 2,685 0.1 -0.1 -0.1 2,681 2,685 2,640 2,597 3.2

 Petroleum and coal products................. 12,926 12,885 12,597 0.3 2.3 2.6 12,785 12,738 12,578 10,193 25.4

 Chemical products................................ 29,357 29,433 29,556 -0.3 -0.4 0.1 29,580 29,719 29,509 28,509 3.8

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 10,685 10,693 10,721 -0.1 -0.3 1.1 10,784 10,811 10,779 10,378 3.9

WORK IN PROCESS

 All manufacturing industries....................... 212,982 212,521 211,592 0.2 0.4 0.5 213,040 214,462 210,977 200,122 6.5

 Durable goods industries.......................... 156,731 157,363 156,387 -0.4 0.6 0.6 157,063 159,308 155,907 150,789 4.2

 Wood products................................... 2,178 2,148 2,107 1.4 1.9 0.0 2,259 2,212 2,144 2,101 7.5

 Nonmetallic mineral products................. 1,464 1,465 1,487 -0.1 -1.5 -2.1 1,527 1,525 1,494 1,519 0.5

 Primary metals.................................... 10,249 10,036 10,156 2.1 -1.2 0.4 10,208 10,052 10,133 9,368 9.0

 Fabricated metal products........................ 13,931 13,835 13,735 0.7 0.7 0.7 13,898 13,836 13,687 12,860 8.1

 Machinery.......................................... 21,935 21,796 21,522 0.6 1.3 -0.4 21,820 22,006 21,350 20,662 5.6

 Computers and electronic products........ 14,139 14,009 14,024 0.9 -0.1 -0.5 14,052 14,213 13,772 13,752 2.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................... 4,088 4,114 4,068 -0.6 1.1 1.9 4,098 4,165 4,065 3,896 5.2

 Transportation equipment..................... 83,690 84,978 84,337 -1.5 0.8 1.1 84,200 86,302 84,317 82,085 2.6

 Furniture and related products............... 1,281 1,266 1,234 1.2 2.6 0.9 1,267 1,267 1,247 1,116 13.5

 Miscellaneous products......................... 3,776 3,716 3,717 1.6 0.0 0.1 3,734 3,730 3,698 3,430 8.9

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 56,251 55,158 55,205 2.0 -0.1 0.2 55,977 55,154 55,070 49,333 13.5

 Food products.................................... 6,290 6,454 6,406 -2.5 0.7 -5.4 6,019 6,636 6,690 5,941 1.3

 Beverage and tobacco products................... 9,343 9,221 9,138 1.3 0.9 1.7 9,428 9,412 9,477 8,848 6.6

 Textiles.............................................. 701 703 696 -0.3 1.0 0.0 697 703 689 659 5.8

 Textile products................................... 412 405 413 1.7 -1.9 -0.2 414 411 415 406 2.0

 Apparel............................................. 344 342 352 0.6 -2.8 4.1 329 346 344 316 4.1

 Leather and allied products.................... 86 83 83 3.6 0.0 -2.4 88 84 84 89 -1.1

 Paper products.................................... 1,232 1,221 1,240 0.9 -1.5 -1.4 1,238 1,217 1,235 1,261 -1.8

 Printing ............................................. 1,037 1,026 1,033 1.1 -0.7 -2.5 1,043 1,015 996 1,083 -3.7

 Petroleum and coal products................. 14,731 13,992 14,103 5.3 -0.8 2.2 14,500 13,794 13,437 10,616 36.6

 Chemical products................................ 18,811 18,471 18,504 1.8 -0.2 0.5 18,902 18,239 18,469 16,968 11.4

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 3,264 3,240 3,237 0.7 0.1 -1.5 3,319 3,297 3,234 3,146 5.5

FINISHED GOODS

 All manufacturing industries....................... 233,771 233,330 233,107 0.2 0.1 0.4 233,000 234,988 232,129 227,158 2.6

 Durable goods industries.......................... 115,601 115,123 115,089 0.4 0.0 -0.1 115,381 116,651 114,893 110,826 4.1

 Wood products................................... 4,942 4,945 4,920 -0.1 0.5 -0.1 5,160 5,129 4,992 4,987 3.5

