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FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EDT, FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017 

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS APRIL 2017 

Release Number: CB 17-73 M3-1 (17)-04 

May 26, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the April advance report on manufacturers’ 

shipments, inventories and orders: 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in April decreased $1.6 billion or 0.7 percent to $231.2 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down following four consecutive monthly 

increases, followed a 2.3 percent March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.4 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.8 percent. Transportation equipment, down following 

two consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $1.0 billion or 1.2 percent to $78.5 billion. 

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, down three of the last four months, decreased $0.7 

billion or 0.3 percent to $233.0 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent March decrease. Transportation 

equipment, down six of the last seven months, led the decrease, $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $77.2 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in April, up two consecutive months, increased $2.4 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $1,122.9 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent March increase. Transportation equipment, 

also up two consecutive months, led the increase, $1.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $766.6 billion. 

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

APRIL 2017 $231.2 billion             ‐0.7%°   

MARCH 2017  

(revised) $232.7 billion             +2.3%°

Next release: June 26, 2017

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes. 

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

°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.

May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17

% Change -3.0% -4.8% 4.1% 0.6% -0.5% 6.1% -4.6% 0.3% 0.3% 1.4% 2.3% -0.7%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2016-2017

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

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

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up nine of the last ten months, increased $0.6 billion or 

0.1 percent to $394.2 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent March increase. Fabricated metal products, up 

three of the last four months, led the increase, $0.3 billion or 0.6 percent to $48.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April decreased $1.4 billion or 1.9 percent to $70.4 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $69.7 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.7 billion or 

0.1 percent to $697.3 billion. Inventories decreased $1.2 billion or 0.7 percent to $176.7 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in April increased $0.4 billion or 4.2 percent to $10.2 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 1.7 percent to $10.2 billion. Unfilled orders decreased less than $0.1 billion or 

virtually unchanged to $141.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 billion or 3.0 percent to $22.3 billion. 

Revised and Recently Benchmarked March Data

Revised seasonally adjusted March figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $468.9 billion 

(revised from $467.7 billion); shipments, $469.9 billion (revised from $470.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,120.5 billion (revised from $1,119.0 billion) and total inventories, $648.5 billion (revised from $648.3 

billion). 

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on June 5, 2017, at 

10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for May is scheduled for release on June 26, 2017 

at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room:<www.census.gov/economicindicators/>. 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. 

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 
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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>. 

Benchmark notice 

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

issued on May 18, 2017. These revisions result from: 

 benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2015 Annual Survey of 

Manufactures (ASM) and revised 2014 ASM data on a 2012 NAICS basis; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2015/2014 

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 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. 
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These revisions spanned the seasonally adjusted data for January 2002 through March 2017 and the data not 

seasonally adjusted for January 2007 through March 2017. An updated Press Release contains revised 

monthly tables for January 2017 through March 2017. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 with any 

questions. 

America’s Economy Mobile App

The America’s Economy app provides real-time updates for 19 key economic indicators released from the 

Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

<www.census.gov/mobile/economy/> 

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/> 

‐X‐ 
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

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr Change

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2017 2016 2017/2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 232,979 233,675 233,895 -0.3 -0.1 0.4 225,177 257,240 224,333 908,069 893,844 1.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 231,168 232,735 227,461 -0.7 2.3 1.4 221,346 259,916 221,432 898,739 879,169 2.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 155,765 156,069 156,042 -0.2 0.0 0.7 151,835 167,268 148,258 603,097 583,535 3.4

 New Orders4

.............................. 152,653 153,250 151,986 -0.4 0.8 0.3 150,530 167,713 145,502 603,262 580,916 3.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 220,896 221,450 221,447 -0.3 0.0 0.1 214,241 242,963 214,796 861,754 850,772 1.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 218,381 220,076 217,624 -0.8 1.1 1.9 209,582 244,016 209,698 852,366 832,337 2.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 164,123 164,534 164,247 -0.2 0.2 0.8 157,277 181,660 153,838 635,726 617,534 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 166,529 167,965 162,384 -0.9 3.4 2.0 157,552 188,284 155,132 644,422 619,082 4.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 18,937 19,057 18,960 -0.6 0.5 0.3 18,875 20,438 17,679 75,968 69,848 8.8

