FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (08)-07 

CB08-130

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

July 2008 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $2.9 billion or 1.3 percent to $219.3 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the 

third consecutive monthly increase and followed a 1.3 

percent June increase. Excluding transportation, new 

orders increased 0.7 percent. Excluding defense, new 

orders increased 2.8 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $1.7 billion or 3.1 

percent to $57.5 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

three of the last four months, increased $5.3 billion or 

2.5 percent to $218.3 billion. This followed a 0.9 

percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up three of the last four 

months, had the largest increase, $2.0 billion or 3.8 

percent to $55.0 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up twenty-nine of the last thirty months, increased 

$6.6 billion or 0.8 percent to $824.4 billion. This was 

also at the highest level since the series was first stated 

on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.9 percent 

June increase. 

 Machinery, up thirteen of the last fourteen months, had 

the largest increase, $3.9 billion or 3.8 percent to $105.5 

billion. This increase was both the largest monthly 

percent change and was also at the highest level since 

the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

twelve of the last thirteen months, increased $2.7 billion 

or 0.8 percent to $335.8 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 0.8 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-two of the last 

twenty-three months, had the largest increase, $0.8 

billion or 0.9 percent to $88.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $4.5 billion or 6.3 percent to $76.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.1 billion or 1.6 percent to $69.1 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $7.2 billion or 1.5 

percent to $481.3 billion. Inventories increased $1.8 

billion or 1.3 percent to $138.5 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$2.9 billion or 25.7 percent to $8.4 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.3 billion or 3.6 percent to $9.5 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased $1.1 billion or 0.8 percent to 

$138.0 billion. Inventories decreased 0.2 percent to 

$19.2 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $458.6 

billion (revised from $457.6 billion); shipments, $455.3 

billion (revised from $454.6 billion); unfilled orders, 

$817.8 billion (revised from $817.4 billion); and total 

inventories, $555.6 billion (revised from $554.3 billion).

Figures in text are in seasonally adjusted current dollars. 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 September 3, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on September 25, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for

survey description. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Year to Date

Item Percent

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul Change

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Jul 2 Jun r May 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2008 2007 08/07

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 218,285 213,023 211,049 2.5 0.9 -1.2 198,663 230,264 193,082 1,481,985 1,479,372 0.2

 New Orders 4

........................... 219,258 216,357 213,671 1.3 1.3 0.1 194,981 228,247 199,832 1,495,240 1,504,754 -0.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 163,309 160,055 159,209 2.0 0.5 -0.3 155,923 172,287 147,760 1,110,176 1,081,203 2.7

 New Orders 4

........................... 161,767 160,601 156,819 0.7 2.4 -0.5 153,642 168,849 145,673 1,100,636 1,061,276 3.7

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 205,821 201,207 199,149 2.3 1.0 -1.2 187,189 217,597 184,148 1,402,564 1,415,280 -0.9

 New Orders 4

........................... 207,891 202,199 200,960 2.8 0.6 -0.7 186,796 213,640 191,694 1,414,694 1,444,072 -2.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 157,645 154,282 151,969 2.2 1.5 -0.3 144,789 167,562 136,699 1,061,690 1,029,882 3.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 164,204 161,788 159,290 1.5 1.6 0.6 146,742 169,431 148,550 1,111,261 1,093,804 1.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 23,898 23,106 22,291 3.4 3.7 1.4 23,100 24,441 19,481 158,217 142,812 10.8

 New Orders.............................. 24,234 23,716 22,008 2.2 7.8 -1.8 23,093 24,296 19,015 160,773 142,633 12.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 28,471 28,044 27,691 1.5 1.3 -0.4 27,995 29,604 26,748 193,716 190,349 1.8

 New Orders.............................. 28,178 28,079 27,771 0.4 1.1 0.3 27,329 28,979 26,925 197,532 194,713 1.4

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 29,220 29,486 28,837 -0.9 2.3 0.1 28,253 31,681 26,800 205,926 192,684 6.9

 New Orders.............................. 33,073 31,617 30,748 4.6 2.8 -3.9 32,102 31,751 28,352 220,747 198,841 11.0

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 33,098 31,314 32,417 5.7 -3.4 -2.7 29,004 35,364 27,410 220,524 217,910 1.2

 New Orders 4

........................... 27,698 28,053 28,093 -1.3 -0.1 2.8 23,265 31,756 23,886 186,519 182,966 1.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 4,430 5,060 5,318 -12.5 -4.9 2.9 3,659 6,199 4,152 34,527 35,637 -3.1

