FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (14)-04 

CB14-92

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

April 2014 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in April 

increased $1.9 billion or 0.8 percent to $239.9 billion, 

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

up three consecutive months, followed a 3.6 percent 

March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders 

increased 0.1 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

decreased 0.8 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up three consecutive 

months, led the increase, $1.7 billion or 2.3 percent to 

$76.9 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $0.6 billion or 0.2 percent to $237.2 billion. 

This followed a 1.3 percent March increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, $0.7 

billion or 1.0 percent to $69.5 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

April, up twelve of the last thirteen months, increased 

$10.4 billion or 1.0 percent to $1,081.0 billion. This was 

at the highest level since the series was first published on 

a NAICS basis in 1992, and followed a 0.8 percent 

March increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up seven of the last eight 

months, led the increase, $7.5 billion or 1.1 percent to 

$671.7 billion.

Inventories 

 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up 

twelve of the last thirteen months, increased $0.3 billion 

or 0.1 percent to $393.3 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis, and followed a 0.2 percent March increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twelve of the last 

thirteen months, drove the increase, $0.3 billion or 0.3 

percent to $126.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April 

decreased $0.8 billion or 1.0 percent to $82.2 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $76.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $5.7 billion or 0.9 

percent to $656.1 billion. Inventories increased $0.5 

billion or 0.3 percent to $178.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in April 

increased $3.6 billion or 39.3 percent to $12.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 1.4 percent to $9.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.3 billion or 2.1 

percent to $159.6 billion. Inventories decreased $0.3 

billion or 1.2 percent to $23.6 billion. 

Revised March Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted March figures for all 

manufacturing industries, based on updated seasonal 

adjustment models, were: new orders, $495.9 billion 

(revised from $493.9 billion); shipments, $495.7 billion 

(revised from $494.9 billion); unfilled orders, $1,070.5 

billion (revised from $1,069.3 billion); and total 

inventories $643.0 billion (revised from $643.1 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, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for May is scheduled 

for release on June 25, 2014, 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. The U.S. Census Bureau 

updated its Application Programming Interface (API) with monthly and quarterly economic indicators. The API allows developers to combine Census Bureau statistics with other data sets to create tools for research on a variety of topics.
 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

2014 2 2014 r 2014 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2014 2 2014 r 2013 2014 2013 2014/2013

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 237,222 237,785 234,785 -0.2 1.3 1.1 237,709 253,572 227,842 920,837 886,754 3.8

 New Orders4.............................. 239,947 238,039 229,864 0.8 3.6 2.6 234,024 255,561 218,555 919,762 877,027 4.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 167,756 167,619 165,294 0.1 1.4 0.6 169,279 176,583 161,901 650,119 626,530 3.8

 New Orders4.............................. 163,005 162,808 158,236 0.1 2.9 0.8 164,703 175,170 157,503 642,025 621,334 3.3

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 225,377 225,914 223,129 -0.2 1.2 1.3 226,806 240,026 216,934 875,694 840,783 4.2

 New Orders4.............................. 224,626 226,477 220,107 -0.8 2.9 2.3 220,659 241,247 211,052 874,714 838,557 4.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 166,261 166,668 164,205 -0.2 1.5 0.8 164,381 179,723 156,900 643,922 620,216 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 176,697 174,653 167,000 1.2 4.6 2.7 170,069 188,490 156,035 674,269 638,245 5.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 26,207 26,070 25,789 0.5 1.1 -0.3 27,295 27,280 25,981 105,543 101,341 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 26,428 26,528 25,873 -0.4 2.5 0.9 27,597 28,022 26,337 108,529 104,121 4.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 29,411 29,533 29,428 -0.4 0.4 1.4 29,946 30,142 29,560 114,466 112,538 1.7

 New Orders.............................. 29,699 28,715 28,780 3.4 -0.2 3.5 30,431 31,371 30,608 117,895 123,610 -4.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 35,788 36,278 35,233 -1.4 3.0 2.3 36,224 40,108 34,798 139,806 135,126 3.5

 New Orders.............................. 36,674 37,785 36,207 -2.9 4.4 0.1 38,088 41,145 35,703 149,232 139,472 7.0

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,032 28,803 28,469 0.8 1.2 -1.2 28,394 30,955 26,705 110,770 105,671 4.8

 New Orders.............................. 22,293 22,541 21,013 -1.1 7.3 -0.2 20,414 25,923 19,656 84,133 80,628 4.3

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,461 2,227 2,151 10.5 3.5 -10.2 1,794 2,977 1,691 7,979 8,101 -1.5

 New Orders.............................. 2,408 2,251 2,146 7.0 4.9 -2.9 1,741 3,001 1,717 7,759 8,332 -6.9

 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,876 3,786 3,734 2.4 1.4 -6.7 3,376 4,373 3,489 14,246 14,680 -3.0

 New Orders.............................. 4,386 4,642 4,236 -5.5 9.6 -2.5 4,036 5,282 4,013 17,143 16,354 4.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,177 10,326 10,160 -1.4 1.6 -0.4 10,010 11,030 10,111 39,543 39,882 -0.9

