FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-4 

CB 16-93

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

April 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in April 

increased $7.7 billion or 3.4 percent to $235.9 billion, 

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

up three of the last four months, followed a 1.9 percent 

March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders 

increased 0.4 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 3.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up three of the last four 

months, led the increase, $7.1 billion or 8.9 percent to 

$87.1 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, up 

following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased 

$1.5 billion or 0.6 percent to $232.5 billion. This 

followed a 0.8 percent March decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $1.0 

billion or 1.3 percent to $80.9 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

April, up three of the last four months, increased $6.3 

billion or 0.6 percent to $1,137.0 billion. This followed 

a virtually unchanged March increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up two consecutive months, 

led the increase, $6.1 billion or 0.8 percent to $783.1 

billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, 

down nine of the last ten months, decreased $0.7 billion 

or 0.2 percent to $384.4 billion. This followed a 0.2 

percent March decrease. 

 Machinery, down eight of the last nine months, led the 

decrease, $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $66.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April 

increased $5.4 billion or 7.8 percent to $73.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $71.4 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $2.2 billion or 0.3 

percent to $707.2 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 0.1 percent to $172.4 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in April 

increased $0.5 billion or 3.7 percent to $13.2 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 4.1 percent to $9.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.6 billion or 2.6 

percent to $140.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 1.2 percent to $20.8 billion. 

Revised and Recently Benchmarked March Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted March figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $451.4 

billion (revised from $451.1 billion); shipments, $454.1 

billion (revised from $455.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,130.7 billion (revised from $1,129.5 billion); and 

total inventories, $621.1 billion (revised from $622.4 

billion). 

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders exclude data for semiconductor 

manufacturing. For data, call (301) 763-4673 or go to <http://www.census.gov/m3>. Revised and more detailed estimates, plus 

nondurable goods data, will be published on June 3, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for May is scheduled 

for release on June 24, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. To receive the latest updates on the Nation's key 

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

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

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

“Virtually unchanged” indicates that the change is less than 0.05 percent for a percent increase or decrease. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders 1

[Estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item Percent

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

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 232,477 231,002 232,924 0.6 -0.8 -0.8 228,962 252,945 235,512 911,653 913,520 -0.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 235,942 228,281 224,081 3.4 1.9 -3.3 228,163 249,802 225,548 901,885 894,520 0.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 151,545 151,088 150,968 0.3 0.1 -0.8 150,134 161,475 155,284 591,454 603,347 -2.0

 New Orders4

.............................. 148,877 148,302 148,136 0.4 0.1 -1.5 148,568 161,467 153,073 593,646 599,671 -1.0

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 220,989 218,481 220,402 1.1 -0.9 -1.0 218,541 238,370 224,669 865,162 869,787 -0.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 221,031 213,215 214,453 3.7 -0.6 -2.4 214,528 232,263 217,008 851,521 854,752 -0.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 163,742 162,941 163,483 0.5 -0.3 -0.9 159,662 179,169 165,175 639,910 648,040 -1.3

 New Orders.............................. 170,064 163,362 157,790 4.1 3.5 -4.5 162,113 178,943 159,007 642,740 642,303 0.1

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,794 17,688 17,644 0.6 0.2 -0.7 18,015 18,850 20,274 71,488 81,844 -12.7

 New Orders.............................. 18,163 18,168 17,829 0.0 1.9 -1.3 18,506 19,259 20,646 74,268 82,684 -10.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,934 29,478 29,559 1.5 -0.3 -0.7 30,027 30,762 30,230 116,613 116,495 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 30,031 29,142 29,615 3.1 -1.6 -1.4 30,433 31,775 29,960 120,468 117,866 2.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,268 30,405 30,580 -0.5 -0.6 -1.3 30,558 33,814 33,092 121,115 128,194 -5.5

 New Orders.............................. 29,156 29,719 29,950 -1.9 -0.8 -3.4 29,688 33,056 32,807 121,832 128,694 -5.3

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 26,264 26,292 26,344 -0.1 -0.2 -0.9 24,303 29,017 24,486 100,151 96,422 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 24,181 23,736 23,624 1.9 0.5 -1.1 22,271 27,566 21,841 92,203 88,356 4.4

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,910 1,778 1,911 7.4 -7.0 -6.0 1,504 2,266 1,754 6,633 7,773 -14.7

 New Orders.............................. 1,897 1,775 1,911 6.9 -7.1 -4.5 1,491 2,263 1,834 6,585 7,927 -16.9

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,281 3,369 3,308 -2.6 1.8 2.9 2,942 3,903 3,117 12,341 12,729 -3.0

 New Orders.............................. 3,471 3,436 3,570 1.0 -3.8 2.1 3,389 4,220 3,688 14,209 14,889 -4.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,428 9,294 9,357 1.4 -0.7 -2.6 9,192 9,880 10,160 36,478 40,118 -9.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,484 9,438 9,544 0.5 -1.1 -3.3 9,245 10,076 10,225 37,827 40,703 -7.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 80,932 79,914 81,956 1.3 -2.5 -0.7 78,828 91,470 80,228 320,199 310,173 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 87,065 79,979 75,945 8.9 5.3 -6.7 79,595 88,335 72,475 308,239 294,849 4.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 56,141 54,373 56,319 3.3 -3.5 0.0 56,307 60,894 55,101 223,895 209,564 6.8

