FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-11 

CB 16-212

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

November 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November decreased $11.0 billion or 4.6 percent to 

$228.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This decrease, down following four consecutive 

monthly increases, followed a 4.8 percent October 

increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 

0.5 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 

6.6 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down following four 

consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, $11.7 

billion or 13.2 percent to $76.6 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up two of the last three months, increased 

$0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $234.2 billion. This 

followed a 0.1 percent October decrease. 

 Primary metals, also up two of the last three months, 

drove the increase, $0.3 billion or 1.7 percent to $18.0 

billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November, down five of the last six months, decreased 

$2.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $1,126.7 billion. This 

followed a 0.8 percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also down five of the last six 

months, drove the decrease, $3.6 billion or 0.5 percent to 

$769.8 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up four of the last five months, increased 

$0.6 billion or 0.1 percent to $384.0 billion. This 

followed a virtually unchanged October decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also up four of the last five 

months, led the increase, $0.3 billion or 0.2 percent to 

$124.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November 

decreased $15.6 billion or 19.5 percent to $64.4 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.9 billion or 1.2 percent to $70.3 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.9 billion or 0.8 

percent to $697.1 billion. Inventories increased $0.5 

billion or 0.3 percent to $170.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in November 

increased $3.2 billion or 29.1 percent to $14.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.3 billion or 2.9 percent to $11.0 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.3 billion or 2.4 

percent to $142.2 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 1.1 percent to $20.9 billion. 

Revised October Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $469.9 

billion (revised from $469.4 billion); shipments, $464.8 

billion (revised from $464.7 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,129.0 billion (revised from $1,128.5 billion) and total 

inventories, $621.3 billion (revised from $621.4 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 January 6, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for December is 

scheduled for release on January 27, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EST. 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. 

“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

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov Change

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 234,222 234,062 234,367 0.1 -0.1 0.8 227,319 235,823 225,520 2,570,253 2,589,762 -0.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 228,171 239,170 228,204 -4.6 4.8 0.3 221,684 238,068 222,905 2,508,756 2,516,670 -0.3

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 154,017 153,423 152,510 0.4 0.6 0.1 148,446 154,661 144,978 1,679,333 1,699,121 -1.2

 New Orders4

.............................. 151,524 150,834 149,526 0.5 0.9 0.1 143,465 150,286 138,944 1,649,012 1,659,077 -0.6

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 221,101 221,494 221,878 -0.2 -0.2 0.9 213,698 223,661 212,661 2,434,747 2,456,371 -0.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 211,734 226,696 215,784 -6.6 5.1 1.3 206,011 226,981 207,729 2,372,211 2,394,818 -0.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 166,238 166,297 167,154 0.0 -0.5 1.1 160,902 165,751 159,431 1,819,687 1,832,222 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 163,987 174,999 164,356 -6.3 6.5 0.5 159,596 172,351 160,324 1,794,947 1,794,653 0.0

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 18,034 17,734 17,759 1.7 -0.1 0.0 17,166 17,818 16,810 197,528 214,326 -7.8

 New Orders.............................. 18,500 18,090 17,966 2.3 0.7 0.8 17,970 17,835 15,548 199,348 211,478 -5.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,586 30,449 30,082 0.4 1.2 -0.3 29,450 31,153 27,869 333,144 327,785 1.6

 New Orders.............................. 30,688 30,960 30,078 -0.9 2.9 -0.5 28,571 30,917 27,138 334,475 325,527 2.7

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 30,114 29,968 30,070 0.5 -0.3 0.6 28,071 29,668 28,831 332,416 353,873 -6.1

 New Orders.............................. 30,146 29,759 29,883 1.3 -0.4 0.7 28,083 29,570 28,749 328,913 347,964 -5.5

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,544 27,501 27,262 0.2 0.9 -0.6 27,264 27,332 26,086 293,667 283,257 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 24,193 24,095 24,075 0.4 0.1 -1.4 22,267 23,161 22,251 261,266 254,207 2.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,744 1,811 1,654 -3.7 9.5 -10.5 1,488 1,571 1,757 19,126 22,683 -15.7

 New Orders.............................. 1,765 1,813 1,677 -2.6 8.1 -9.4 1,509 1,573 1,836 19,123 22,877 -16.4