 New Orders.............................. 19,243 19,289 19,220 -0.2 0.4 2.8 19,158 20,699 17,751 77,765 71,684 8.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 31,183 31,190 31,156 0.0 0.1 0.8 30,608 32,720 29,500 120,953 114,470 5.7

 New Orders.............................. 31,889 32,177 30,590 -0.9 5.2 -1.9 31,781 34,861 30,050 126,113 117,921 6.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,798 30,691 30,459 0.3 0.8 1.2 30,760 34,667 30,346 120,457 120,662 -0.2

 New Orders.............................. 30,703 30,948 30,726 -0.8 0.7 0.2 31,055 34,908 29,706 124,788 121,629 2.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,330 26,395 26,821 -0.2 -1.6 -0.7 23,875 28,620 23,266 100,118 95,374 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 22,229 21,913 22,419 1.4 -2.3 -0.7 20,419 25,565 20,216 85,567 83,174 2.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,999 1,916 2,106 4.3 -9.0 2.3 1,575 2,415 1,627 6,995 7,121 -1.8

 New Orders.............................. 2,015 1,919 2,165 5.0 -11.4 4.9 1,591 2,418 1,623 7,079 7,093 -0.2

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 2,954 3,014 2,957 -2.0 1.9 0.1 2,537 3,508 2,463 10,804 10,401 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 3,141 3,015 3,258 4.2 -7.5 -0.5 3,004 3,626 2,853 12,585 11,846 6.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,093 10,155 10,055 -0.6 1.0 1.4 9,645 10,820 9,584 38,412 37,987 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 10,164 10,345 10,225 -1.7 1.2 2.2 9,566 11,132 9,518 39,983 39,751 0.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 77,214 77,606 77,853 -0.5 -0.3 -0.2 73,342 89,972 76,075 304,972 310,309 -1.7

 New Orders.............................. 78,515 79,485 75,475 -1.2 5.3 3.6 70,816 92,203 75,930 295,477 298,253 -0.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 53,588 53,329 53,741 0.5 -0.8 -0.7 52,149 60,596 54,534 214,690 218,325 -1.7

 New Orders.............................. 53,692 53,530 54,110 0.3 -1.1 -0.2 51,760 60,722 53,823 215,393 217,184 -0.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 11,247 11,597 11,298 -3.0 2.6 -4.3 9,620 14,328 10,696 42,242 44,896 -5.9

 New Orders.............................. 11,482 12,651 10,967 -9.2 15.4 41.9 6,477 15,320 9,522 32,382 32,250 0.4

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,799 3,974 3,989 -4.4 -0.4 12.4 3,234 4,994 2,823 14,265 14,586 -2.2

 New Orders.............................. 5,352 4,995 3,495 7.1 42.9 -0.2 5,152 5,919 4,962 17,473 17,898 -2.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,424 38,581 38,591 -0.4 0.0 1.1 38,072 40,003 37,883 147,189 145,194 1.4

 New Orders.............................. 38,425 38,578 38,806 -0.4 -0.6 1.1 38,551 40,548 38,261 149,046 146,757 1.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 79,897 80,077 79,997 -0.2 0.1 1.0 75,027 90,705 74,385 305,748 303,446 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 80,613 81,558 77,944 -1.2 4.6 2.3 73,942 94,940 77,054 305,885 303,147 0.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 69,668 70,018 69,525 -0.5 0.7 0.3 65,604 79,160 66,242 266,735 268,222 -0.6

 New Orders.............................. 70,417 71,771 70,423 -1.9 1.9 4.2 64,595 82,083 66,450 268,720 262,604 2.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,570 62,614 62,470 -0.1 0.2 1.2 59,794 69,846 59,708 241,221 241,199 0.0

 New Orders.......................... 62,855 62,850 62,826 0.0 0.0 0.1 61,007 71,541 60,068 250,875 247,738 1.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,229 10,059 10,472 1.7 -3.9 6.0 9,423 11,545 8,143 39,013 35,224 10.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,196 9,787 7,521 4.2 30.1 -12.7 9,347 12,857 10,604 37,165 40,543 -8.3

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, April Advance Report, May 26, 2017. 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. 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

