FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2007, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (07)-7 

CB07-118

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

July 2007 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $12.9 billion or 5.9 percent to $230.7 billion, 

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

fifth increase in the last six months and at the highest 

level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis 

in 1992. This increase followed a 1.9 percent June 

increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 

3.7 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 

4.9 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up two consecutive months, 

had the largest increase, $7.4 billion or 10.8 percent to 

$75.4 billion. This was led by nondefense aircraft and 

parts, which increased $2.4 billion. 

 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

four of the last five months, increased $8.1 billion or 3.8 

percent to $219.8 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 June decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $5.2 billion or 9.1 

percent to $62.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up twenty-six of the last twenty-seven months, 

increased $17.6 billion or 2.4 percent to $754.9 billion. 

This was also at the highest level since the series was 

first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.6 

percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up eighteen consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $13.0 billion or 3.1 

percent to $434.0 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

sixteen of the last seventeen months, increased $0.4 

billion or 0.1 percent to $313.0 billion. This was also at 

the highest level since the series was first stated on a 

NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a slight June 

decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up six of the last seven 

months, had the largest increase, $0.5 billion or 0.7 

percent to $77.8 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $4.5 billion or 5.8 percent to $81.9 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.9 billion or 1.4 percent to $66.7 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $15.2 billion or 3.7 

percent to $424.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.5 

billion or 0.4 percent to $122.0 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July increased 

$2.6 billion or 35.7 percent to $9.7 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.7 billion or 9.1 percent to $8.7 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $1.0 billion or 0.7 percent to 

$143.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or 0.6 

percent to $17.0 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $420.8 

billion (revised from $419.5 billion); shipments, $414.7 

billion (revised from $414.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$737.2 billion (revised from $736.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $516.5 billion (revised from $516.9 billion).

Figures in text, other than year-to-date, 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 August 31, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on September 26, 2007, 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

2007 2 2007 r 2007 Jul 2 Jun r May 2007 2 2007 r 2006 2007 2006 07/06

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 219,801 211,686 213,967 3.8 -1.1 0.2 191,799 230,203 183,198 1,466,420 1,465,463 0.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 230,698 217,801 213,829 5.9 1.9 -2.4 199,751 229,802 182,768 1,491,809 1,473,531 1.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 157,384 154,481 156,733 1.9 -1.4 -0.3 146,924 167,063 143,636 1,072,244 1,068,409 0.4

 New Orders 4

........................... 155,306 149,784 151,553 3.7 -1.2 -0.3 144,593 157,953 141,453 1,047,710 1,051,665 -0.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 209,432 202,231 204,024 3.6 -0.9 0.1 182,542 220,157 174,813 1,400,049 1,402,059 -0.1

 New Orders 4

........................... 219,173 208,955 204,279 4.9 2.3 -2.8 191,515 221,468 175,452 1,429,186 1,410,820 1.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 152,880 148,393 149,706 3.0 -0.9 0.8 135,889 161,552 129,995 1,023,791 1,003,816 2.0

 New Orders 4

........................... 170,519 159,972 155,984 6.6 2.6 -3.6 150,094 166,878 135,578 1,094,182 1,058,494 3.4

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 20,645 20,334 20,746 1.5 -2.0 2.2 19,358 21,230 18,901 142,598 135,580 5.2

 New Orders.............................. 20,715 19,194 20,434 7.9 -6.1 -4.7 19,161 19,364 18,885 142,672 137,621 3.7

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 26,545 26,032 26,204 2.0 -0.7 0.5 25,350 27,521 23,851 181,167 177,701 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 26,818 26,447 26,197 1.4 1.0 -0.9 25,535 27,288 24,101 185,695 183,959 0.9

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 28,183 27,719 27,941 1.7 -0.8 -0.1 26,703 30,106 25,754 193,031 191,564 0.8

 New Orders.............................. 30,252 28,678 27,726 5.5 3.4 -0.7 28,208 29,191 26,578 199,549 200,707 -0.6

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 33,326 32,113 33,446 3.8 -4.0 -2.4 28,873 36,615 28,862 222,575 222,680 0.0