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,379 3,344 3,532 1.0 -5.3 1.5 3,119 3,063 3,189 36,740 36,807 -0.2

 New Orders.............................. 3,727 3,492 3,537 6.7 -1.3 -2.5 3,095 3,285 3,213 39,108 40,416 -3.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,600 9,656 9,567 -0.6 0.9 -0.3 9,518 9,787 9,584 105,063 111,940 -6.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,845 9,786 9,622 0.6 1.7 0.0 9,564 9,803 9,438 106,373 111,415 -4.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 80,205 80,639 81,857 -0.5 -1.5 2.0 78,873 81,162 80,542 890,920 890,641 0.0

 New Orders.............................. 76,647 88,336 78,678 -13.2 12.3 0.7 78,219 87,782 83,961 859,744 857,593 0.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,400 55,337 55,698 0.1 -0.6 1.0 54,172 57,413 52,421 613,230 596,028 2.9

 New Orders.............................. 55,374 54,950 55,549 0.8 -1.1 0.8 54,721 56,774 53,137 610,908 595,360 2.6

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,386 13,486 14,112 -8.2 -4.4 8.8 12,145 12,139 15,363 145,513 153,780 -5.4

 New Orders.............................. 5,798 21,915 11,264 -73.5 94.6 30.6 8,586 20,299 15,811 117,117 137,293 -14.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,221 3,934 4,132 7.3 -4.8 -7.7 4,403 3,740 4,798 45,689 53,138 -14.0

 New Orders.............................. 7,785 3,829 2,776 103.3 37.9 -47.1 7,806 3,637 7,834 49,436 52,018 -5.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 38,139 38,115 37,770 0.1 0.9 0.8 36,977 38,903 35,798 417,515 407,940 2.3

 New Orders.............................. 38,152 38,144 37,902 0.0 0.6 0.8 37,010 39,000 35,820 418,637 408,486 2.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 81,308 81,846 82,302 -0.7 -0.6 2.0 78,707 79,439 82,566 892,154 934,387 -4.5

 New Orders.............................. 78,644 91,013 81,131 -13.6 12.2 2.0 76,270 87,416 83,704 872,455 901,116 -3.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,325 71,176 71,965 -1.2 -1.1 2.3 67,254 69,120 72,242 780,275 827,700 -5.7

 New Orders.............................. 64,392 79,973 69,877 -19.5 14.4 3.9 63,074 78,248 70,995 758,220 805,709 -5.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,558 62,408 62,586 0.2 -0.3 0.5 59,674 61,317 61,478 687,475 723,559 -5.0

 New Orders.......................... 63,360 62,807 62,710 0.9 0.2 -1.5 59,276 61,692 60,448 690,921 718,767 -3.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,983 10,670 10,337 2.9 3.2 0.0 11,453 10,319 10,324 111,879 106,687 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 14,252 11,040 11,254 29.1 -1.9 -8.1 13,196 9,168 12,709 114,235 95,407 19.7

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 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

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,126,738 1,128,989 1,120,287 -0.2 0.8 -0.2 1,114,960 1,116,266 1,130,000 -1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 384,015 383,443 383,629 0.1 0.0 0.0 384,204 383,703 387,468 -0.8

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 356,980 355,673 354,668 0.4 0.3 0.1 351,278 351,930 346,955 1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 259,921 259,653 259,994 0.1 -0.1 0.0 259,889 259,494 263,146 -1.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 949,203 954,770 945,974 -0.6 0.9 -0.3 940,704 944,062 958,411 -1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 358,459 357,630 358,135 0.2 -0.1 0.1 358,692 357,990 362,049 -0.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,126,738 1,128,989 1,120,287 -0.2 0.8 -0.2 1,114,960 1,116,266 1,130,000 -1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 311,749 311,440 311,748 0.1 -0.1 0.1 311,857 311,698 315,723 -1.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 33,517 33,051 32,695 1.4 1.1 0.6 32,433 31,629 30,267 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 31,558 31,577 31,609 -0.1 -0.1 -0.3 31,454 31,600 33,683 -6.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,745 74,643 74,132 0.1 0.7 0.0 72,778 73,657 71,856 1.3

