FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-10 

CB11-197

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

October 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

October decreased $1.4 billion or 0.7 percent to $197.7 

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

decrease, down two consecutive months, followed a 1.5 

percent September decrease. Excluding transportation, 

new orders increased 0.7 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 0.2 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.4 billion or 4.8 

percent to $47.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in October, 

up five of the last six months, increased $2.6 billion or 

1.3 percent to $203.0 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent 

September decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$2.4 billion or 5.2 percent to $48.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

October, up eighteen of the last nineteen months, 

increased $1.9 billion or 0.2 percent to $886.0 billion. 

This followed a 0.6 percent September increase. 

 Machinery, up twenty one consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $1.8 billion or 1.5 percent to $117.7 

billion. This was at the highest level since the series was 

first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 

0.3 percent September increase. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, 

up twenty two consecutive months, increased $1.8 

billion or 0.5 percent to $367.2 billion. This was at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis and followed a slight September increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty two 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $0.8 billion 

or 0.7 percent to $113.6 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in October 

decreased $3.5 billion or 4.6 percent to $71.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.2 percent to $70.9 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.7 billion or 0.1 

percent to $521.9 billion. Inventories increased $1.3 

billion or 0.8 percent to $168.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in October 

decreased $1.7 billion or 19.8 percent to $6.7 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.5 billion or 7.2 percent to $7.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2 

percent to $152.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 1.0 percent to $20.2 billion. 

Revised September Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted September figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $451.8 

billion (revised from $453.5 billion); shipments, $453.1 

billion (revised from $452.7 billion); unfilled orders, 

$884.1 billion (revised from $886.3 billion); and total 

inventories, $601.0 billion (revised from $601.3 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 December 5, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for November is scheduled for release on December 23, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page 

for survey description. 
 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 

Oct Sep Aug Sep - Aug - Jul - Oct Sep Oct Change

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 203,042 200,410 201,505 1.3 -0.5 0.1 207,404 212,545 190,102 1,979,541 1,835,553 7.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 197,676 199,085 202,215 -0.7 -1.5 0.1 195,143 210,562 182,501 1,957,355 1,793,172 9.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 154,602 154,348 154,562 0.2 -0.1 1.7 157,832 162,069 143,794 1,513,547 1,387,877 9.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 150,452 149,469 148,518 0.7 0.6 -0.2 149,733 157,324 134,119 1,476,808 1,351,829 9.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 193,844 190,667 191,605 1.7 -0.5 -0.2 198,466 201,866 179,470 1,880,996 1,716,258 9.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 188,844 188,386 191,720 0.2 -1.7 -0.1 188,141 199,236 174,353 1,854,658 1,678,206 10.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 145,732 145,323 144,855 0.3 0.3 0.8 145,788 154,965 133,872 1,423,719 1,318,443 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 147,607 150,667 152,469 -2.0 -1.2 0.8 143,208 158,507 134,774 1,469,355 1,337,328 9.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 25,298 24,573 24,217 3.0 1.5 -0.6 25,416 25,323 18,893 239,285 185,100 29.3

 New Orders.............................. 25,615 24,878 24,432 3.0 1.8 0.0 24,727 25,112 17,820 238,527 189,202 26.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,264 25,323 25,055 -0.2 1.1 0.8 26,138 26,882 24,447 251,478 237,239 6.0

 New Orders.............................. 25,762 25,838 25,477 -0.3 1.4 -0.7 25,941 27,069 23,097 257,110 238,109 8.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 29,968 30,841 31,461 -2.8 -2.0 5.8 29,397 31,984 26,064 292,606 260,847 12.2

 New Orders.............................. 31,727 31,223 32,007 1.6 -2.4 -1.9 31,439 31,598 28,334 315,369 275,364 14.5

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 31,311 30,927 31,185 1.2 -0.8 0.6 33,543 32,992 32,993 306,298 299,957 2.1

 New Orders.............................. 24,488 24,507 24,075 -0.1 1.8 1.4 23,978 28,736 23,167 238,259 239,293 -0.4

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 6,111 5,986 5,794 2.1 3.3 -0.5 6,549 6,845 6,050 56,954 51,298 11.0

