FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (08)-01 

CB08-36

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

January 2008 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in January 

decreased $12.0 billion or 5.3 percent to $212.8 billion, 

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

followed two consecutive monthly increases including a 

4.4 percent December increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 1.6 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders decreased 4.7 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down following three 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$9.5 billion or 13.4 percent to $61.2 billion. This was 

led by nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased 

$6.5 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in January, 

up following two consecutive monthly decreases, 

increased $3.8 billion or 1.8 percent to $215.5 billion. 

This followed a 0.4 percent December decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, up three of the last 

four months, had the largest increase, $2.4 billion or 7.1 

percent to $36.1 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

January, up thirty-two of the last thirty-three months, 

increased $5.2 billion or 0.6 percent to $813.2 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 2.5 

percent December increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-seven of the last 

twenty-eight months, had the largest increase, $4.0 

billion or 0.8 percent to $478.2 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in January, 

up six of the last seven months, increased $2.0 billion or 

0.6 percent to $322.3 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 1.1 percent December 

increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twelve of the last thirteen 

months, had the largest increase, $1.0 billion or 1.2 

percent to $83.1 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $6.6 billion or 8.1 percent to $74.6 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.3 billion or 1.9 percent to $69.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $5.0 billion or 1.1 

percent to $467.3 billion. Inventories increased $1.8 

billion or 1.4 percent to $128.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in January 

decreased $2.3 billion or 19.9 percent to $9.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.9 billion or 11.2 percent to $9.0 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.3 billion or 0.2 

percent to $148.4 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 

billion or 1.2 percent to $18.2 billion. 

Revised December Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted December figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $440.1 

billion (revised from $441.6 billion); shipments, $427.0 

billion (revised from $427.5 billion); unfilled orders, 

$808.0 billion (revised from $808.7 billion); and total 

inventories, $528.4 billion (revised from $528.1 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 March 5, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The 

advance report on durable goods for February is scheduled for release on March 26, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for 

survey description and 2008 release schedule. 
 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

Jan Dec Nov Dec - Nov - Oct - Jan Dec Jan Change

2008 2 2007 r 2007 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2008 2 2007 r 2007 2008 2007 08/07

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 215,477 211,675 212,462 1.8 -0.4 -0.4 194,000 207,970 188,717 194,000 188,717 2.8

 New Orders 4

........................... 212,804 224,777 215,242 -5.3 4.4 0.5 199,671 235,394 193,785 199,671 193,785 3.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 158,247 155,980 155,841 1.5 0.1 -0.3 144,684 153,969 139,202 144,684 139,202 3.9

 New Orders 4

........................... 151,571 154,073 151,087 -1.6 2.0 -0.5 143,157 152,680 139,214 143,157 139,214 2.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 204,668 201,923 202,460 1.4 -0.3 -0.5 184,952 196,923 180,765 184,952 180,765 2.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 201,821 211,673 207,408 -4.7 2.1 1.7 188,651 215,421 183,511 188,651 183,511 2.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 151,163 148,754 148,637 1.6 0.1 -0.4 135,345 147,735 129,779 135,345 129,779 4.3

 New Orders 4

........................... 156,369 168,087 157,924 -7.0 6.4 0.7 149,475 180,877 142,440 149,475 142,440 4.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 20,524 20,394 20,281 0.6 0.6 -0.7 20,316 17,525 19,552 20,316 19,552 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 20,776 20,777 20,860 0.0 -0.4 1.0 21,419 18,599 20,501 21,419 20,501 4.5

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 25,876 25,619 26,038 1.0 -1.6 -0.4 24,079 23,229 24,049 24,079 24,049 0.1

 New Orders.............................. 25,821 26,919 26,608 -4.1 1.2 -0.5 24,696 24,223 25,341 24,696 25,341 -2.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 28,576 29,071 28,197 -1.7 3.1 0.8 26,081 28,517 23,303 26,081 23,303 11.9

 New Orders.............................. 30,704 31,174 28,926 -1.5 7.8 -1.4 30,549 30,563 26,211 30,549 26,211 16.6

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 36,136 33,746 33,655 7.1 0.3 -0.1 31,887 39,252 28,971 31,887 28,971 10.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 27,326 28,078 27,054 -2.7 3.8 -0.2 23,678 35,103 22,190 23,678 22,190 6.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 5,825 5,822 5,617 0.1 3.6 -0.9 4,624 7,590 4,247 4,624 4,247 8.9