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr 2017/

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,122,947 1,120,541 1,117,110 0.2 0.3 -0.2 1,131,438 1,131,163 1,145,485 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 394,232 393,680 392,721 0.1 0.2 0.2 396,718 393,056 392,414 1.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 356,327 355,222 353,670 0.3 0.4 0.1 362,854 360,053 352,416 3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 264,976 264,355 263,098 0.2 0.5 0.4 266,488 263,541 259,270 2.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 945,163 943,461 940,464 0.2 0.3 0.1 951,492 952,045 965,461 -1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 367,581 367,723 366,381 0.0 0.4 0.2 370,003 367,068 366,125 1.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,122,947 1,120,541 1,117,110 0.2 0.3 -0.2 1,131,438 1,131,163 1,145,485 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 320,567 320,320 319,828 0.1 0.2 0.3 322,708 319,563 320,601 0.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 29,965 29,659 29,427 1.0 0.8 0.9 30,739 30,456 29,415 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 32,482 32,316 32,053 0.5 0.8 1.2 32,527 32,182 30,712 5.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 77,024 76,318 75,331 0.9 1.3 -0.7 78,419 77,246 77,343 1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 48,404 48,137 48,161 0.6 0.0 0.4 48,838 48,431 48,031 1.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 98,352 98,447 98,190 -0.1 0.3 0.3 99,980 99,685 99,892 0.1

 Total Inventories....................... 67,354 67,297 66,729 0.1 0.9 0.1 67,658 67,094 66,082 2.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 117,649 117,533 117,644 0.1 -0.1 0.1 119,383 118,733 114,852 3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 44,257 44,119 44,024 0.3 0.2 0.4 44,579 43,371 43,848 1.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,773 1,757 1,754 0.9 0.2 3.5 1,773 1,757 1,651 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,416 4,437 4,397 -0.5 0.9 0.8 4,370 4,161 4,018 8.8

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,945 26,758 26,757 0.7 0.0 1.1 27,554 27,087 24,930 10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 4,638 4,570 4,583 1.5 -0.3 1.7 4,611 4,516 4,584 0.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,763 22,692 22,502 0.3 0.8 0.8 23,208 23,287 20,606 12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 17,394 17,461 17,242 -0.4 1.3 0.4 17,644 17,397 17,302 2.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 766,620 765,319 763,440 0.2 0.2 -0.3 768,584 771,110 793,069 -3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 129,256 129,325 129,623 -0.1 -0.2 0.0 130,230 129,515 133,144 -2.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 23,462 23,358 23,157 0.4 0.9 1.6 23,603 23,992 23,170 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 34,099 33,923 33,872 0.5 0.2 -1.2 34,222 33,965 34,594 -1.1

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 573,732 573,497 572,443 0.0 0.2 -0.1 573,919 577,062 597,647 -4.0

 Total Inventories....................... 66,739 67,708 67,633 -1.4 0.1 0.2 67,674 67,926 70,845 -4.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 73,597 72,044 71,023 2.2 1.4 -0.7 74,608 72,690 70,396 6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 12,885 12,098 12,221 6.5 -1.0 0.7 12,892 12,060 12,305 4.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 10,574 10,573 10,576 0.0 0.0 2.1 11,125 10,646 10,308 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 55,085 55,025 54,889 0.1 0.2 0.1 55,242 55,066 53,295 3.7

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 838,962 838,246 836,765 0.1 0.2 -0.2 844,314 845,399 859,973 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 198,966 199,543 198,951 -0.3 0.3 0.3 200,144 198,812 199,708 0.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 697,290 696,541 694,788 0.1 0.3 0.1 700,674 701,683 713,318 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 176,711 177,942 177,075 -0.7 0.5 0.3 177,832 177,142 178,515 -0.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 225,486 225,201 224,965 0.1 0.1 0.2 229,219 228,006 223,203 2.7

 Total Inventories................... 121,682 121,849 121,034 -0.1 0.7 0.3 121,841 120,653 119,116 2.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 141,672 141,705 141,977 0.0 -0.2 -2.0 143,640 143,716 146,655 -2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 22,255 21,601 21,876 3.0 -1.3 0.9 22,312 21,670 21,193 5.3

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, April Advance Report, May 26, 2017. 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>.