 New Orders.............................. 55,961 54,397 56,212 2.9 -3.2 0.8 55,671 60,654 54,653 222,729 209,594 6.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,439 13,078 13,093 2.8 -0.1 -7.4 11,799 16,038 13,399 49,762 52,970 -6.1

 New Orders.............................. 16,865 10,226 10,432 64.9 -2.0 -26.7 10,618 10,399 8,712 37,240 42,308 -12.0

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,644 4,639 4,437 -21.4 4.6 0.1 3,156 5,687 4,064 16,005 16,691 -4.1

 New Orders.............................. 5,926 6,204 3,797 -4.5 63.4 -22.4 5,321 6,740 3,705 19,230 13,604 41.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,857 37,931 37,484 -0.2 1.2 0.0 38,039 39,152 37,042 145,609 140,274 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 37,862 38,099 37,574 -0.6 1.4 0.0 38,425 39,735 37,594 147,048 141,368 4.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 80,989 80,991 81,168 0.0 -0.2 -2.2 76,895 91,194 82,753 313,976 327,839 -4.2

 New Orders.............................. 86,772 80,946 75,317 7.2 7.5 -10.5 80,500 90,748 77,742 314,408 321,658 -2.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,399 70,994 71,126 0.6 -0.2 -3.0 68,084 79,640 73,996 276,062 293,077 -5.8

 New Orders.............................. 73,600 68,247 68,288 7.8 -0.1 -7.9 68,198 75,509 71,508 270,963 288,900 -6.2

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,987 62,804 62,970 0.3 -0.3 -1.6 60,814 69,513 64,719 246,016 258,099 -4.7

 New Orders.......................... 62,350 62,866 62,924 -0.8 -0.1 -2.1 61,078 71,038 65,484 252,941 263,701 -4.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,590 9,997 10,042 -4.1 -0.4 3.4 8,811 11,554 8,757 37,914 34,762 9.1

 New Orders.............................. 13,172 12,699 7,029 3.7 80.7 -29.7 12,302 15,239 6,234 43,445 32,758 32.6

r

 Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment.

1

 Estimates of shipments and new orders are for the duration of the period, while estimates of unfilled orders and total inventories are for the end of the period. Not seasonally adjusted estimates of 

shipments and new orders include adjusted data for non-calendar reporters. Seasonally adjusted estimates include concurrent adjustments for holiday and trading-day differences, where appropriate, 

as well as seasonal variation, based on the results of the latest annual review of the model parameters. Estimates are not adjusted for price changes.

2 Based on advance sample. Estimates of manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders are subject to survey error and revision. One major component of survey error is nonsampling error, which 

includes errors of coverage, response and nonreporting. Since the survey panel is not a probability sample, estimates of sampling error cannot be calculated. For further details on survey design, 

methodology, and data limitations, see http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3.

3

 The Capital Goods Industries include Nondefense : small arms and ordnance; farm machinery and equipment; construction machinery; mining, oil, and gas field machinery; industrial machinery; vending, 

laundry, and other machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material handling equipment; all 

other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, and 

control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; and 

medical equipment and supplies.

 Defense Capital Goods include : small arms and ordnance, communications equipment, aircraft; missiles, space vehicles, and parts, ships and boats, and search and navigation equipment.

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

 Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 
 3

Table 2. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders and Total Inventories 1

[Estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,137,029 1,130,707 1,130,286 0.6 0.0 -0.5 1,142,530 1,140,079 1,161,832 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 384,410 385,098 385,682 -0.2 -0.2 -0.3 386,211 383,975 395,436 -2.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 353,965 353,776 353,420 0.1 0.1 0.1 359,632 357,948 361,063 -0.4

 Total Inventories....................... 259,381 259,967 260,165 -0.2 -0.1 -0.4 260,789 259,154 270,215 -3.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 961,022 958,123 960,247 0.3 -0.2 -0.3 965,440 966,203 982,669 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 358,751 359,662 359,832 -0.3 0.0 -0.2 360,502 358,622 369,874 -2.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,137,029 1,130,707 1,130,286 0.6 0.0 -0.5 1,142,530 1,140,079 1,161,832 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 312,919 313,500 313,570 -0.2 0.0 -0.4 314,661 312,032 323,284 -2.7

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,546 32,177 31,697 1.1 1.5 0.6 33,393 32,902 33,955 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 31,684 31,940 32,015 -0.8 -0.2 -1.2 31,654 31,795 36,606 -13.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 73,912 73,815 74,151 0.1 -0.5 0.1 75,302 74,896 75,485 -0.2