 New Orders.............................. 10,705 10,588 10,243 1.1 3.4 -1.2 10,421 11,259 10,087 41,402 40,780 1.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 69,466 70,166 69,491 -1.0 1.0 2.3 68,430 76,989 65,941 270,718 260,224 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 76,942 75,231 71,628 2.3 5.0 6.9 69,321 80,391 61,052 277,737 255,693 8.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 45,785 46,272 46,229 -1.1 0.1 5.2 46,544 49,202 46,233 182,083 176,378 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 45,865 46,344 46,183 -1.0 0.3 4.9 46,433 49,149 45,988 182,444 176,570 3.3 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 11,750 12,022 11,593 -2.3 3.7 -4.8 10,467 14,101 8,534 43,470 37,868 14.8

 New Orders.............................. 16,006 16,694 14,994 -4.1 11.3 11.4 9,301 16,880 7,164 49,485 42,984 15.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,662 4,703 4,384 -0.9 7.3 -6.5 4,144 5,650 4,063 17,314 17,705 -2.2

 New Orders.............................. 4,542 4,016 4,442 13.1 -9.6 18.5 3,377 4,774 2,874 15,565 12,734 22.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,141 36,609 36,215 1.5 1.1 0.7 37,410 37,068 34,746 139,991 131,972 6.1

 New Orders.............................. 37,206 36,651 36,120 1.5 1.5 0.5 37,752 37,450 35,112 140,834 132,723 6.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 86,169 86,485 84,596 -0.4 2.2 0.3 82,633 96,495 77,890 329,012 316,817 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 95,082 92,279 83,495 3.0 10.5 -0.6 87,514 102,600 77,328 345,810 330,495 4.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 76,532 76,980 75,110 -0.6 2.5 0.6 73,643 85,733 68,910 292,172 279,282 4.6

 New Orders.............................. 82,188 83,021 75,704 -1.0 9.7 -1.8 76,047 90,780 71,718 308,441 299,779 2.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 68,138 68,398 66,976 -0.4 2.1 0.8 66,188 75,722 63,536 262,589 254,904 3.0

 New Orders.......................... 70,137 70,979 67,820 -1.2 4.7 0.1 69,637 79,326 67,305 278,897 270,614 3.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,637 9,505 9,486 1.4 0.2 -1.7 8,990 10,762 8,980 36,840 37,535 -1.9

 New Orders.............................. 12,894 9,258 7,791 39.3 18.8 12.5 11,467 11,820 5,610 37,369 30,716 21.7

r

 Revised data due to late receipts and concurrent seasonal adjustment.

1

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

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

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

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

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

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

3

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

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

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

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

medical equipment and supplies.

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

4 Estimates of shipments for the semiconductor industry are no longer shown separately. Estimates and percent changes of shipments and inventories for the semiconductor industry are included 

 in computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 
 3

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

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

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Apr Mar Feb Mar - Feb - Jan - Apr Mar Apr 2014/

2014 2 2014 r 2014 Apr 2 Mar r Feb 2014 2 2014 r 2013 2013

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,080,965 1,070,529 1,062,544 1.0 0.8 0.3 1,090,625 1,084,937 1,008,893 8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 393,335 393,006 392,174 0.1 0.2 0.8 395,882 391,719 379,697 4.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 409,313 406,353 403,433 0.7 0.7 0.2 417,165 412,368 393,895 5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 267,190 267,190 267,051 0.0 0.1 0.4 268,624 266,291 262,835 2.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 892,036 885,076 876,782 0.8 0.9 0.5 899,816 896,590 806,040 11.6

 Total Inventories....................... 364,466 363,846 363,106 0.2 0.2 0.6 366,844 362,394 351,653 4.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,080,965 1,070,529 1,062,544 1.0 0.8 0.3 1,090,625 1,084,937 1,008,893 8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 322,246 321,888 321,385 0.1 0.2 0.9 324,756 320,498 310,645 4.5

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,411 37,190 36,732 0.6 1.2 0.2 39,039 38,737 34,907 11.8

 Total Inventories....................... 35,537 35,588 35,716 -0.1 -0.4 0.6 35,840 35,699 35,412 1.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 84,837 84,549 85,367 0.3 -1.0 -0.8 87,226 86,741 90,024 -3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 48,952 48,860 48,716 0.2 0.3 0.6 49,352 48,880 47,603 3.7

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 115,227 114,341 112,834 0.8 1.3 0.9 117,173 115,309 106,136 10.4

 Total Inventories....................... 65,915 65,820 66,100 0.1 -0.4 0.6 66,453 65,627 66,886 -0.6

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,476 139,504 138,035 0.7 1.1 0.2 141,756 140,363 133,375 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 47,659 47,954 47,821 -0.6 0.3 0.5 47,566 47,069 46,017 3.4

