FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (10)-1 

CB10-25

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

January 2010 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in January 

increased $5.2 billion or 3.0 percent to $175.7 billion, 

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

second consecutive monthly increase and followed a 1.9 

percent December increase. Excluding transportation, 

new orders decreased 0.6 percent. Excluding defense, 

new orders increased 1.6 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up four of the last five 

months, had the largest increase, $6.0 billion or 15.6 

percent to $44.8 billion. This was led by nondefense 

aircraft and parts, which increased $4.0 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in January, 

down following four consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $180.7 billion. 

This followed a 2.4 percent December increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$1.6 billion or 3.5 percent to $44.6 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

January, up following a record fifteen consecutive 

monthly decreases, increased $0.4 billion or 0.1 percent 

to $718.1 billion. This followed a 0.9 percent December 

decrease. 

 Primary metals, up seven of the last eight months, had 

the largest increase, $0.5 billion or 3.2 percent to $16.1 

billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in January, 

down thirteen consecutive months, decreased $0.1 

billion to $302.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent 

December decrease. 

 Computers and electronic products, down twelve of 

the last thirteen months, had the largest decrease, $0.5 

billion or 1.2 percent to $42.9 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in January 

increased $2.6 billion or 4.7 percent to $57.7 billion. 

Shipments decreased $2.1 billion or 3.5 percent to $57.7 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased slightly to $409.0 

billion. Inventories increased $0.5 billion or 0.3 percent 

to $131.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in January 

increased $1.6 billion or 19.2 percent to $9.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $10.4 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.5 billion or 0.4 

percent to $132.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.5 

billion or 2.4 percent to $20.4 billion. 

Revised December Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted December figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $371.6 

billion (revised from $370.4 billion); shipments, $382.1 

billion (revised from $383.1 billion); unfilled orders, 

$717.7 billion (revised from $716.7 billion); and total 

inventories, $494.6 billion (revised from $495.0 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 March 4, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The advance report on durable goods for February is scheduled for release on March 24, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for 

survey description and benchmark notice. 
 2

Table 1. Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and New Orders1

[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 

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

2010 2 2009 r 2009 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2010 2 2009 r 2009 2010 2009 10/09

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 180,708 181,004 176,772 -0.2 2.4 0.8 160,731 182,307 158,380 160,731 158,380 1.5

 New Orders 4

.............................. 175,748 170,570 167,412 3.0 1.9 -0.4 160,352 183,007 145,868 160,352 145,868 9.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 136,129 134,797 132,807 1.0 1.5 0.9 122,953 133,568 120,894 122,953 120,894 1.7

 New Orders 4

.............................. 130,989 131,842 129,240 -0.6 2.0 2.0 119,865 131,025 111,140 119,865 111,140 7.9

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 166,901 167,808 163,008 -0.5 2.9 1.1 149,509 167,743 148,933 149,509 148,933 0.4

 New Orders 4

.............................. 161,767 159,240 156,502 1.6 1.7 0.1 146,732 165,896 136,012 146,732 136,012 7.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 129,956 131,965 128,189 -1.5 2.9 1.1 114,539 134,474 113,163 114,539 113,163 1.2

 New Orders 4.............................. 130,361 125,591 122,907 3.8 2.2 -0.8 120,756 138,334 105,397 120,756 105,397 14.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 16,541 16,368 15,207 1.1 7.6 4.5 15,451 14,134 13,563 15,451 13,563 13.9

 New Orders.............................. 17,042 16,717 15,189 1.9 10.1 2.6 16,515 14,423 12,713 16,515 12,713 29.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,080 24,024 24,125 0.2 -0.4 0.2 21,825 22,218 22,922 21,825 22,922 -4.8

 New Orders.............................. 23,964 23,955 24,440 0.0 -2.0 2.2 22,009 22,348 21,464 22,009 21,464 2.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 22,490 23,989 22,726 -6.2 5.6 2.7 20,360 24,119 22,475 20,360 22,475 -9.4

 New Orders.............................. 22,100 24,481 22,784 -9.7 7.4 3.2 21,507 23,929 20,379 21,507 20,379 5.5

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 32,271 29,746 30,163 8.5 -1.4 -1.0 29,455 33,595 25,319 29,455 25,319 16.3

 New Orders 4.............................. 26,966 25,768 25,697 4.6 0.3 1.3 23,146 31,577 19,771 23,146 19,771 17.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,094 4,705 4,592 8.3 2.5 2.5 4,348 6,207 3,771 4,348 3,771 15.3

