Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301‐763‐4832   301‐763‐3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

FOR RELEASE AT 8:30 AM EST, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017 

MONTHLY ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, 

INVENTORIES AND ORDERS NOVEMBER 2017 

Release Number: CB 17-207 M3-1 (17)-11 

Notice: For information on the impact of recent hurricanes on the compilation of this report, please see the 

Frequently Asked Questions document on our website. 

December 22, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the November advance report on 

manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders: 

New Orders 

New orders for manufactured durable goods in November increased $3.1 billion or 1.3 percent to $241.4 

billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up three of the last four months, followed 

a 0.4 percent October decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.1 percent. Excluding 

defense, new orders increased 1.0 percent. Transportation equipment, also up three of the last four months, 

drove the increase, $3.3 billion or 4.2 percent to $80.9 billion. 

Shipments 

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in November, up six of the last seven months, increased $2.4 

billion or 1.0 percent to $244.5 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent October increase. Transportation 

equipment, up two of the last three months, led the increase, $2.1 billion or 2.6 percent to $81.3 billion. 

Unfilled Orders 

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in November, up three consecutive months, increased $1.1 

billion or 0.1 percent to $1,137.0 billion. This followed a virtually unchanged October increase. Fabricated 

metal products, up ten of the last eleven months, led the increase, $0.5 billion or 0.6 percent to $81.3 billion. 

DURABLE GOODS – NEW ORDERS

NOVEMBER 2017 $241.4 billion             +1.3%°   

OCTOBER 2017  

(revised) $238.3 billion             ‐0.4%°

Next release: January 26, 2018

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders. 

°Statistical significance is not measurable for this survey. The Manufacturers' 

Shipments, Inventories, and Orders estimates are not based on a probability 

sample, so the sampling error of these estimates cannot be measured nor can the 

confidence intervals be computed.

Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17

% Change 0.3% 0.3% 1.4% 2.4% -0.8% 0.0% 6.4% -6.8% 2.1% 2.4% -0.4% 1.3%

-7.0%

-6.0%

-5.0%

-4.0%

-3.0%

-2.0%

-1.0%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

DURABLE GOODS NEW ORDERS 2016-2017

Seasonally Adjusted, Month-To-Month Percentage Change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301‐763‐4832   301‐763‐3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

Inventories 

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in November, up sixteen of the last seventeen months, increased 

$0.9 billion or 0.2 percent to $405.2 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent October increase. Machinery, up 

nine of the last ten months, led the increase, $0.3 billion or 0.4 percent to $69.9 billion. 

Capital Goods 

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November increased $1.9 billion or 2.6 percent to $75.4 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.5 billion or 2.1 percent to $74.6 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.8 billion or 

0.1 percent to $706.6 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 billion or 0.4 percent to $180.6 billion. Defense 

new orders for capital goods in November increased $0.5 billion or 4.8 percent to $10.6 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 1.4 percent to $11.1 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.5 billion or 0.4 percent to 

$141.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.4 billion or 1.5 percent to $23.1 billion. 

Revised October Data

Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $480.6 

billion (revised from $479.6 billion); shipments, $484.5 billion (revised from $484.2 billion); unfilled 

orders, $1,135.9 billion (revised from $1,135.1 billion) and total inventories, $661.6 billion (unchanged). 

Revised and more detailed estimates, plus nondurable goods data, will be published on January 5, 2018, at 

10:00 a.m. EST. The Advance Report on durable goods for December is scheduled for release on January 

26, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. EST. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing 

Room:<www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. The full text and tables of this release can be found at 

<www.census.gov/m3>. 

EXPLANATORY NOTES 

Figures in text are adjusted for seasonality, but not for inflation. Figures on new and unfilled orders exclude 

data for semiconductor manufacturing. 

“Virtually unchanged” indicates that the change is less than 0.05 percent for a percent increase or decrease. 