 New Orders.............................. 5,271 5,972 5,683 -11.7 5.1 11.6 4,070 7,740 4,188 4,070 4,188 -2.8 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,375 5,571 5,443 -3.5 2.4 4.3 4,182 7,106 4,138 4,182 4,138 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 5,243 5,952 5,257 -11.9 13.2 9.3 4,460 7,430 4,512 4,460 4,512 -1.2

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 7,879 6,231 6,507 26.4 -4.2 -0.7 8,459 5,718 7,593 8,459 7,593 11.4

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 11,037 10,772 10,767 2.5 0.0 -1.2 9,776 10,344 9,475 9,776 9,475 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 11,044 10,891 10,751 1.4 1.3 0.5 10,492 9,929 10,783 10,492 10,783 -2.7

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 57,230 55,695 56,621 2.8 -1.6 -0.4 49,316 54,001 49,515 49,316 49,515 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 61,233 70,704 64,155 -13.4 10.2 2.8 56,514 82,714 54,571 56,514 54,571 3.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 36,665 37,006 37,709 -0.9 -1.9 0.0 33,631 32,451 35,672 33,631 35,672 -5.7

 New Orders.............................. 36,216 36,515 37,751 -0.8 -3.3 0.3 33,530 32,708 36,288 33,530 36,288 -7.6 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 10,226 9,205 9,167 11.1 0.4 -2.3 7,313 10,733 6,196 7,313 6,196 18.0

 New Orders.............................. 14,700 21,162 19,402 -30.5 9.1 28.6 13,021 31,173 7,066 13,021 7,066 84.3

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 3,620 3,269 3,442 10.7 -5.0 -3.2 2,908 4,017 2,663 2,908 2,663 9.2

 New Orders.............................. 4,120 6,114 2,517 -32.6 142.9 -26.4 4,296 8,681 2,664 4,296 2,664 61.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 36,098 36,378 36,903 -0.8 -1.4 -0.9 32,545 35,102 33,852 32,545 33,852 -3.9

 New Orders.............................. 35,900 36,234 36,888 -0.9 -1.8 -1.1 32,323 34,263 34,188 32,323 34,188 -5.5

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 78,618 76,408 75,701 2.9 0.9 0.0 67,795 82,827 62,137 67,795 62,137 9.1

 New Orders.............................. 83,848 92,722 83,277 -9.6 11.3 2.2 78,408 111,569 69,178 78,408 69,178 13.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 69,611 68,309 67,328 1.9 1.5 -0.5 60,182 73,976 55,438 60,182 55,438 8.6

 New Orders.............................. 74,588 81,163 76,959 -8.1 5.5 5.4 69,188 93,959 60,304 69,188 60,304 14.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 62,991 62,930 61,882 0.1 1.7 0.1 56,105 67,210 52,159 56,105 52,159 7.6

 New Orders........................ 63,898 64,799 61,588 -1.4 5.2 -0.1 60,001 68,188 56,755 60,001 56,755 5.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 9,007 8,099 8,373 11.2 -3.3 3.8 7,613 8,851 6,699 7,613 6,699 13.6

 New Orders.............................. 9,260 11,559 6,318 -19.9 83.0 -25.2 9,220 17,610 8,874 9,220 8,874 3.9

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(06), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 2001-2006."

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

Jan Dec Nov Dec - Nov - Oct - Jan Dec Jan 2008/

2008 2 2007 r 2007 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2008 2 2007 r 2007 2007

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 813,200 807,994 788,661 0.6 2.5 1.2 821,845 807,715 694,503 18.3

 Total Inventories....................... 322,284 320,334 316,961 0.6 1.1 0.7 321,689 311,225 309,735 3.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 334,956 333,753 329,429 0.4 1.3 0.5 335,305 328,373 308,449 8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 239,222 238,293 237,131 0.4 0.5 0.3 239,256 232,466 235,398 1.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 650,972 645,940 629,959 0.8 2.5 1.9 656,403 644,245 533,818 23.0

 Total Inventories....................... 299,197 297,133 294,858 0.7 0.8 0.6 298,831 288,486 289,004 3.4

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 813,200 807,994 788,661 0.6 2.5 1.2 821,845 807,715 694,503 18.3

 Total Inventories....................... 255,102 253,268 250,663 0.7 1.0 0.7 254,650 246,389 242,923 4.8

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,762 27,510 27,127 0.9 1.4 2.2 28,142 27,039 27,641 1.8

