FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Adriana Stoica 

Economic Indicators Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (16)-9 

CB 16-178

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

September 2016 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

September decreased $0.3 billion or 0.1 percent to 

$227.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This decrease, down following two consecutive 

monthly increases, followed a 0.3 percent August 

increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 

0.2 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 

0.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, $0.6 

billion or 0.8 percent to $77.5 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

September, up three of the last four months, increased 

$2.0 billion or 0.8 percent to $234.5 billion. This 

followed a virtually unchanged August decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $1.8 

billion or 2.3 percent to $82.1 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

September, down four consecutive months, decreased 

$3.9 billion or 0.4 percent to $1,119.3 billion. This 

followed a 0.1 percent August decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, also down four consecutive 

months, drove the decrease, $4.6 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$764.2 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

September, up three consecutive months, increased $0.5 

billion or 0.1 percent to $384.0 billion. This followed a 

0.1 percent August increase. 

 Machinery, up three of the last four months, led the 

increase, $0.3 billion or 0.5 percent to $66.0 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in September 

increased $1.0 billion or 1.5 percent to $68.2 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.5 billion or 2.2 percent to $71.8 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $3.6 billion or 0.5 

percent to $692.8 billion. Inventories increased $0.5 

billion or 0.3 percent to $170.4 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in September 

decreased $0.9 billion or 7.7 percent to $11.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.8 percent to $10.4 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.9 billion or 0.6 

percent to $138.5 billion. Inventories decreased less 

than $0.1 billion or 0.2 percent to $20.8 billion. 

Revised August Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $453.4 

billion (revised from $453.1 billion); shipments, $458.4 

billion (revised from $458.1 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,123.2 billion (virtually unchanged); and total 

inventories, $621.6 billion (revised from $622.0 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 November 3, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for October is 

scheduled for release on November 23, 2016 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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep Change

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2016 2015 2016/2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 234,468 232,501 232,559 0.8 0.0 0.0 250,760 243,893 252,078 2,107,492 2,124,080 -0.8

 New Orders4

.............................. 227,278 227,557 226,948 -0.1 0.3 3.6 242,446 230,453 240,053 2,050,283 2,057,646 -0.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 152,382 152,262 151,780 0.1 0.3 0.3 161,799 159,580 162,580 1,376,492 1,398,282 -1.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 149,784 149,465 149,315 0.2 0.1 1.1 157,837 153,149 157,446 1,356,150 1,368,825 -0.9

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 221,909 219,808 219,948 1.0 -0.1 0.0 236,588 231,506 237,785 1,997,653 2,016,662 -0.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 214,669 213,173 214,721 0.7 -0.7 2.9 227,785 218,746 228,081 1,940,210 1,963,283 -1.2

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 167,324 165,291 165,699 1.2 -0.2 0.1 179,147 172,366 178,454 1,493,269 1,505,029 -0.8

 New Orders.............................. 163,392 163,650 163,299 -0.2 0.2 5.2 173,973 162,634 169,345 1,464,125 1,466,995 -0.2

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 17,818 17,786 17,882 0.2 -0.5 0.1 18,330 18,998 19,015 162,657 178,814 -9.0

 New Orders.............................. 17,906 17,957 17,818 -0.3 0.8 1.2 17,718 18,588 17,729 163,791 176,901 -7.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,095 30,168 30,086 -0.2 0.3 0.9 31,682 32,571 30,919 272,575 269,310 1.2

 New Orders.............................. 30,147 30,273 30,296 -0.4 -0.1 1.4 31,040 32,040 30,339 275,287 268,840 2.4

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 29,846 29,865 29,713 -0.1 0.5 -0.9 30,909 30,275 33,328 274,447 293,385 -6.5

 New Orders.............................. 30,020 29,663 29,671 1.2 0.0 1.0 30,530 29,807 32,379 271,363 287,703 -5.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,280 27,418 27,279 -0.5 0.5 2.4 30,484 27,673 29,479 239,188 231,078 3.5