Description of the survey 

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-in-process, and 

finished goods). Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of approximately 5,000 reporting 

units that represent approximately 3,100 companies and provide an indication of month-to-month change for 

the Manufacturing Sector. These reporting units may be divisions of diversified large companies, large 
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301‐763‐4832   301‐763‐3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

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-tomonth changes of the total operations of the reporting units in the M3 panel effectively represent the monthto-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 64 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 57 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: 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 

API 

The Census Bureau’s application programming interface (API) lets developers create custom apps to reach 

new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever 

before. 

www.census.gov/developers/. 
Data Inquiries Media Inquiries

Economic Indicators Division, Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Branch (M3) Public Information Office

301‐763‐4832   301‐763‐3030

eid.m3.qs@census.gov pio@census.gov

2018 Release Dates for the M3 Survey 

Source: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/reports/pei_schedule_release_dates_2018_all_

v2.pdf

###

Survey month Advance Report 

(8:30 a.m. release time)

Full Report 

(10:00 a.m. release time)

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 Fri 1/5/2018

Dec-17 Fri 1/26/2018 Fri 2/2/2018

Jan-18 Tue 2/27/2018 Tue 3/6/2018

Feb-18 Fri 3/23/2018 Wed 4/4/2018

Mar-18 Thu 4/26/2018 Thu 5/3/2018

Apr-18 Fri 5/25/2018 Mon 6/4/2018

May-18 Wed 6/27/2018 Tue 7/3/2018

Jun-18 Thu 7/26/2018 Thu 8/2/2018

Jul-18 Fri 8/24/2018 Thu 9/6/2018

Aug-18 Thu 9/27/2018 Thu 10/4/2018

Sep-18 Thu 10/25/2018 Fri 11/2/2018

Oct-18 Wed 11/21/2018 Thu 12/6/2018

Nov-18 Fri 12/21/2018 Not available at this time
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

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov Change

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2017 2016 2017/2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 244,524 242,120 240,951 1.0 0.5 1.2 238,436 247,447 221,863 2,614,883 2,511,391 4.1

 New Orders4

.............................. 241,358 238,256 239,313 1.3 -0.4 2.4 235,852 239,455 216,318 2,568,650 2,437,687 5.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 163,195 162,881 161,388 0.2 0.9 1.1 157,590 165,996 146,339 1,745,917 1,654,010 5.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 160,421 160,599 158,469 -0.1 1.3 1.3 152,953 161,553 141,226 1,713,306 1,613,420 6.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 231,453 229,112 228,181 1.0 0.4 1.1 224,549 234,823 209,149 2,479,717 2,385,864 3.9

 New Orders4

.............................. 228,758 226,473 226,493 1.0 0.0 2.5 223,723 229,235 200,882 2,440,299 2,313,055 5.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 172,271 170,045 169,960 1.3 0.1 1.4 167,462 171,809 154,549 1,837,819 1,748,786 5.1

 New Orders.............................. 173,412 170,600 172,935 1.6 -1.4 3.2 169,905 169,002 154,576 1,840,790 1,722,349 6.9

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 20,023 19,951 19,639 0.4 1.6 -0.1 18,833 20,211 16,851 215,434 194,423 10.8

 New Orders.............................. 20,370 20,205 19,783 0.8 2.1 -0.5 19,588 20,377 17,716 217,065 195,516 11.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 32,696 32,728 32,455 -0.1 0.8 0.8 31,499 33,964 29,330 352,905 328,371 7.5

 New Orders.............................. 33,166 33,259 33,417 -0.3 -0.5 2.0 31,022 33,740 29,099 359,044 328,747 9.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 32,632 32,556 32,247 0.2 1.0 2.1 30,374 32,437 27,391 343,546 326,457 5.2

 New Orders.............................. 32,589 32,937 32,103 -1.1 2.6 0.8 30,327 32,987 27,568 348,196 324,194 7.4

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 27,947 27,788 27,590 0.6 0.7 1.5 28,285 27,680 26,444 293,802 279,881 5.0

 New Orders.............................. 24,093 24,177 23,754 -0.3 1.8 3.2 23,278 22,705 20,277 247,323 236,473 4.6

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 1,902 1,956 1,926 -2.8 1.6 -5.4 1,663 1,715 1,678 20,926 21,032 -0.5

