FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-12 

CB12-17

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

December 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December increased $6.2 billion or 3.0 percent to $214.5 

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

increase, up five of the last six months, followed a 4.3 

percent November increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders increased 2.1 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 3.5 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up two consecutive months, 

had the largest increase, $3.0 billion or 5.5 percent to 

$58.4 billion. This was due to nondefense aircraft and 

parts, which increased $3.1 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up two of the last three months, increased 

$4.3 billion or 2.1 percent to $207.3 billion. This 

followed a 0.3 percent November decrease. 

 Primary metals, up seventeen of the last eighteen 

months, had the largest increase, $2.2 billion or 8.2 

percent to $29.0 billion. This was at the highest level 

since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 

1992 and followed a 5.0 percent November increase. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

December, up twenty of the last twenty one months, 

increased $13.1 billion or 1.5 percent to $912.3 billion. 

This followed a 1.4 percent November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up eleven of the last twelve 

months, had the largest increase, $10.6 billion or 2.1 

percent to $529.7 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

December, up twenty four consecutive months, 

increased $1.2 billion or 0.3 percent to $370.1 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

published on a NAICS basis and followed a 0.6 percent 

November increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up twenty four 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $1.7 billion 

or 1.5 percent to $116.4 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in December 

increased $4.6 billion or 5.8 percent to $84.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.8 billion or 2.6 percent to $71.5 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $12.9 billion or 2.4 

percent to $545.6 billion. Inventories increased $1.0 

billion or 0.6 percent to $170.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in December 

decreased $0.8 billion or 12.4 percent to $5.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.6 billion or 8.9 percent to $7.6 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.2 billion or 1.5 

percent to $149.0 billion. Inventories decreased $0.6 

billion or 2.7 percent to $20.0 billion. 

Revised November Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted November figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $461.2 

billion (revised from $459.2 billion); shipments, $455.9 

billion (revised from $455.0 billion); unfilled orders, 

$899.2 billion (revised from $898.3 billion); and total 

inventories, $609.9 billion (revised from $609.8 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 February 3, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for January is scheduled for release on February 28, 2012, 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 

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec Change

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 207,255 202,972 203,613 2.1 -0.3 1.5 203,106 195,412 190,512 2,379,105 2,206,324 7.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 214,522 208,280 199,627 3.0 4.3 0.1 224,580 197,702 196,345 2,381,397 2,165,303 10.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 159,527 155,727 155,157 2.4 0.4 0.3 153,887 148,606 142,866 1,817,096 1,668,164 8.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 156,148 152,940 152,173 2.1 0.5 1.6 152,263 143,538 145,394 1,774,565 1,631,797 8.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 197,368 193,606 194,542 1.9 -0.5 1.9 191,931 185,988 178,645 2,260,081 2,064,264 9.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 206,699 199,779 190,913 3.5 4.6 1.1 212,008 190,203 179,771 2,258,662 2,023,802 11.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 151,455 146,377 146,056 3.5 0.2 0.4 150,453 140,187 140,032 1,715,054 1,588,369 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 164,528 158,378 149,157 3.9 6.2 -1.1 175,964 149,099 150,423 1,795,660 1,619,154 10.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 29,033 26,842 25,569 8.2 5.0 4.0 24,318 24,237 17,449 287,911 220,613 30.5

 New Orders.............................. 29,263 27,838 26,355 5.1 5.6 5.9 25,377 25,243 19,210 289,469 228,573 26.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 25,848 25,533 25,221 1.2 1.2 -0.4 23,688 24,565 22,372 299,650 282,500 6.1

 New Orders.............................. 25,578 25,950 25,867 -1.4 0.3 0.2 23,069 24,578 22,371 304,743 283,133 7.6

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 31,620 30,417 30,284 4.0 0.4 -2.7 32,383 28,233 30,118 353,995 315,938 12.0

 New Orders.............................. 34,019 32,101 31,638 6.0 1.5 0.8 33,802 29,082 32,405 378,559 333,934 13.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,981 30,284 31,264 -1.0 -3.1 1.1 32,193 29,698 33,179 368,305 364,198 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 23,802 23,520 24,921 1.2 -5.6 1.3 29,375 22,000 31,913 290,380 295,622 -1.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,914 5,806 6,437 1.9 -9.8 6.8 7,198 5,194 6,883 69,830 63,626 9.8