 New Orders.............................. 4,701 5,262 5,523 -10.7 -4.7 9.3 3,930 6,401 4,432 34,894 35,906 -2.8 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 6,209 6,104 5,793 1.7 5.4 4.6 4,954 7,197 4,626 38,757 37,730 2.7

 New Orders.............................. 6,106 5,936 6,072 2.9 -2.2 4.9 4,796 6,720 5,315 39,540 39,212 0.8

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 5,586 4,172 4,699 33.9 -11.2 -21.3 5,635 3,886 5,101 36,316 38,540 -5.8

 New Orders 4

........................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 11,069 10,702 10,693 3.4 0.1 0.3 10,530 11,375 9,974 74,108 73,085 1.4

 New Orders.............................. 10,934 11,635 11,078 -6.0 5.0 1.1 10,704 12,027 9,968 76,877 75,899 1.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 54,976 52,968 51,840 3.8 2.2 -3.8 42,740 57,977 45,322 371,809 398,169 -6.6

 New Orders.............................. 57,491 55,756 56,852 3.1 -1.9 1.8 41,339 59,398 54,159 394,604 443,478 -11.0

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 33,534 32,913 32,260 1.9 2.0 -3.7 24,299 35,148 29,910 237,034 280,038 -15.4

 New Orders.............................. 33,204 32,812 32,183 1.2 2.0 -3.8 24,462 34,751 30,299 235,869 279,689 -15.7 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 9,223 8,455 8,208 9.1 3.0 -5.1 7,602 10,191 7,037 58,189 55,578 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 12,874 10,054 12,783 28.0 -21.3 6.0 8,620 11,214 16,626 82,419 100,604 -18.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 5,141 4,647 4,505 10.6 3.2 -2.7 4,539 5,198 3,083 30,417 22,053 37.9

 New Orders.............................. 5,091 4,723 5,174 7.8 -8.7 14.7 3,982 5,062 2,391 31,505 17,814 76.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,553 37,403 37,280 0.4 0.3 0.4 37,041 39,822 37,347 257,685 264,363 -2.5

 New Orders.............................. 37,650 37,501 37,121 0.4 1.0 -0.3 37,149 40,040 37,527 258,188 266,224 -3.0

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 78,603 77,191 76,753 1.8 0.6 -0.5 71,490 85,069 66,654 530,371 505,119 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 84,645 82,995 83,427 2.0 -0.5 1.5 72,811 87,713 77,397 570,169 560,384 1.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 69,138 68,058 67,712 1.6 0.5 -0.2 62,625 75,538 59,186 468,786 452,360 3.6

 New Orders.............................. 76,288 71,741 73,639 6.3 -2.6 0.0 67,048 76,394 70,689 508,645 510,196 -0.3

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 63,918 63,527 63,260 0.6 0.4 0.2 58,605 69,960 55,559 437,348 421,676 3.7

 New Orders........................ 67,571 65,853 65,001 2.6 1.3 -0.3 62,040 69,794 57,209 454,769 436,569 4.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 9,465 9,133 9,041 3.6 1.0 -2.3 8,865 9,531 7,468 61,585 52,759 16.7

 New Orders.............................. 8,357 11,254 9,788 -25.7 15.0 14.1 5,763 11,319 6,708 61,524 50,188 22.6

NA Not Available r Revised

1

 Shipments and new orders are the totals for the period and are adjusted for trading-day and calendar-month variations; unfilled orders and total inventories are as of the end of the period and are not 

adjusted for trading-day or calendar-month variations.

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. Further details on survey design,

methodology, and data limitations are contained in our most recent annual benchmark publication, Current Industrial Reports: M3-3(07), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2004-2007."

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 equipmen

4 Data on new and unfilled orders are not available for the semiconductor industry. Estimates and percent changes for new orders and unfilled orders exclude semiconductor industry data. 