 New Orders.............................. 5,108 4,904 4,872 4.2 0.7 7.7 4,362 6,406 3,367 4,362 3,367 29.6

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 4,842 4,837 5,038 0.1 -4.0 -3.1 3,756 5,908 3,816 3,756 3,816 -1.6

 New Orders.............................. 5,123 4,968 4,884 3.1 1.7 -1.3 4,087 6,159 3,865 4,087 3,865 5.7

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 5,365 4,060 4,078 32.1 -0.4 -8.3 6,596 3,160 4,746 6,596 4,746 39.0

 New Orders 4.............................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 8,481 8,627 8,574 -1.7 0.6 2.6 7,513 8,411 7,736 7,513 7,736 -2.9

 New Orders.............................. 8,653 8,533 8,801 1.4 -3.0 3.5 8,316 7,881 8,013 8,316 8,013 3.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 44,579 46,207 43,965 -3.5 5.1 0.4 37,778 48,739 37,486 37,778 37,486 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 44,759 38,728 38,172 15.6 1.5 -7.8 40,487 51,982 34,728 40,487 34,728 16.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 25,319 25,670 24,539 -1.4 4.6 2.8 22,945 23,977 22,829 22,945 22,829 0.5

 New Orders.............................. 25,113 25,687 24,346 -2.2 5.5 0.8 23,030 24,269 22,799 23,030 22,799 1.0

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,163 8,746 7,440 -18.1 17.6 -2.7 5,223 11,330 6,511 5,223 6,511 -19.8

 New Orders.............................. 7,084 3,134 4,373 126.0 -28.3 -40.4 5,256 13,030 4,041 5,256 4,041 30.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 5,632 5,783 5,731 -2.6 0.9 2.3 4,326 6,908 3,598 4,326 3,598 20.2

 New Orders.............................. 6,586 5,904 4,810 11.6 22.7 -9.1 6,521 8,090 3,995 6,521 3,995 63.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,266 32,043 32,012 0.7 0.1 0.1 28,349 31,091 28,879 28,349 28,879 -1.8

 New Orders.............................. 32,264 32,388 32,329 -0.4 0.2 0.9 28,372 30,867 28,800 28,372 28,800 -1.5

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 68,139 70,179 68,155 -2.9 3.0 0.6 59,256 76,987 59,502 59,256 59,502 -0.4

 New Orders.............................. 67,616 63,447 62,093 6.6 2.2 -3.2 61,884 80,730 52,113 61,884 52,113 18.7

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 57,747 59,854 57,427 -3.5 4.2 1.1 50,620 66,229 52,230 50,620 52,230 -3.1

 New Orders.............................. 57,706 55,130 53,808 4.7 2.5 -3.0 52,097 67,684 44,279 52,097 44,279 17.7

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 54,038 54,849 53,547 -1.5 2.4 1.6 48,410 59,228 48,813 48,410 48,813 -0.8

 New Orders......................... 53,730 55,341 53,579 -2.9 3.3 3.2 49,832 59,082 45,574 49,832 45,574 9.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 10,392 10,325 10,728 0.6 -3.8 -2.1 8,636 10,758 7,272 8,636 7,272 18.8

 New Orders.............................. 9,910 8,317 8,285 19.2 0.4 -4.4 9,787 13,046 7,834 9,787 7,834 24.9

NA Not Available 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. 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 equipment. 

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 Inventories1

[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 

Jan Dec Nov Dec - Nov - Oct - Jan Dec Jan 2010/

2010 2 2009 r 2009 Jan 2 Dec r Nov 2010 2 2009 r 2009 2009

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 718,085 717,680 724,054 0.1 -0.9 -0.7 723,061 716,844 790,987 -8.6

 Total Inventories....................... 302,588 302,662 303,298 0.0 -0.2 -0.2 303,042 294,640 339,202 -10.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 307,818 307,593 306,488 0.1 0.4 0.2 306,595 303,087 325,910 -5.9

 Total Inventories....................... 212,623 213,146 213,350 -0.2 -0.1 -0.2 213,905 209,057 245,154 -12.7

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 569,444 569,213 573,721 0.0 -0.8 -0.4 572,321 568,502 628,022 -8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 276,001 276,375 276,886 -0.1 -0.2 -0.2 276,494 268,640 313,119 -11.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 718,085 717,680 724,054 0.1 -0.9 -0.7 723,061 716,844 790,987 -8.6