 New Orders.............................. 5,779 5,933 6,408 -2.6 -7.4 4.3 7,063 5,321 6,841 69,556 63,736 9.1

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,119 2,847 2,909 9.6 -2.1 -8.1 3,902 2,955 4,299 37,369 44,445 -15.9

 New Orders.............................. 2,918 2,855 3,143 2.2 -9.2 1.4 4,133 2,363 5,432 36,019 44,465 -19.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,146 10,080 10,180 0.7 -1.0 -0.9 9,940 9,953 9,879 121,213 115,002 5.4

 New Orders.............................. 10,564 10,679 10,663 -1.1 0.2 -0.3 9,870 10,430 10,112 125,239 119,623 4.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 47,728 47,245 48,456 1.0 -2.5 5.2 49,219 46,806 47,646 562,009 538,160 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 58,374 55,340 47,454 5.5 16.6 -4.5 72,317 54,164 50,951 606,832 533,506 13.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 30,221 29,942 30,241 0.9 -1.0 6.6 28,138 29,499 26,318 352,124 321,179 9.6

 New Orders.............................. 30,261 30,075 30,071 0.6 0.0 5.9 28,682 29,817 26,894 352,589 321,075 9.8

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,800 7,708 8,721 1.2 -11.6 8.3 10,087 7,858 9,438 88,929 80,141 11.0

 New Orders.............................. 19,506 16,400 8,717 18.9 88.1 -13.9 31,359 16,238 10,382 132,904 86,478 53.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,972 3,788 3,704 4.9 2.3 -2.3 4,863 3,716 5,262 48,700 58,765 -17.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,861 4,144 3,823 -6.8 8.4 14.8 5,896 3,800 6,482 51,591 59,799 -13.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,899 32,571 32,639 1.0 -0.2 0.7 31,365 31,920 29,869 386,022 369,913 4.4

 New Orders.............................. 32,922 32,852 32,729 0.2 0.4 1.1 30,770 32,205 29,383 386,175 370,912 4.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 79,053 76,611 78,255 3.2 -2.1 -0.5 85,697 73,764 82,653 914,178 867,486 5.4

 New Orders.............................. 89,699 85,834 79,255 4.5 8.3 -5.4 107,361 81,167 87,915 982,115 885,497 10.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,473 69,649 71,288 2.6 -2.3 0.3 77,513 66,693 73,488 822,041 753,673 9.1

 New Orders.............................. 84,360 79,736 72,748 5.8 9.6 -3.5 98,224 75,889 75,309 886,651 774,373 14.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 66,922 65,060 65,746 2.9 -1.0 -0.9 71,054 61,856 67,225 769,792 705,828 9.1

 New Orders.......................... 68,931 67,015 67,812 2.9 -1.2 -0.9 72,099 62,805 69,633 794,481 722,301 10.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,580 6,962 6,967 8.9 -0.1 -8.2 8,184 7,071 9,165 92,137 113,813 -19.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,339 6,098 6,507 -12.4 -6.3 -22.2 9,137 5,278 12,606 95,464 111,124 -14.1

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 

Dec Nov Oct Nov - Oct - Sep - Dec Nov Dec 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Dec 2 Nov r Oct 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 912,307 899,234 887,233 1.5 1.4 0.4 910,064 884,553 829,458 9.7

 Total Inventories....................... 370,082 368,909 366,881 0.3 0.6 0.4 359,426 369,535 325,238 10.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 382,621 380,194 376,288 0.6 1.0 1.1 375,981 373,568 340,198 10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 253,654 254,230 253,534 -0.2 0.3 0.4 247,259 254,724 228,542 8.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 743,801 728,664 715,798 2.1 1.8 0.5 742,949 718,835 666,054 11.5

 Total Inventories....................... 344,730 342,888 341,188 0.5 0.5 0.4 334,337 343,559 300,504 11.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 912,307 899,234 887,233 1.5 1.4 0.4 910,064 884,553 829,458 9.7

 Total Inventories....................... 303,176 302,284 300,434 0.3 0.6 0.3 294,495 302,906 265,441 10.9

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,141 33,911 32,915 0.7 3.0 2.4 33,219 32,160 31,661 4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 34,315 34,394 34,342 -0.2 0.2 0.0 33,413 34,064 30,070 11.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 66,101 66,371 65,954 -0.4 0.6 1.0 64,381 65,000 59,288 8.6