 Nonmetallic mineral products................. 6,484 6,462 6,510 0.3 -0.7 -1.0 6,683 6,647 6,550 6,342 5.4

 Primary metals.................................... 11,611 11,517 11,426 0.8 0.8 0.0 11,753 11,667 11,541 10,887 8.0

 Fabricated metal products........................ 19,271 19,196 19,064 0.4 0.7 0.7 19,579 19,451 19,070 17,911 9.3

 Machinery.......................................... 23,419 23,304 23,308 0.5 0.0 -0.6 23,523 23,639 23,225 22,978 2.4

 Computers and electronic products........ 12,796 12,741 12,878 0.4 -1.1 0.4 12,307 12,940 12,741 11,854 3.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................... 6,951 6,985 7,044 -0.5 -0.8 0.3 6,929 7,050 6,974 6,555 5.7

 Transportation equipment..................... 15,576 15,418 15,423 1.0 0.0 -0.7 15,154 15,580 15,383 15,103 0.3

 Furniture and related products............... 3,000 2,959 2,979 1.4 -0.7 -0.5 2,863 2,918 2,911 2,709 5.7

 Miscellaneous products......................... 11,551 11,596 11,537 -0.4 0.5 0.4 11,430 11,630 11,506 11,500 -0.6

 Nondurable goods industries...................... 118,170 118,207 118,018 0.0 0.2 0.9 117,619 118,337 117,236 116,332 1.1

 Food products.................................... 31,165 31,097 31,169 0.2 -0.2 3.4 30,477 30,712 30,285 29,433 3.5

 Beverage and tobacco products................... 8,948 8,932 8,905 0.2 0.3 -0.2 8,904 8,940 8,772 8,840 0.7

 Textiles.............................................. 1,487 1,486 1,498 0.1 -0.8 0.4 1,479 1,486 1,502 1,404 5.3

 Textile products................................... 1,785 1,786 1,770 -0.1 0.9 0.7 1,796 1,817 1,790 1,746 2.9

 Apparel............................................. 1,252 1,233 1,214 1.5 1.6 -0.7 1,205 1,212 1,218 1,146 5.1

 Leather and allied products.................... 486 487 486 -0.2 0.2 1.3 471 474 481 469 0.4

 Paper products.................................... 6,584 6,600 6,616 -0.2 -0.2 0.0 6,614 6,661 6,646 6,671 -0.9

 Printing ............................................. 1,738 1,731 1,721 0.4 0.6 -2.8 1,720 1,718 1,688 1,760 -2.3

 Petroleum and coal products................. 16,050 16,005 15,858 0.3 0.9 1.4 15,266 15,699 16,257 13,941 9.5

 Chemical products................................ 36,443 36,578 36,468 -0.4 0.3 -0.5 37,145 37,087 36,369 38,754 -4.2

 Plastics and rubber products.................. 12,232 12,272 12,313 -0.3 -0.3 0.3 12,542 12,531 12,228 12,168 3.1

p

 Preliminary 

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. 

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 

<http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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 7. Ratios of Manufacturers' Inventories to Shipments and Unfilled Orders 

 to Shipments, by Industry Group 1

[Based on Seasonally Adjusted data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.] 

Inventory/Shipments ratio Unfilled Orders/Shipments ratio2

Industry Mar Feb Jan Dec Mar Feb Jan Dec

2018p 2018r 2018 2017 2018p 2018r 2018 2017

All manufacturing industries3............................ 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35 (X) (X) (X) (X)

Durable goods industries3

.................................. 1.64 1.65 1.65 1.65 6.52 6.51 6.52 6.58

 Wood products.............................................. 1.29 1.28 1.26 1.26 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Nonmetallic mineral products......................... 1.26 1.26 1.26 1.24 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Primary metals.............................................. 1.61 1.63 1.66 1.66 1.51 1.51 1.52 1.53

 Fabricated metal products.............................. 1.53 1.52 1.52 1.53 2.53 2.50 2.51 2.52

 Machinery..................................................... 2.17 2.12 2.14 2.15 3.52 3.47 3.52 3.51

 Computers and electronic products3

................ 1.63 1.62 1.62 1.62 5.43 5.43 5.41 5.41

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components........................................ 1.77 1.76 1.77 1.77 2.34 2.34 2.38 2.43