 New Orders.............................. 1,922 1,987 1,960 -3.3 1.4 -5.1 1,683 1,746 1,688 21,208 21,033 0.8

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,239 3,176 3,071 2.0 3.4 3.7 3,081 2,907 2,729 32,517 31,181 4.3

 New Orders.............................. 3,524 3,644 3,499 -3.3 4.1 7.2 3,237 3,304 2,670 34,974 33,186 5.4

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,178 10,189 10,137 -0.1 0.5 0.9 10,083 10,533 9,765 111,092 108,958 2.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,402 10,326 10,219 0.7 1.0 1.3 10,087 10,500 9,962 111,472 111,207 0.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 81,329 79,239 79,563 2.6 -0.4 1.2 80,846 81,451 75,524 868,966 857,381 1.4

 New Orders.............................. 80,937 77,657 80,844 4.2 -3.9 4.7 82,899 77,902 75,092 855,344 824,267 3.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 56,098 55,326 54,548 1.4 1.4 -0.1 55,440 58,595 52,067 603,316 592,626 1.8

 New Orders.............................. 56,228 55,441 54,570 1.4 1.6 -0.1 55,997 57,969 52,317 604,036 590,524 2.3

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 12,067 10,806 12,307 11.7 -12.2 7.2 12,026 9,986 10,882 126,947 131,188 -3.2

 New Orders.............................. 12,513 10,929 12,987 14.5 -15.8 33.9 15,254 9,706 7,280 120,266 102,675 17.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,204 4,277 4,007 -1.7 6.7 -1.2 4,398 4,093 3,961 43,487 41,830 4.0

 New Orders.............................. 3,697 3,305 3,566 11.9 -7.3 -5.1 3,300 2,856 7,381 41,881 46,000 -9.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 39,719 39,669 39,320 0.1 0.9 1.1 38,516 41,171 36,558 429,138 415,920 3.2

 New Orders.............................. 39,801 39,695 39,193 0.3 1.3 0.8 38,651 41,244 36,604 430,206 417,283 3.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 85,732 84,075 84,546 2.0 -0.6 2.7 83,523 82,651 75,336 894,330 855,496 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 85,985 83,605 86,937 2.8 -3.8 6.5 85,028 80,194 73,926 891,432 833,680 6.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 74,622 73,117 73,852 2.1 -1.0 2.7 71,667 71,991 64,585 780,787 751,912 3.8

 New Orders.............................. 75,421 73,521 75,784 2.6 -3.0 7.3 75,194 71,822 60,745 784,632 730,041 7.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 66,667 66,487 65,648 0.3 1.3 1.3 63,666 66,105 57,768 699,837 668,435 4.7

 New Orders.......................... 67,142 67,198 66,656 -0.1 0.8 2.3 63,713 66,319 57,751 706,561 672,346 5.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 11,110 10,958 10,694 1.4 2.5 2.6 11,856 10,660 10,751 113,543 103,584 9.6

 New Orders.............................. 10,564 10,084 11,153 4.8 -9.6 1.3 9,834 8,372 13,181 106,800 103,639 3.1

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, November Advance Report, December 22, 2017. Information on data sources and methodology can be found on our website at 

<www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>. 
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

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2017/

2017 2 2017 r 2017 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2017 2 2017 r 2016 2016

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,136,997 1,135,856 1,135,301 0.1 0.0 0.3 1,125,713 1,123,270 1,117,500 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 405,249 404,325 403,636 0.2 0.2 0.6 405,323 404,678 391,516 3.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

......................... 367,153 365,620 363,483 0.4 0.6 0.5 361,256 360,866 345,489 4.6

 Total Inventories....................... 274,550 273,428 272,728 0.4 0.3 0.5 274,217 273,307 259,826 5.5

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 960,324 958,712 956,932 0.2 0.2 0.3 952,640 948,439 942,131 1.1

 Total Inventories....................... 377,965 376,706 376,091 0.3 0.2 0.7 378,051 377,084 365,287 3.5