Inventories for semiconductor industry data are included in computers and electronic products and total durable goods industries, but are not shown separately.
 3

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

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2008/

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Jul 2 Jun r May 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2007

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 824,358 817,799 810,293 0.8 0.9 0.9 821,387 819,434 721,800 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 335,778 333,124 330,426 0.8 0.8 0.5 338,008 330,659 315,545 7.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 360,767 356,723 352,005 1.1 1.3 0.7 361,797 358,443 328,052 10.3

 Total Inventories....................... 247,702 245,834 244,066 0.8 0.7 0.3 249,215 244,119 237,388 5.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 670,447 662,791 657,627 1.2 0.8 1.0 668,953 663,711 578,561 15.6

 Total Inventories....................... 311,311 308,610 305,912 0.9 0.9 0.5 313,470 306,098 293,586 6.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 824,358 817,799 810,293 0.8 0.9 0.9 821,387 819,434 721,800 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 269,456 266,808 264,517 1.0 0.9 0.6 271,290 265,047 249,413 8.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 29,957 29,621 29,011 1.1 2.1 -1.0 29,819 29,826 26,766 11.4

 Total Inventories....................... 33,951 33,530 32,971 1.3 1.7 2.1 34,468 33,543 31,837 8.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 62,209 62,502 62,467 -0.5 0.1 0.1 63,235 63,901 59,613 6.1

 Total Inventories....................... 44,190 43,523 42,976 1.5 1.3 0.3 44,543 43,416 42,104 5.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 105,467 101,614 99,483 3.8 2.1 2.0 105,208 101,359 84,541 24.4

 Total Inventories....................... 54,186 53,881 53,562 0.6 0.6 0.3 54,010 53,339 51,067 5.8

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 124,397 124,211 123,300 0.1 0.7 0.3 124,078 124,182 118,349 4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 46,503 46,325 46,388 0.4 -0.1 0.1 46,916 45,422 43,792 7.1

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,084 3,813 3,611 7.1 5.6 6.0 4,084 3,813 3,754 8.8

 Total Inventories....................... 5,019 5,081 5,160 -1.2 -1.5 -0.3 5,049 4,884 4,609 9.5

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,087 37,190 37,358 -0.3 -0.4 0.8 37,200 37,358 36,532 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 9,676 9,706 9,897 -0.3 -1.9 -0.4 9,611 9,275 8,801 9.2

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Total Inventories4....................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,468 25,603 24,670 -0.5 3.8 1.6 25,833 25,659 24,664 4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 15,317 15,247 15,122 0.5 0.8 -1.1 15,362 15,177 14,437 6.4

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 463,591 461,076 458,288 0.5 0.6 1.1 459,590 460,991 393,748 16.7

 Total Inventories....................... 88,076 87,290 86,360 0.9 1.1 0.9 88,793 86,540 78,157 13.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,124 17,454 17,555 -1.9 -0.6 -0.4 17,400 17,237 20,084 -13.4

 Total Inventories....................... 23,427 23,688 23,653 -1.1 0.1 -0.3 23,569 23,370 25,376 -7.1 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 307,948 304,297 302,698 1.2 0.5 1.5 304,845 303,827 242,284 25.8

 Total Inventories....................... 39,106 37,773 37,078 3.5 1.9 2.0 39,540 37,431 30,102 31.4

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 44,472 44,522 44,446 -0.1 0.2 1.5 44,390 44,947 37,908 17.1

 Total Inventories....................... 14,224 14,502 14,251 -1.9 1.8 2.0 14,337 14,594 12,685 13.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,269 13,172 13,074 0.7 0.7 -1.2 13,624 13,516 14,119 -3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 53,555 53,328 53,047 0.4 0.5 -0.1 53,916 53,222 54,151 -0.4

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 619,333 613,291 607,487 1.0 1.0 1.1 615,255 613,934 531,637 15.7

 Total Inventories....................... 157,626 155,852 154,810 1.1 0.7 0.5 158,179 154,206 141,196 12.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 481,284 474,134 470,451 1.5 0.8 1.3 478,674 474,251 401,631 19.2

 Total Inventories....................... 138,451 136,646 135,505 1.3 0.8 0.7 139,046 135,045 123,841 12.3

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 205,749 202,096 199,770 1.8 1.2 0.9 206,205 202,770 187,915 9.7

 Total Inventories................... 107,777 107,228 106,683 0.5 0.5 0.1 108,042 105,925 101,351 6.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,049 139,157 137,036 -0.8 1.5 0.5 136,581 139,683 130,006 5.1

 Total Inventories....................... 19,175 19,206 19,305 -0.2 -0.5 -0.3 19,133 19,161 17,355 10.2

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-in-process, 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 59 publication levels. The survey methodology assumes that the month-tomonth changes of the total operations of those companies in the monthly survey effectively represent the month-tomonth 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 61 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-tomonth 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.