 Transportation equipment.............................. 1.58 1.62 1.62 1.62 14.33 14.50 14.39 14.59

 Furniture and related products........................ 1.22 1.20 1.23 1.21 1.63 1.62 1.66 1.66

 Miscellaneous products.................................. 1.79 1.79 1.79 1.75 (X) (X) (X) (X)

Nondurable goods industries............................. 1.05 1.05 1.05 1.05 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Food products.............................................. 0.81 0.80 0.81 0.81 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Beverage and tobacco products...................... 1.83 1.85 1.86 1.86 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Textiles........................................................ 1.26 1.26 1.26 1.26 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Textile products............................................ 1.51 1.50 1.53 1.52 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Apparel......................................................... 1.93 1.92 1.89 1.92 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Leather and allied products............................. 2.10 2.14 2.17 2.13 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Paper products.............................................. 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.96 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Printing......................................................... 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.87 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Petroleum and coal products........................... 0.85 0.84 0.81 0.82 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Chemical products......................................... 1.24 1.24 1.24 1.24 (X) (X) (X) (X)

 Plastics and rubber products........................... 1.29 1.29 1.29 1.29 (X) (X) (X) (X)

Mar3 Mar3 Mar3 Mar3

Industry 2017- 2017- 2017- 2017-

Mar2 Feb Mar2 Feb Mar2 Feb Mar2 Feb

2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018

 

All manufacturing industries.................. (X) 0.1 (X) 0.3 (X) 0.0 (X) 0.1

Durable goods industries....................... 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

 Wood products................................... (X) 0.3 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

 Nonmetallic mineral products.............. (X) 0.4 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.1

 Primary metals.................................... 0.6 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.0 0.4 0.1 0.3

 Fabricated metal products.................... 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.8 -0.1 0.2 0.0 0.2

 Machinery.......................................... 0.0 0.2 -0.2 0.6 -0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1

 Computers and electronic products..... -0.2 0.3 -0.3 0.6 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances,

 and components............................. 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.7 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.1

 Transportation equipment.................... 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1

 Furniture and related products............. (X) 0.4 (X) 0.8 (X) 0.6 (X) 0.3

 Miscellaneous products...................... (X) 0.3 (X) 0.3 (X) 0.3 (X) 0.1

Nondurable goods industries................... (X) 0.2 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

 Food products................................... (X) 0.3 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

 Beverage and tobacco products............ (X) 0.4 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

 Textiles............................................. (X) 0.5 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.1

 Textile products.................................. (X) 0.5 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Apparel.............................................. (X) 0.9 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.4

 Leather and allied products.................... (X) 0.4 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.4

 Paper products.................................... (X) 0.2 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.1

 Printing.............................................. (X) 0.3 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.3

 Petroleum and coal products................. (X) 0.7 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 1.2

 Chemical products................................ (X) 0.2 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

 Plastics and rubber products................. (X) 0.3 (X) (NA) (X) (NA) (X) 0.2

X

 Not Applicable 

p

 Preliminary 

r

 Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment. 

2

 Excludes the following industries with no unfilled orders: Wood products; nonmetallic mineral products; medical equipment and

supplies; office supplies; other miscellaneous manufacturing; cutlery and handtools; farm and garden machinery; computer storage and 

peripheral devices; audio and video equipment; manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media; batteries; automobiles; light 

trucks and utility vehicles; heavy duty trucks; and miscellaneous furniture. 

3

 Unfilled orders to shipments ratio excludes semiconductor manufacturing. 

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 <http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 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>. 

X Not Applicable 

NA Not Available 

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

 The current month revisions are the difference between the advance percent change and the percent change as shown in this 

publication. 

3

 The twelve month revisions are the differences between the month-to-month percent changes of the preliminary and final 

estimates. The monthly averages are the simple averages of the absolute values of the differences for the months specified. 

The advance to final percent change revisions for the durable goods industries are shown in the advance report for the month. 

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 <http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, March Full Report, May 3, 2018. 

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 8. Revisions to Previously Published Monthly Percent Changes 1

[Based on Seasonally Adjusted data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.] 

Shipments New Orders Unfilled Orders Inventories