 Total Inventories....................... 48,840 48,887 48,939 -0.1 -0.1 0.1 48,415 48,579 48,904 -1.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,195 92,163 92,372 0.0 -0.2 -0.2 91,453 91,441 97,808 -6.5

 Total Inventories....................... 65,677 65,470 65,760 0.3 -0.4 0.2 66,200 65,482 67,675 -2.2

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 129,931 129,482 129,294 0.3 0.1 0.1 128,547 129,215 122,842 4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 42,479 42,427 42,471 0.1 -0.1 -0.4 42,682 42,620 42,719 -0.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,444 2,423 2,421 0.9 0.1 1.0 2,444 2,423 2,474 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 3,626 3,560 3,648 1.9 -2.4 -1.4 3,747 3,600 3,641 2.9

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,546 35,198 35,050 1.0 0.4 0.0 35,130 35,154 32,612 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,498 4,478 4,473 0.4 0.1 -1.7 4,630 4,512 5,045 -8.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,098 17,853 17,723 1.4 0.7 0.3 17,613 17,567 16,227 8.5

 Total Inventories....................... 16,223 16,257 16,362 -0.2 -0.6 0.9 16,116 16,284 16,420 -1.9

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 769,758 773,316 765,619 -0.5 1.0 -0.4 763,682 764,336 783,045 -2.5

 Total Inventories....................... 124,094 123,790 123,635 0.2 0.1 0.0 124,315 124,209 124,322 0.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,390 21,416 21,803 -0.1 -1.8 -0.7 21,237 20,688 23,327 -9.0

 Total Inventories....................... 34,811 34,518 34,545 0.8 -0.1 -0.5 34,956 34,846 34,538 1.2

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 585,707 592,295 583,866 -1.1 1.4 -0.5 582,240 585,799 599,412 -2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 62,919 62,622 62,765 0.5 -0.2 0.5 62,779 62,600 63,360 -0.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 73,628 70,064 70,169 5.1 -0.1 -1.9 72,365 68,962 68,886 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 11,140 11,219 11,090 -0.7 1.2 -1.7 11,131 11,205 11,351 -1.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,494 8,481 8,452 0.2 0.3 1.6 8,454 8,421 7,955 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 55,144 55,035 54,853 0.2 0.3 0.2 55,022 54,929 53,745 2.4

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 839,284 841,948 832,781 -0.3 1.1 -0.1 831,177 833,614 849,339 -2.1

 Total Inventories....................... 190,932 190,708 190,952 0.1 -0.1 0.1 192,149 191,200 194,224 -1.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 697,119 703,052 694,255 -0.8 1.3 -0.3 692,417 696,597 714,658 -3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 170,051 169,587 170,159 0.3 -0.3 0.2 171,303 170,165 173,703 -1.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 223,708 222,906 222,507 0.4 0.2 0.1 221,132 221,530 220,987 0.1

 Total Inventories................... 118,349 118,195 118,551 0.1 -0.3 0.0 119,838 118,806 121,433 -1.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 142,165 138,896 138,526 2.4 0.3 0.7 138,760 137,017 134,681 3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 20,881 21,121 20,793 -1.1 1.6 -0.1 20,846 21,035 20,521 1.6

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. 

2017 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Survey month Advance Report 

 (8:30 a.m. release time) 

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time) 

Nov-16 Thu 12/22/2016 Fri 1/6/2017 

Dec-16 Fri 1/27/2017 Fri 2/3/2017 

Jan-17 Mon 2/27/2017 Mon 3/6/2017 

Feb-17 Fri 3/24/2017 Tue 4/4/2017 

Mar-17 Thu 4/27/2017 Thu 5/4/2017 

Apr-17 Fri 5/26/2017 Mon 6/5/2017 

May-17 Mon 6/26/2017 Wed 7/5/2017 

Jun-17 Thu 7/27/2017 Thu 8/3/2017 

Jul-17 Fri 8/25/2017 Tue 9/5/2017 

Aug-17 Wed 9/27/2017 Thu 10/5/2017 

Sep-17 Wed 10/25/2017 Fri 11/3/2017 

Oct-17 Wed 11/22/2017 Mon 12/4/2017 

Nov-17 Fri 12/22/2017 Not available at this time