 New Orders.............................. 24,153 24,404 24,464 -1.0 -0.2 2.5 28,072 23,118 27,365 215,858 209,316 3.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,669 1,848 1,948 -9.7 -5.1 11.3 2,153 1,625 2,582 16,095 19,166 -16.0

 New Orders.............................. 1,692 1,851 1,940 -8.6 -4.6 11.4 2,176 1,628 2,571 16,069 19,256 -16.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,544 3,473 3,371 2.0 3.0 -5.3 4,329 3,373 4,060 30,538 30,475 0.2

 New Orders.............................. 3,554 3,616 3,647 -1.7 -0.9 -2.4 4,584 3,123 4,477 32,685 33,664 -2.9

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,650 9,589 9,520 0.6 0.7 0.7 10,426 10,113 10,669 85,933 92,195 -6.8

 New Orders.............................. 9,737 9,596 9,837 1.5 -2.4 3.6 10,397 10,013 10,511 87,181 92,089 -5.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 82,086 80,239 80,779 2.3 -0.7 -0.3 88,961 84,313 89,498 731,000 725,798 0.7

 New Orders.............................. 77,494 78,092 77,633 -0.8 0.6 8.9 84,609 77,304 82,607 694,133 688,821 0.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 55,820 55,148 54,757 1.2 0.7 -0.5 59,386 59,703 58,292 501,665 485,350 3.4

 New Orders.............................. 55,766 55,092 54,582 1.2 0.9 -0.3 59,324 59,914 58,158 499,491 484,240 3.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 14,161 12,981 14,028 9.1 -7.5 1.2 15,820 12,737 16,385 121,266 126,046 -3.8

 New Orders.............................. 9,710 8,632 11,394 12.5 -24.2 72.9 11,456 5,310 12,618 88,334 107,306 -17.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,107 4,474 4,052 -8.2 10.4 -2.5 4,795 4,247 6,136 37,492 43,008 -12.8

 New Orders.............................. 2,898 5,251 4,444 -44.8 18.2 22.0 3,426 4,064 7,781 38,143 37,764 1.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,693 37,436 37,300 0.7 0.4 -0.8 39,968 39,950 39,170 341,692 333,500 2.5

 New Orders.............................. 37,821 37,572 37,229 0.7 0.9 -0.7 40,080 39,583 39,123 342,670 333,976 2.6

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 82,238 80,632 82,021 2.0 -1.7 0.2 90,084 81,029 94,303 734,004 767,591 -4.4

 New Orders.............................. 79,539 79,498 79,627 0.1 -0.2 10.7 86,521 74,089 82,946 709,192 734,902 -3.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 71,813 70,294 71,442 2.2 -1.6 -0.4 78,351 70,808 82,785 643,737 681,769 -5.6

 New Orders.............................. 68,246 67,257 70,020 1.5 -3.9 7.7 73,519 63,968 75,242 617,186 659,841 -6.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,419 62,217 62,204 0.3 0.0 -0.7 67,419 62,660 71,100 566,321 596,598 -5.1

 New Orders.......................... 62,940 63,673 62,931 -1.2 1.2 0.8 67,488 62,462 70,011 570,242 593,580 -3.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,425 10,338 10,579 0.8 -2.3 3.7 11,733 10,221 11,518 90,267 85,822 5.2

 New Orders.............................. 11,293 12,241 9,607 -7.7 27.4 38.4 13,002 10,121 7,704 92,006 75,061 22.6

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

Sep Aug Jul Aug - Jul - Jun - Sep Aug Sep 2016/

2016 2 2016 r 2016 Sep 2 Aug r Jul 2016 2 2016 r 2015 2015

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,119,264 1,123,196 1,124,837 -0.4 -0.1 -0.2 1,110,556 1,115,730 1,129,535 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 384,003 383,496 383,221 0.1 0.1 0.4 382,271 386,745 388,997 -1.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 355,072 354,412 353,906 0.2 0.1 0.2 352,565 353,387 350,419 0.6