 New Orders 4

........................... 28,813 26,834 28,059 7.4 -4.4 5.3 24,619 30,482 24,503 181,738 183,357 -0.9

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 5,004 5,417 5,862 -7.6 -7.6 12.5 4,256 6,563 5,576 35,607 38,455 -7.4

 New Orders.............................. 5,325 5,544 5,808 -4.0 -4.5 15.3 4,577 6,690 5,677 35,896 38,255 -6.2 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,481 5,472 5,515 0.2 -0.8 1.4 4,422 6,511 4,157 36,302 37,160 -2.3

 New Orders.............................. 6,711 5,562 6,135 20.7 -9.3 15.9 5,495 6,329 4,676 38,421 39,097 -1.7

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 6,742 5,464 6,416 23.4 -14.8 -18.1 6,253 5,727 6,013 45,002 46,610 -3.4

 New Orders 4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 10,968 10,771 10,832 1.8 -0.6 -2.8 10,181 11,600 9,543 74,640 69,772 7.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,881 11,014 11,120 -1.2 -1.0 -4.0 10,398 11,530 10,310 77,784 74,378 4.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 62,417 57,205 57,234 9.1 -0.1 1.7 44,875 63,140 39,562 394,176 397,054 -0.7

 New Orders.............................. 75,392 68,017 62,276 10.8 9.2 -7.1 55,158 71,849 41,315 444,099 421,866 5.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 42,716 39,096 38,999 9.3 0.2 1.2 28,771 42,466 25,941 271,580 284,222 -4.4

 New Orders.............................. 42,781 38,951 39,220 9.8 -0.7 1.9 29,374 41,903 26,857 271,302 286,417 -5.3 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 9,509 8,792 8,549 8.2 2.8 1.4 7,321 10,653 5,520 58,291 49,490 17.8

 New Orders.............................. 21,881 19,439 14,175 12.6 37.1 -21.4 18,254 20,735 7,910 108,968 75,371 44.6

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 3,842 3,251 3,514 18.2 -7.5 4.3 3,215 3,625 2,874 22,861 21,482 6.4

 New Orders.............................. 3,659 3,161 2,770 15.8 14.1 14.8 2,456 3,284 1,998 18,248 20,898 -12.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 37,717 37,512 37,564 0.5 -0.1 0.3 36,459 39,991 36,725 258,233 271,112 -4.8

 New Orders.............................. 37,827 37,617 38,017 0.6 -1.1 0.2 36,672 40,098 37,076 260,272 271,643 -4.2

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 75,322 73,681 74,319 2.2 -0.9 0.8 67,244 82,152 66,029 506,111 505,161 0.2

 New Orders.............................. 91,613 84,590 80,969 8.3 4.5 -5.6 79,649 89,565 68,734 566,575 539,635 5.0

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 66,660 65,745 66,043 1.4 -0.5 0.7 59,362 73,901 58,938 450,338 451,562 -0.3

 New Orders.............................. 81,903 77,436 72,788 5.8 6.4 -6.8 72,754 83,019 62,596 513,765 487,009 5.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 60,694 60,367 60,873 0.5 -0.8 0.7 55,236 67,222 55,739 415,314 420,565 -1.2

 New Orders........................ 63,404 62,065 62,120 2.2 -0.1 -1.5 57,448 66,663 57,208 430,014 435,712 -1.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 8,662 7,936 8,276 9.1 -4.1 2.2 7,882 8,251 7,091 55,773 53,599 4.1

 New Orders.............................. 9,710 7,154 8,181 35.7 -12.6 7.2 6,895 6,546 6,138 52,810 52,626 0.3

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

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2007/

2007 2 2007 r 2007 Jul 2 Jun r May 2007 2 2007 r 2006 2006

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 754,862 737,223 725,644 2.4 1.6 0.9 752,233 738,028 622,083 20.9

 Total Inventories....................... 313,049 312,641 312,653 0.1 0.0 0.1 315,131 310,779 302,580 4.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 320,815 316,151 315,384 1.5 0.2 0.4 321,312 317,390 293,318 9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 235,287 235,383 235,271 0.0 0.0 -0.1 236,550 234,201 228,239 3.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 598,895 582,412 570,224 2.8 2.1 1.2 597,618 582,392 476,948 25.3