 Total Inventories....................... 46,034 46,305 46,260 -0.6 0.1 0.7 45,112 45,902 41,297 9.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 121,204 118,805 117,121 2.0 1.4 1.2 118,842 117,423 94,278 26.1

 Total Inventories....................... 60,620 60,371 59,813 0.4 0.9 0.3 58,806 60,933 51,788 13.6

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 124,375 124,748 124,819 -0.3 -0.1 0.6 124,260 123,041 123,871 0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 47,514 47,964 48,124 -0.9 -0.3 0.0 46,385 48,690 44,801 3.5

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,380 3,515 3,388 -3.8 3.7 -0.8 3,380 3,515 3,654 -7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 6,035 6,109 6,142 -1.2 -0.5 1.0 5,702 6,399 5,064 12.6

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,206 28,407 28,399 -0.7 0.0 0.8 28,241 28,010 29,591 -4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 8,948 9,483 9,698 -5.6 -2.2 -0.4 8,892 9,787 9,358 -5.0

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,204 27,786 27,187 1.5 2.2 1.8 27,278 27,348 23,252 17.3

 Total Inventories....................... 15,406 15,448 15,459 -0.3 -0.1 0.5 14,793 15,383 14,412 2.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 529,686 519,040 510,945 2.1 1.6 -0.2 534,083 510,985 489,260 9.2

 Total Inventories....................... 116,428 114,679 113,347 1.5 1.2 0.5 112,167 114,811 96,696 16.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,913 13,873 13,740 0.3 1.0 -1.2 14,261 13,717 13,796 3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 26,617 26,426 26,505 0.7 -0.3 0.9 25,437 26,623 22,792 11.6

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 376,132 364,426 355,734 3.2 2.4 0.0 381,391 360,119 337,416 13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 64,364 62,924 61,837 2.3 1.8 1.0 61,747 62,838 49,696 24.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 55,563 55,674 55,318 -0.2 0.6 0.2 54,996 53,963 52,105 5.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,673 14,823 14,302 -1.0 3.6 -1.8 14,455 14,799 13,744 5.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,596 8,573 8,292 0.3 3.4 1.1 8,001 8,596 7,848 1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 49,765 49,748 49,536 0.0 0.4 0.7 48,750 49,752 46,174 5.6

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 694,669 684,023 674,800 1.6 1.4 0.1 696,149 674,485 628,212 10.8

 Total Inventories....................... 190,661 190,213 188,338 0.2 1.0 0.6 184,834 191,652 163,260 13.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 545,648 532,761 522,674 2.4 1.9 0.3 548,150 527,439 483,540 13.4

 Total Inventories....................... 170,620 169,614 168,096 0.6 0.9 0.5 164,838 171,074 143,611 14.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 213,627 211,618 209,663 0.9 0.9 1.0 210,783 209,738 186,094 13.3

 Total Inventories................... 115,402 115,547 114,979 -0.1 0.5 0.3 112,010 117,161 101,906 9.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 149,021 151,262 152,126 -1.5 -0.6 -0.3 147,999 147,046 144,672 2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 20,041 20,599 20,242 -2.7 1.8 1.0 19,996 20,578 19,649 1.8

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. 

 

 

 Benchmark Notice 

 

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on May 18, 

2012. These revisions reflect: 

 benchmarking the shipments and inventories data to the 2010 Annual Survey of Manufactures 

(ASM) data, as well as revised ASM benchmarks for prior years; 

 incorporating the unfilled orders to shipments ratios obtained from the 2009/2010 Manufacturers’ 

Unfilled Orders Survey by applying these ratios to the respective ASM shipments data, as well as 

incorporating revised unfilled orders to shipments ratios for prior years; 

 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; 

 incorporating the monthly data corrections when producing estimates for industry groups for which 

we identified companies to be tabbed separately from the link-relative estimation procedure; 

 implementing a new SAS® benchmarking program, which is based on the same benchmarking 

methodology as the previous ASCII Fortran program; and 

 updating the seasonally adjusted data, based on the results of benchmarking and the recent annual 

review of the seasonal adjustment models. 

An accompanying press release will include the revised 2012 January through March data. Please call Chris 

Savage on (301) 763-4834 with any questions.