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,169 3,222 3,198 -1.6 0.8 -0.2 3,169 3,222 3,458 -8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,722 4,690 4,600 0.7 2.0 -0.4 4,660 4,397 4,315 8.0 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 38,007 37,497 36,641 1.4 2.3 1.4 38,424 37,764 32,104 19.7

 Total Inventories....................... 7,736 7,787 7,732 -0.7 0.7 0.6 7,616 7,723 7,346 3.7

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 23,896 23,368 23,106 2.3 1.1 0.4 24,149 23,738 21,872 10.4

 Total Inventories....................... 16,567 16,582 16,701 -0.1 -0.7 -0.4 16,759 16,523 16,897 -0.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 671,652 664,176 659,111 1.1 0.8 0.3 673,460 672,569 614,998 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 126,145 125,816 125,123 0.3 0.6 1.5 127,258 125,428 116,862 8.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,567 16,487 16,415 0.5 0.4 -0.3 16,877 16,988 16,977 -0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 26,555 26,405 26,194 0.6 0.8 0.8 26,593 26,041 25,081 6.0 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 501,349 497,093 492,421 0.9 0.9 0.7 501,723 502,889 436,472 14.9

 Total Inventories....................... 70,329 69,925 69,604 0.6 0.5 0.9 71,325 69,811 63,294 12.7

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,093 62,213 62,900 -0.2 -1.1 0.1 62,762 63,529 67,388 -6.9

 Total Inventories....................... 14,120 14,164 14,211 -0.3 -0.3 6.7 14,185 14,145 13,679 3.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,466 7,401 7,359 0.9 0.6 -1.3 7,822 7,480 7,581 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 52,560 52,386 51,997 0.3 0.7 0.1 52,654 52,493 50,020 5.3

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 815,727 806,814 801,020 1.1 0.7 -0.1 821,243 816,362 754,892 8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 202,234 201,984 201,663 0.1 0.2 1.0 203,640 200,889 194,736 4.6

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 656,093 650,437 644,396 0.9 0.9 0.1 660,140 657,736 583,768 13.1

 Total Inventories....................... 178,618 178,085 177,904 0.3 0.1 0.6 179,920 176,806 172,138 4.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 240,729 238,730 236,149 0.8 1.1 0.4 244,953 241,504 223,549 9.6

 Total Inventories................... 120,619 120,425 120,459 0.2 0.0 0.5 120,885 119,112 120,070 0.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 159,634 156,377 156,624 2.1 -0.2 -1.1 161,103 158,626 171,124 -5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 23,616 23,899 23,759 -1.2 0.6 4.1 23,720 24,083 22,598 5.0

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
4

Survey Description 

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

and Orders (M3) survey. This survey provides statistics on manufacturers' value of shipments, new orders 

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

current cost or market value), and inventories by stage of fabrication (materials and supplies, work-inprocess, and finished goods). The M3 includes approximately 4,300 reporting units. Units may be 

divisions of diversified large companies, large homogenous companies, or single-unit manufacturers in 89 

industry categories. Due to the small monthly sample, these 89 categories have been combined into 65

publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-to-month changes of the total 

operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-to-month movements 

of all establishments that make up the category. The current coverage levels in the survey show that 

reported data in the monthly survey represent approximately 60 percent of the shipments estimates at the 

total manufacturing level. Data published represent manufacturing in a calendar month. The data 

collection is based on a voluntary survey authorized by Title 13 of the United States Code. 

The data presented in this release are based on data obtained from a panel of 4,300 reporting units and 

provide an indication of the activity within the manufacturing sector. The results differ from what would 

be obtained from a complete enumeration of all manufacturing companies. In addition, a different panel of 

4,300 companies would yield different results. The M3 panel is comprised of companies with $500 

million or more in shipments and a limited number of smaller companies. From a statistical perspective, 

the panel is not a probability sample; therefore, the sampling errors that are normally provided with sample 

surveys cannot be measured. Nonsampling errors are attributable to many sources. The use of company or 

divisional reports to estimate the monthly change for establishments is one source of nonsampling error. 

The use of primarily large companies to represent the month-to-month movement of all companies is 

another potential source. Any corrections will be published in the full report. Corrections received after 

the full report will be released in the next month’s advance report. Any revisions made later than two 

months will be reflected in the annual benchmark publication.

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

Notice of Revisions Due to Updated Seasonal Adjustment Models

On May 15, 2014, monthly seasonally adjusted data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, 

based on the North American Industry Classification System, were revised for January 1992 through March 

2014. There was no accompanying press release containing revised seasonally adjusted data for January 

through March of 2014, and historical data not seasonally adjusted were unchanged. These revisions to the 

historical seasonally adjusted data were made using the X-13ARIMA-SEATS seasonal adjustment software 

(Version 1.1 Build 10) and were based on the results of the recent annual review of the seasonal adjustment 

models. The updated seasonal adjustment software and models will be used to produce seasonally adjusted 

data from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey, beginning with the April 2014 

Advance Report on Durable Goods scheduled for release on May 27, 2014 and the full report scheduled for 

release on June 3, 2014.

Please call Chris Savage on (301) 763-4832 with any questions regarding this notice.