FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2008, AT 8:30 A.M. EST 

Chris Savage or Jessica Young 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (08)-11 

CB08-190

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

November 2008 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November decreased $1.8 billion or 1.0 percent to 

$186.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced 

today. This was the fourth consecutive monthly 

decrease and followed an 8.4 percent October decrease. 

Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.2 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.9 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $3.5 billion or 7.4 

percent to $44.3 billion. This was led by nondefense 

aircraft and parts, which decreased $3.4 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in 

November, down four consecutive months, decreased 

$5.3 billion or 2.6 percent to $195.9 billion. This 

followed a 3.4 percent October decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down three of the last four 

months, had the largest decrease, $1.7 billion or 3.5 

percent to $46.4 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

November, down two consecutive months, decreased 

$5.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $815.6 billion. This 

followed a 0.9 percent October decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, down two consecutive 

months, had the largest decrease, $2.1 billion or 0.5 

percent to $468.0 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in 

November, up sixteen of the last seventeen months, 

increased $1.6 billion or 0.5 percent to $342.9 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.4 

percent October increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up twenty-two of the last 

twenty-three months, had the largest increase, $2.4 

billion or 2.7 percent to $92.6 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November 

decreased $0.5 billion or 0.8 percent to $63.0 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 0.6 percent to $64.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.0 billion or 0.2 

percent to $480.0 billion. Inventories increased $1.3 

billion or 0.9 percent to $143.1 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in November 

increased $0.6 billion or 7.8 percent to $8.4 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.3 billion or 3.6 percent to $8.9 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.5 billion or 0.4 

percent to $141.0 billion. Inventories increased $0.3 

billion or 1.4 percent to $19.5 billion. 

Revised October Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $404.0 

billion (revised from $407.4 billion); shipments, $416.5 

billion (revised from $417.7 billion); unfilled orders, 

$820.8 billion (revised from $823.1 billion); and total 

inventories, $555.5 billion (revised from $555.1 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 January 6, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The 

advance report on durable goods for December is scheduled for release on January 29, 2009, at 8:30 a.m. EST. See back page for

survey description and 2009 release dates. 
 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

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

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2008 2007 08/07

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments............................... 195,903 201,228 208,240 -2.6 -3.4 0.0 183,926 208,636 208,074 2,306,512 2,354,816 -2.1

 New Orders

4

.............................. 186,883 188,720 206,034 -1.0 -8.4 0.0 172,317 192,534 209,130 2,279,325 2,379,052 -4.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments............................... 149,485 153,146 157,413 -2.4 -2.7 -0.7 139,382 157,515 150,836 1,734,632 1,715,820 1.1

 New Orders

4

.............................. 142,593 140,898 151,225 1.2 -6.8 -1.9 130,503 143,662 145,400 1,686,051 1,677,352 0.5

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments............................... 184,202 189,149 196,044 -2.6 -3.5 -0.3 171,889 196,734 198,073 2,179,280 2,251,685 -3.2

 New Orders

4

.............................. 175,908 177,541 190,343 -0.9 -6.7 -1.7 161,745 181,215 201,455 2,150,093 2,279,379 -5.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments............................... 140,852 144,327 150,543 -2.4 -4.1 0.1 132,207 147,043 144,624 1,653,591 1,639,220 0.9

 New Orders

4

.............................. 135,742 136,855 152,239 -0.8 -10.1 -0.3 124,206 137,271 151,262 1,680,477 1,722,745 -2.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments............................... 18,366 19,869 22,260 -7.6 -10.7 -3.7 16,153 20,626 19,060 241,903 223,971 8.0

 New Orders.............................. 16,376 16,861 20,113 -2.9 -16.2 -5.9 14,296 16,942 19,784 234,496 223,236 5.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments............................... 27,519 27,568 27,848 -0.2 -1.0 -0.3 25,464 28,891 25,900 307,213 302,570 1.5

 New Orders.............................. 26,726 26,634 27,470 0.3 -3.0 -0.9 23,632 27,371 25,538 305,630 305,625 0.0

 Machinery:

 Shipments............................... 29,075 28,492 30,105 2.0 -5.4 4.0 26,010 28,735 25,941 319,405 302,948 5.4

 New Orders.............................. 28,539 27,404 30,643 4.1 -10.6 0.2 25,233 28,161 26,647 332,944 312,811 6.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments............................... 29,936 31,257 30,574 -4.2 2.2 -2.3 28,953 31,260 32,427 345,290 348,767 -1.0

 New Orders

4

.............................. 27,140 25,624 26,949 5.9 -4.9 -2.5 25,616 24,657 25,989 293,426 294,840 -0.5

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments............................... 4,255 4,623 4,703 -8.0 -1.7 -1.3 3,856 4,648 5,227 53,572 58,175 -7.9