 Total Inventories....................... 244,999 244,405 244,858 0.2 -0.2 -0.1 245,171 237,892 273,106 -10.2

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,101 15,600 15,251 3.2 2.3 -0.1 16,039 14,975 17,477 -8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 26,142 25,803 25,536 1.3 1.0 0.7 26,290 25,725 31,039 -15.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,892 49,008 49,077 -0.2 -0.1 0.6 48,067 47,883 55,277 -13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 36,694 36,760 36,977 -0.2 -0.6 0.3 37,114 36,193 43,682 -15.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 87,561 87,951 87,459 -0.4 0.6 0.1 88,023 86,876 95,815 -8.1

 Total Inventories....................... 47,180 47,535 47,795 -0.7 -0.5 -0.5 47,513 46,263 55,431 -14.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 122,937 122,877 122,795 0.0 0.1 -0.3 122,734 122,447 123,777 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 42,854 43,377 42,885 -1.2 1.1 -0.1 42,983 42,525 47,104 -8.7

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,721 4,707 4,508 0.3 4.4 6.6 4,721 4,707 3,686 28.1

 Total Inventories....................... 4,215 4,186 4,109 0.7 1.9 -0.1 4,056 3,974 4,517 -10.2

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,804 37,523 37,392 0.7 0.4 -0.4 37,413 37,082 36,803 1.7

 Total Inventories....................... 9,257 9,350 9,072 -1.0 3.1 -0.8 9,442 9,312 10,417 -9.4

 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......................... 20,461 20,289 20,383 0.8 -0.5 1.1 20,312 19,509 21,876 -7.1

 Total Inventories....................... 12,157 12,068 12,143 0.7 -0.6 -0.5 12,279 11,710 14,271 -14.0

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 410,267 410,087 417,566 0.0 -1.8 -1.4 416,466 413,757 465,077 -10.5

 Total Inventories....................... 89,965 89,516 89,948 0.5 -0.5 -0.3 89,137 85,583 94,048 -5.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,843 14,049 14,032 -1.5 0.1 -1.4 14,158 14,073 15,619 -9.4

 Total Inventories....................... 18,374 18,534 18,258 -0.9 1.5 1.0 18,591 17,787 20,928 -11.2

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 270,487 270,566 276,178 0.0 -2.0 -1.1 274,364 274,331 305,640 -10.2

 Total Inventories....................... 45,436 44,992 45,233 1.0 -0.5 -0.5 44,521 42,422 46,184 -3.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 46,425 45,471 45,350 2.1 0.3 -2.0 47,188 44,993 48,624 -3.0

 Total Inventories....................... 15,770 15,324 15,620 2.9 -1.9 -1.7 15,637 15,084 15,329 2.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 11,866 11,868 11,523 0.0 3.0 2.8 11,420 11,397 11,688 -2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 47,596 47,603 48,014 0.0 -0.9 -0.7 47,726 46,641 53,627 -11.0

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 541,312 541,835 548,567 -0.1 -1.2 -1.1 546,533 543,905 606,546 -9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 152,243 151,312 152,505 0.6 -0.8 -0.2 151,560 146,675 165,247 -8.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 408,997 409,038 413,762 0.0 -1.1 -0.9 412,342 410,865 460,319 -10.4

 Total Inventories....................... 131,841 131,389 132,266 0.3 -0.7 -0.2 131,064 126,799 144,994 -9.6

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 174,083 174,391 173,899 -0.2 0.3 0.0 173,521 172,099 189,943 -8.6

 Total Inventories................... 95,812 95,883 96,137 -0.1 -0.3 -0.4 95,907 93,528 108,437 -11.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 132,315 132,797 134,805 -0.4 -1.5 -1.8 134,191 133,040 146,227 -8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 20,402 19,923 20,239 2.4 -1.6 -0.4 20,496 19,876 20,253 1.2

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-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 59 

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 14, 2010. These revisions reflect: 

o benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2007 Economic Census and the 2008 Annual 

Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data; 

o adjusting new orders and order backlog to be consistent with the benchmarked shipments and 

inventory data; 

o correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassifications of reported data, and revisions to 

previously reported data; and 

o updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series. 

As of the Benchmark release, shipments for the semiconductor industry will no longer be shown separately, 

but will be included in the computers and electronic products, and all other applicable aggregate totals. An 

accompanying press release will include the revised 2010 January through March data. Please call 

Chris Savage on (301)763-4832 with any questions.