 New Orders.............................. 6,081 6,105 5,773 -0.4 5.8 5.0 6,519 6,964 5,952 56,687 51,239 10.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 2,975 3,164 3,069 -6.0 3.1 1.2 2,627 3,797 3,122 30,536 36,188 -15.6

 New Orders.............................. 2,971 3,018 2,929 -1.6 3.0 7.1 2,722 4,039 2,955 29,180 35,931 -18.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,203 10,280 10,305 -0.7 -0.2 3.9 10,213 11,089 9,869 101,303 95,327 6.3

 New Orders.............................. 10,127 10,686 10,550 -5.2 1.3 3.8 10,153 11,136 9,924 104,393 99,157 5.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 48,440 46,062 46,943 5.2 -1.9 -4.9 49,572 50,476 46,308 465,994 447,676 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 47,224 49,616 53,697 -4.8 -7.6 0.8 45,410 53,238 48,382 480,547 441,343 8.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 30,176 28,371 28,870 6.4 -1.7 -9.1 32,619 30,943 29,589 294,523 268,716 9.6

 New Orders.............................. 30,080 28,333 29,031 6.2 -2.4 -9.0 32,641 31,023 29,882 294,180 267,787 9.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 8,732 8,043 7,804 8.6 3.1 3.4 7,635 8,689 6,031 70,960 64,414 10.2

 New Orders.............................. 8,451 10,114 13,814 -16.4 -26.8 26.2 5,419 10,437 10,285 85,411 70,656 20.9

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,779 3,795 4,053 -0.4 -6.4 6.1 3,667 4,335 4,400 40,198 49,047 -18.0

 New Orders.............................. 3,651 3,314 5,086 10.2 -34.8 24.3 3,167 3,535 4,061 41,800 48,888 -14.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,558 32,404 32,339 0.5 0.2 0.5 33,125 33,799 31,528 322,577 309,407 4.3

 New Orders.............................. 32,733 32,337 31,977 1.2 1.1 -0.7 33,495 33,673 31,777 323,150 310,704 4.0

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 77,927 78,359 79,029 -0.6 -0.8 3.0 76,326 84,082 71,556 753,679 714,006 5.6

 New Orders.............................. 78,297 83,430 86,199 -6.2 -3.2 4.7 73,804 88,623 74,517 792,243 727,693 8.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 70,880 70,766 71,470 0.2 -1.0 3.0 69,536 75,878 63,152 676,744 617,920 9.5

 New Orders.............................. 71,579 75,056 78,159 -4.6 -4.0 5.4 68,788 80,008 68,377 711,055 636,509 11.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,297 66,029 66,689 -1.1 -1.0 3.1 64,718 70,937 59,638 635,765 579,955 9.6

 New Orders.......................... 66,907 68,120 67,495 -1.8 0.9 0.9 66,787 72,960 60,978 657,996 592,641 11.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,047 7,593 7,559 -7.2 0.4 3.3 6,790 8,204 8,404 76,935 96,086 -19.9

 New Orders.............................. 6,718 8,374 8,040 -19.8 4.2 -2.0 5,016 8,615 6,140 81,188 91,184 -11.0

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 

Oct Sep Aug Sep - Aug - Jul - Oct Sep Oct 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Oct 2 Sep r Aug 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 885,950 884,075 878,731 0.2 0.6 0.9 875,094 877,674 817,558 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 367,160 365,349 365,291 0.5 0.0 0.9 367,312 363,988 328,857 11.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 375,305 372,214 370,424 0.8 0.5 0.2 371,281 369,699 329,977 12.5

 Total Inventories....................... 253,603 252,629 252,922 0.4 -0.1 0.7 253,690 251,694 231,715 9.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 714,534 712,293 707,905 0.3 0.6 1.0 707,538 708,182 657,924 7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 341,463 339,743 339,253 0.5 0.1 0.9 341,592 338,463 304,171 12.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 885,950 884,075 878,731 0.2 0.6 0.9 875,094 877,674 817,558 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 300,827 299,494 299,976 0.4 -0.2 0.9 301,171 298,532 268,430 12.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,437 32,120 31,815 1.0 1.0 0.7 30,903 31,592 27,803 11.1