 Total Inventories....................... 291,862 291,544 291,537 0.1 0.0 0.1 293,797 289,618 280,807 4.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 754,862 737,223 725,644 2.4 1.6 0.9 752,233 738,028 622,083 20.9

 Total Inventories....................... 246,900 246,298 246,197 0.2 0.0 0.2 248,531 245,030 235,790 5.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 27,001 26,931 28,071 0.3 -4.1 -1.1 26,766 26,963 28,281 -5.4

 Total Inventories....................... 31,969 31,925 31,497 0.1 1.4 -0.1 32,140 31,734 29,499 9.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 56,722 56,449 56,034 0.5 0.7 0.0 57,653 57,468 54,386 6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 41,512 41,459 41,621 0.1 -0.4 0.0 41,763 41,486 40,086 4.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 84,091 82,022 81,063 2.5 1.2 -0.3 83,406 81,901 71,414 16.8

 Total Inventories....................... 50,990 50,673 50,424 0.6 0.5 0.1 50,934 50,276 47,448 7.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 114,491 112,262 112,077 2.0 0.2 0.9 114,357 112,358 104,377 9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 42,726 43,489 43,762 -1.8 -0.6 -0.2 43,252 42,941 43,604 -0.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,696 3,375 3,248 9.5 3.9 -1.6 3,696 3,375 3,410 8.4

 Total Inventories....................... 4,364 4,437 4,449 -1.6 -0.3 0.0 4,422 4,296 4,438 -0.4

 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 34,943 33,713 33,623 3.6 0.3 1.9 35,009 33,936 32,070 9.2

 Total Inventories....................... 7,097 7,189 7,268 -1.3 -1.1 1.1 7,084 6,929 7,475 -5.2

 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......................... 24,581 24,668 24,425 -0.4 1.0 1.2 24,880 24,663 22,245 11.8

 Total Inventories....................... 14,483 14,329 14,338 1.1 -0.1 -0.6 14,508 14,237 13,927 4.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 434,047 421,072 410,260 3.1 2.6 1.2 430,921 420,638 328,765 31.1

 Total Inventories....................... 77,762 77,258 77,382 0.7 -0.2 0.5 78,581 76,578 74,341 5.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 20,767 20,702 20,847 0.3 -0.7 1.1 20,689 20,086 20,120 2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 24,722 24,568 25,007 0.6 -1.8 -0.2 24,952 24,271 25,271 -1.3 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 271,119 258,747 248,100 4.8 4.3 2.3 269,227 258,294 182,282 47.7

 Total Inventories....................... 30,782 30,521 30,231 0.9 1.0 1.4 31,178 30,204 26,377 18.2

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 40,493 40,676 40,766 -0.4 -0.2 -1.8 40,410 41,169 42,384 -4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 12,834 12,711 12,720 1.0 -0.1 0.1 12,946 12,768 12,686 2.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,929 13,819 13,714 0.8 0.8 3.4 14,250 14,037 12,615 13.0

 Total Inventories....................... 53,607 53,508 53,629 0.2 -0.2 0.0 53,953 53,527 53,675 0.5

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 567,767 551,476 540,567 3.0 2.0 1.2 564,354 551,949 445,561 26.7

 Total Inventories....................... 139,017 138,414 138,199 0.4 0.2 0.6 139,640 137,339 131,893 5.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 424,176 408,933 397,242 3.7 2.9 1.7 422,118 408,726 312,585 35.0

 Total Inventories....................... 122,044 121,534 121,385 0.4 0.1 0.8 122,632 120,452 114,673 6.9

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 179,768 177,058 175,360 1.5 1.0 0.7 179,620 177,408 154,204 16.5

 Total Inventories................... 98,292 97,895 97,719 0.4 0.2 0.4 98,603 97,118 93,725 5.2

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 143,591 142,543 143,325 0.7 -0.5 -0.1 142,236 143,223 132,976 7.0

 Total Inventories....................... 16,973 16,880 16,814 0.6 0.4 -0.9 17,008 16,887 17,220 -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-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.