 Total Inventories....................... 260,472 259,935 259,452 0.2 0.2 0.3 259,334 262,372 264,049 -1.8

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 944,836 948,818 952,150 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 937,105 942,768 959,462 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 358,521 357,944 357,342 0.2 0.2 0.2 356,777 361,107 362,316 -1.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,119,264 1,123,196 1,124,837 -0.4 -0.1 -0.2 1,110,556 1,115,730 1,129,535 -1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 311,957 311,294 311,123 0.2 0.1 0.4 310,775 314,245 318,121 -2.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 32,671 32,583 32,412 0.3 0.5 -0.2 31,747 32,359 31,202 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 31,740 31,722 31,648 0.1 0.2 1.3 31,789 31,932 34,705 -8.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 74,229 74,177 74,072 0.1 0.1 0.3 74,159 74,801 73,644 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 48,995 48,900 49,107 0.2 -0.4 0.7 48,658 48,901 49,170 -1.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,755 92,581 92,783 0.2 -0.2 0.0 91,872 92,251 98,035 -6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 66,009 65,670 65,350 0.5 0.5 -0.5 65,874 66,469 67,878 -3.0

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 129,239 129,108 128,819 0.1 0.2 0.3 128,926 128,198 123,007 4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 42,573 42,650 42,568 -0.2 0.2 -0.3 42,241 43,524 42,311 -0.2

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 2,421 2,398 2,395 1.0 0.1 -0.3 2,421 2,398 2,370 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 3,674 3,698 3,607 -0.6 2.5 0.6 3,693 3,876 3,533 4.5

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,048 35,038 34,895 0.0 0.4 0.8 34,909 34,654 32,192 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,472 4,552 4,574 -1.8 -0.5 -0.6 4,408 4,643 4,912 -10.3

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 17,735 17,648 17,641 0.5 0.0 1.8 17,551 17,580 16,646 5.4

 Total Inventories....................... 16,307 16,210 16,350 0.6 -0.9 1.1 16,085 16,477 16,408 -2.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 764,192 768,784 770,931 -0.6 -0.3 -0.4 757,991 762,343 779,116 -2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 123,531 123,561 123,769 0.0 -0.2 0.5 122,937 124,373 124,948 -1.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,884 21,938 21,994 -0.2 -0.3 -0.8 21,385 21,447 22,885 -6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 34,582 34,684 34,913 -0.3 -0.7 -0.1 34,317 34,923 34,138 0.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 582,262 586,713 591,062 -0.8 -0.7 -0.4 577,704 582,068 597,159 -3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 62,686 62,430 62,128 0.4 0.5 -0.4 62,174 62,707 63,154 -1.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 70,317 71,526 70,749 -1.7 1.1 0.6 69,269 70,638 64,762 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 11,088 11,285 11,547 -1.7 -2.3 7.5 11,065 11,300 11,413 -3.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,443 8,315 8,179 1.5 1.7 -0.9 8,310 8,198 7,885 5.4

 Total Inventories....................... 54,848 54,783 54,429 0.1 0.7 0.8 54,687 55,069 53,577 2.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 831,287 833,986 835,120 -0.3 -0.1 -0.3 826,064 829,627 849,921 -2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 191,176 190,723 190,460 0.2 0.1 0.4 190,522 193,011 194,689 -2.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 692,814 696,381 699,418 -0.5 -0.4 -0.2 687,921 692,753 714,721 -3.7

 Total Inventories....................... 170,398 169,905 169,334 0.3 0.3 -0.1 169,709 172,122 172,918 -1.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 222,942 222,421 220,965 0.2 0.7 0.3 221,607 221,538 222,761 -0.5

 Total Inventories................... 118,802 118,621 118,394 0.2 0.2 0.2 118,534 120,680 120,828 -1.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 138,473 137,605 135,702 0.6 1.4 -0.7 138,143 136,874 135,200 2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 20,778 20,818 21,126 -0.2 -1.5 4.0 20,813 20,889 21,771 -4.4

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