 Total Inventories....................... 34,432 34,434 34,512 0.0 -0.2 0.7 34,420 34,588 29,796 15.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 65,813 65,315 64,800 0.8 0.8 0.7 64,920 65,117 59,525 9.1

 Total Inventories....................... 46,112 45,875 45,982 0.5 -0.2 0.6 45,801 45,756 41,245 11.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 117,650 115,891 115,509 1.5 0.3 0.5 117,041 114,999 90,799 28.9

 Total Inventories....................... 60,011 59,665 59,467 0.6 0.3 1.5 59,910 59,116 52,495 14.1

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,422 124,004 123,755 0.3 0.2 -0.2 123,654 123,538 121,243 2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 48,207 48,146 48,447 0.1 -0.6 -0.2 48,629 47,867 46,427 4.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,387 3,417 3,298 -0.9 3.6 -0.6 3,387 3,417 3,485 -2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 6,236 6,113 5,970 2.0 2.4 -1.5 6,338 6,211 5,760 10.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,079 28,083 28,229 0.0 -0.5 -0.5 28,235 28,140 29,314 -3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 9,696 9,730 10,039 -0.3 -3.1 1.2 9,773 9,557 9,475 3.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 26,615 26,691 26,285 -0.3 1.5 0.9 26,342 26,402 22,461 17.3

 Total Inventories....................... 15,443 15,356 15,570 0.6 -1.4 0.3 15,415 15,234 14,971 3.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 510,645 511,861 508,307 -0.2 0.7 1.3 503,813 507,975 487,581 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 113,557 112,720 112,369 0.7 0.3 1.4 113,622 112,294 97,142 17.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,752 13,848 13,886 -0.7 -0.3 1.2 13,453 13,431 12,971 3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 26,617 26,252 25,774 1.4 1.9 1.1 26,562 26,172 23,118 14.9

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 355,450 355,731 353,660 -0.1 0.6 1.7 351,867 354,083 337,321 4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 61,911 61,200 61,412 1.2 -0.3 1.8 61,930 60,884 49,601 24.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 55,051 55,179 55,660 -0.2 -0.9 1.9 53,707 54,207 50,912 5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,295 14,565 14,414 -1.9 1.0 0.3 14,365 14,661 13,804 4.1

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,368 8,193 8,260 2.1 -0.8 -4.2 8,421 8,051 8,146 3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 49,398 49,153 48,944 0.5 0.4 0.7 49,515 49,133 46,781 5.8

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 674,170 673,800 668,729 0.1 0.8 1.1 666,776 669,298 623,888 6.9

 Total Inventories....................... 188,853 187,325 187,564 0.8 -0.1 1.1 189,169 186,099 165,559 14.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 521,903 521,204 516,914 0.1 0.8 1.3 517,851 518,599 481,429 7.6

 Total Inventories....................... 168,611 167,287 167,042 0.8 0.1 1.2 168,974 166,238 146,099 15.7

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 209,197 207,587 205,496 0.8 1.0 0.4 208,325 206,256 182,307 14.3

 Total Inventories................... 115,381 114,704 114,294 0.6 0.4 1.0 115,861 113,919 104,489 10.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 152,267 152,596 151,815 -0.2 0.5 0.3 148,925 150,699 142,459 4.5

 Total Inventories....................... 20,242 20,038 20,522 1.0 -2.4 0.5 20,195 19,861 19,460 3.8

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. 

 2012 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

 

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time) 

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time) 

October 2011 November 23, 2011 December 5, 2011 

November 2011 December 23, 2011 January 4, 2012 

December 2011 January 26, 2012 February 3, 2012 

January 2012 February 28, 2012 March 5, 2012 

February 2012 March 28, 2012 April 3, 2012 

March 2012 April 25, 2012 May 2, 2012 

April 2012 May 24, 2012 June 4, 2012 

May 2012 June 27, 2012 July 3, 2012 

June 2012 July 26, 2012 August 2, 2012 

July 2012 August 24, 2012 August 31, 2012 

August 2012 September 27, 2012 October 4, 2012 

September 2012 October 25, 2012 November 2, 2012 

October 2012 November 27, 2012 December 5, 2012 

November 2012 December 24, 2012 Not available at this time