 Total Inventories....................... 48,544 48,741 48,785 -0.4 -0.1 -0.3 49,043 49,162 50,380 -2.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 94,378 95,490 96,176 -1.2 -0.7 -0.7 95,673 96,543 104,217 -8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 66,093 66,575 66,678 -0.7 -0.2 -0.6 66,497 66,136 69,034 -3.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 127,384 126,610 126,024 0.6 0.5 0.3 128,841 127,623 121,566 6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 42,865 42,723 42,484 0.3 0.6 0.3 43,068 42,095 43,425 -0.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,399 2,412 2,415 -0.5 -0.1 0.0 2,399 2,412 2,434 -1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 3,617 3,655 3,614 -1.0 1.1 -0.6 3,584 3,434 3,937 -9.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,963 33,773 33,706 0.6 0.2 0.8 34,630 34,183 31,163 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 4,671 4,623 4,657 1.0 -0.7 -1.5 4,632 4,564 5,132 -9.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,408 17,352 17,208 0.3 0.8 1.1 17,652 17,599 17,337 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 16,336 16,266 16,239 0.4 0.2 -0.7 16,529 16,164 17,051 -3.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 783,064 776,931 776,866 0.8 0.0 -0.8 782,898 782,131 800,769 -2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 125,029 125,131 125,517 -0.1 -0.3 -0.2 125,422 124,821 125,221 0.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,296 22,476 22,452 -0.8 0.1 -0.5 22,393 23,029 24,025 -6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 33,768 34,454 34,672 -2.0 -0.6 -0.2 33,770 34,798 35,309 -4.4

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 598,910 595,484 598,336 0.6 -0.5 -0.4 598,114 599,295 605,237 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 64,576 64,294 64,126 0.4 0.3 0.3 65,052 63,851 63,290 2.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 71,453 69,171 67,606 3.3 2.3 -0.9 71,843 69,678 66,919 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 11,395 11,113 11,827 2.5 -6.0 -1.0 11,455 11,093 12,370 -7.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,337 8,332 8,164 0.1 2.1 1.1 8,771 8,385 8,503 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 53,859 53,722 53,964 0.3 -0.4 -0.3 53,998 53,802 53,719 0.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 847,888 842,105 842,150 0.7 0.0 -0.7 851,308 847,703 876,429 -2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 193,200 193,129 193,151 0.0 0.0 -0.4 193,969 191,201 196,813 -1.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 707,160 704,959 707,706 0.3 -0.4 -0.4 709,373 709,259 732,472 -3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 172,395 172,569 172,258 -0.1 0.2 -0.2 173,174 170,704 176,049 -1.6

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 221,349 221,986 221,924 -0.3 0.0 0.0 224,611 224,347 231,381 -2.9

 Total Inventories................... 118,825 119,199 119,103 -0.3 0.1 -0.4 119,101 117,698 123,108 -3.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,728 137,146 134,444 2.6 2.0 -2.2 141,935 138,444 143,957 -1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 20,805 20,560 20,893 1.2 -1.6 -2.0 20,795 20,497 20,764 0.1

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
4 

Survey Description 

This report is compiled from results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, 

and Orders (M3) survey, which is a voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. 

This survey provides statistics on a calendar-month basis for manufacturers' value of shipments, new 

orders (net of cancellations), end-of-month order backlog (unfilled orders), end-of-month total inventory 

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

4,800 reporting units that represent approximately 3,000 companies and provide an indication of monthto-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-to-month changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the 

M3 panel effectively represent the month-to-month movements of all establishments that make up the 

category. 

The companies for which shipments data are currently reported or imputed in the M3 survey represent 

approximately 61 percent of the total value of shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 

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

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

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

shipments for manufacturing establishments in the 2012 Economic Census. Statistics based on the M3 

panel differ from the results that would be obtained from a complete enumeration of all manufacturing 

companies. The M3 panel is not based on a probability sample; therefore, the sampling errors that are 

normally provided with sample surveys cannot be measured. Nonsampling errors are attributable to many 

sources. The use of company or divisional reports to estimate the monthly change for establishments is 

one source of nonsampling error. The use of primarily large companies to represent the month-to-month 

movement of all companies is another potential source. Any corrections will be published in the full 

report. Corrections received after the full report will be released in the next month’s advance report. Any 

revisions made later than two months will be reflected in the annual benchmark publication. 

Additional survey documentation can be found on our web site: http://www.census.gov/m3. 

Benchmark notice 

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

issued on May 18, 2016. These revisions result from: 

 benchmarking the 2008-2011 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) shipments and inventories 

data to the revised 2012 Economic Census data on a 2007 North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) basis; 

 benchmarking the M3 shipments and inventories data to the 2014 ASM and revised 2013 ASM 

data, as well as the revised 2012 Economic Census data, on a 2012 NAICS basis, and ASM 

benchmarks for prior years on a 2007 NAICS basis; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2014/2013 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 Census or 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 spanned the seasonally adjusted data for January 1997 through March 2016 and the data 

not seasonally adjusted for January 2001 through March 2016. An updated Press Release contains 

revised monthly tables for January 2016 through March 2016. Please call M3 staff on (301) 763-4832 

with any questions.