 Total Inventories....................... 30,901 30,739 30,750 0.5 0.0 -0.7 31,058 30,720 31,380 -1.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 59,635 59,690 58,390 -0.1 2.2 1.0 58,504 57,887 54,417 7.5

 Total Inventories....................... 42,119 42,199 42,028 -0.2 0.4 0.4 42,227 41,233 41,614 1.5

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 92,838 90,710 88,607 2.3 2.4 0.8 93,724 89,256 79,796 17.5

 Total Inventories....................... 52,652 52,201 51,801 0.9 0.8 0.0 52,675 50,518 49,756 5.9

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 117,202 118,133 117,570 -0.8 0.5 -0.1 118,012 117,762 111,004 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 44,245 44,192 43,894 0.1 0.7 0.8 44,090 42,806 44,453 -0.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,057 3,611 3,461 -15.3 4.3 1.9 3,057 3,611 3,348 -8.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,581 4,630 4,512 -1.1 2.6 1.6 4,480 4,309 4,484 -0.1

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 35,345 35,477 35,096 -0.4 1.1 -0.5 35,231 34,953 33,264 5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 7,433 7,460 7,313 -0.4 2.0 1.6 7,497 7,279 7,654 -2.1

 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......................... 23,888 23,881 23,762 0.0 0.5 -0.1 23,761 23,045 23,044 3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 14,972 14,884 14,792 0.6 0.6 1.7 15,097 14,502 14,469 4.3

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 478,244 474,241 459,232 0.8 3.3 1.7 486,540 479,342 386,054 26.0

 Total Inventories....................... 83,062 82,041 79,830 1.2 2.8 1.9 82,433 78,759 74,337 10.9

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,239 18,688 19,179 -2.4 -2.6 0.2 18,778 18,879 21,583 -13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 23,916 24,009 23,931 -0.4 0.3 -0.9 23,893 22,959 25,460 -6.2 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 313,023 308,549 296,592 1.5 4.0 3.6 318,034 312,326 219,420 44.9

 Total Inventories....................... 34,985 33,863 32,795 3.3 3.3 3.6 34,551 32,281 27,251 26.8

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 46,194 45,694 42,849 1.1 6.6 -2.1 47,614 46,226 45,024 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 13,956 13,749 13,086 1.5 5.1 2.2 13,795 13,490 12,218 12.9

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,631 13,829 13,973 -1.4 -1.0 -0.1 13,162 13,384 12,547 4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 54,333 54,078 53,866 0.5 0.4 0.2 54,109 52,687 53,726 0.7

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 615,705 610,475 594,161 0.9 2.7 1.3 624,159 613,546 510,931 22.2

 Total Inventories....................... 146,883 145,298 143,040 1.1 1.6 1.1 146,271 140,944 134,872 8.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 467,304 462,327 449,473 1.1 2.9 2.2 472,802 463,796 363,557 30.0

 Total Inventories....................... 128,643 126,839 125,337 1.4 1.2 1.1 128,099 122,688 118,133 8.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 183,717 182,810 180,941 0.5 1.0 -0.2 183,988 180,092 169,516 8.5

 Total Inventories................... 101,276 100,638 100,120 0.6 0.5 0.3 101,082 97,739 97,203 4.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 148,401 148,148 144,688 0.2 2.4 -1.4 151,357 149,750 147,374 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 18,240 18,459 17,703 -1.2 4.3 1.2 18,172 18,256 16,739 8.6

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. 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 4,200 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 62 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 4,200 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 4,200 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.

2008 Release Dates for M3 Survey 

Survey Month Advance 8:30 A.M. Preliminary 10:00 A.M. 

Nov 2007 December 27, 2007 January 3, 2008 

Dec 2007 January 29, 2008 February 4, 2008 

Jan 2008 February 27, 2008 March 5, 2008 

Feb 2008 March 26, 2008 April 2, 2008 

Mar 2008 April 24, 2008 May 2, 2008 

Apr 2008 May 28, 2008 June 3, 2008 

May 2008 June 25, 2008 July 2, 2008 

Jun 2008 July 25, 2008 August 4, 2008 

Jul 2008 August 27, 2008 September 3, 2008

Aug 2008 September 25, 2008 October 2, 2008 

Sep 2008 October 29, 2008 November 4, 2008

Oct 2008 November 26, 2008 December 4, 2008

Nov 2008 December 24, 2008