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,136,997 1,135,856 1,135,301 0.1 0.0 0.3 1,125,713 1,123,270 1,117,500 0.7

 Total Inventories....................... 329,686 328,931 328,190 0.2 0.2 0.6 329,805 329,440 319,015 3.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 31,339 30,992 30,738 1.1 0.8 0.5 30,573 29,818 28,672 6.6

 Total Inventories....................... 34,258 34,062 33,756 0.6 0.9 0.8 34,012 33,990 31,091 9.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 81,315 80,845 80,314 0.6 0.7 1.2 79,398 79,875 74,268 6.9

 Total Inventories....................... 50,678 50,495 50,376 0.4 0.2 0.6 50,218 50,238 47,334 6.1

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 101,244 101,287 100,906 0.0 0.4 -0.1 100,299 100,346 96,662 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 69,927 69,614 69,673 0.4 -0.1 0.7 70,623 69,628 66,725 5.8

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 120,033 119,580 118,772 0.4 0.7 0.7 118,633 118,613 114,688 3.4

 Total Inventories....................... 45,265 45,111 45,086 0.3 0.1 0.5 45,330 45,481 43,685 3.8

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,971 1,951 1,920 1.0 1.6 1.8 1,971 1,951 1,680 17.3

 Total Inventories....................... 4,367 4,380 4,376 -0.3 0.1 0.3 4,418 4,404 4,189 5.5

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,609 28,324 27,856 1.0 1.7 1.6 28,230 28,074 25,490 10.7

 Total Inventories....................... 4,552 4,559 4,537 -0.2 0.5 -2.3 4,663 4,594 4,626 0.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,793 22,569 22,432 1.0 0.6 0.4 22,017 22,013 21,091 4.4

 Total Inventories....................... 17,941 17,818 17,722 0.7 0.5 0.0 17,741 17,806 16,815 5.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 769,844 770,236 771,818 -0.1 -0.2 0.2 764,457 762,404 772,011 -1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 130,699 130,897 130,908 -0.2 0.0 0.7 131,106 131,371 131,690 -0.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,102 23,972 23,857 0.5 0.5 0.1 23,620 23,063 22,209 6.4

 Total Inventories....................... 34,578 34,640 34,996 -0.2 -1.0 0.7 34,752 35,013 35,588 -2.3

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 579,131 578,685 578,562 0.1 0.0 0.1 577,098 573,870 581,780 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 67,446 67,200 66,821 0.4 0.6 1.2 67,523 67,214 68,160 -0.9

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 71,800 72,307 73,279 -0.7 -1.3 -0.6 69,794 70,892 71,254 -2.0

 Total Inventories....................... 13,355 13,431 13,232 -0.6 1.5 -1.5 13,383 13,442 11,924 12.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 10,429 10,347 10,321 0.8 0.3 -1.2 10,336 10,201 10,108 2.3

 Total Inventories....................... 56,481 56,328 56,115 0.3 0.4 0.3 56,293 56,164 54,176 3.9

 Capital goods3

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 848,479 848,226 848,696 0.0 -0.1 0.3 841,279 839,774 838,456 0.3

 Total Inventories....................... 203,620 203,293 203,022 0.2 0.1 0.5 204,945 203,749 198,871 3.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 706,557 705,758 705,354 0.1 0.1 0.3 702,534 699,007 697,065 0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 180,563 179,886 179,648 0.4 0.1 0.6 181,928 180,378 177,445 2.5

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 229,116 228,641 227,930 0.2 0.3 0.4 226,289 226,242 220,575 2.6

 Total Inventories................... 124,628 124,294 124,371 0.3 -0.1 0.4 125,916 124,857 120,911 4.1

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 141,922 142,468 143,342 -0.4 -0.6 0.3 138,745 140,767 141,391 -1.9

 Total Inventories....................... 23,057 23,407 23,374 -1.5 0.1 -0.5 23,017 23,371 21,426 7.4

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. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey, November Advance Report, December 22, 2017. Information on data sources and methodology can be 

found on our website at <www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/how_the_data_are_collected/index.html>.