 New Orders.............................. 4,805 4,289 4,723 12.0 -9.2 -2.5 4,406 4,314 5,295 53,995 58,253 -7.3

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments............................... 5,728 5,459 5,649 4.9 -3.4 2.5 5,877 4,719 5,641 61,599 61,005 1.0

 New Orders.............................. 5,691 5,692 5,270 0.0 8.0 -15.1 5,335 5,203 4,842 62,206 62,013 0.3

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments............................... 3,910 5,036 3,902 -22.4 29.1 -14.3 3,608 6,330 5,582 54,073 59,289 -8.8

 New Orders

4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments............................... 9,667 10,341 10,527 -6.5 -1.8 -0.3 9,187 10,601 10,340 116,144 116,876 -0.6

 New Orders.............................. 9,094 9,069 10,190 0.3 -11.0 -1.1 8,427 9,331 10,225 115,417 118,498 -2.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments............................... 46,418 48,082 50,827 -3.5 -5.4 2.1 44,544 51,121 57,238 571,880 638,996 -10.5

 New Orders.............................. 44,290 47,822 54,809 -7.4 -12.7 5.5 41,814 48,872 63,730 593,274 701,700 -15.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments............................... 29,556 29,525 31,131 0.1 -5.2 3.2 27,492 33,257 38,391 362,178 446,501 -18.9

 New Orders.............................. 29,189 29,262 30,828 -0.2 -5.1 2.4 27,272 32,821 38,801 359,594 444,346 -19.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 6,178 6,862 7,695 -10.0 -10.8 -5.4 6,172 6,284 9,114 86,575 90,946 -4.8

 New Orders.............................. 5,610 9,003 9,866 -37.7 -8.7 28.8 5,344 6,118 17,709 110,517 156,026 -29.2

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments............................... 4,423 4,757 5,201 -7.0 -8.5 10.5 4,617 4,683 3,479 49,913 35,762 39.6

 New Orders.............................. 4,772 5,356 5,839 -10.9 -8.3 12.5 5,010 5,166 2,831 52,672 32,776 60.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments............................... 34,922 35,619 36,099 -2.0 -1.3 -1.7 33,615 37,402 37,168 404,677 420,688 -3.8

 New Orders.............................. 34,718 35,306 35,860 -1.7 -1.5 -1.9 33,299 37,200 37,217 404,138 422,342 -4.3

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments............................... 72,981 73,699 76,747 -1.0 -4.0 1.2 68,742 72,746 72,842 828,096 807,299 2.6

 New Orders.............................. 71,464 71,341 80,062 0.2 -10.9 1.9 65,845 69,583 79,247 861,557 880,620 -2.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 64,039 64,422 67,540 -0.6 -4.6 1.1 59,520 63,573 64,548 730,014 722,684 1.0

 New Orders.............................. 63,034 63,521 67,923 -0.8 -6.5 -1.1 57,978 61,463 73,233 763,031 799,880 -4.6

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 61,282 61,171 63,567 0.2 -3.8 1.7 56,763 60,686 59,316 684,673 671,838 1.9

 New Orders......................... 61,158 58,407 62,547 4.7 -6.6 -3.4 55,861 58,879 58,942 696,037 686,525 1.4

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments............................... 8,942 9,277 9,207 -3.6 0.8 1.6 9,222 9,173 8,294 98,082 84,615 15.9

 New Orders.............................. 8,430 7,820 12,139 7.8 -35.6 23.3 7,867 8,120 6,014 98,526 80,740 22.0

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(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 Inventories

[Millions of Dollars]

Seasonally Adjusted Not Seasonally Adjusted 1

Monthly Percent Change Monthly Percent

Item Change

Nov Oct Sep Oct - Sep - Aug - Nov Oct Nov 2008/

2008 2 2008 r 2008 Nov 2 Oct r Sep 2008 2 2008 r 2007 2007

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 815,643 820,753 828,225 -0.6 -0.9 0.2 798,702 806,703 741,403 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 342,896 341,255 339,728 0.5 0.4 0.2 343,714 342,447 318,076 8.1

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 347,623 350,605 357,817 -0.9 -2.0 -0.6 340,513 345,784 330,260 3.1

 Total Inventories....................... 250,318 251,113 251,152 -0.3 0.0 0.4 250,282 251,249 238,020 5.2

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 657,953 662,337 668,909 -0.7 -1.0 -0.3 645,393 651,929 598,212 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 317,707 316,483 315,409 0.4 0.3 0.3 318,480 317,575 295,390 7.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 815,643 820,753 828,225 -0.6 -0.9 0.2 798,702 806,703 741,403 7.7

 Total Inventories....................... 274,960 273,494 272,691 0.5 0.3 0.0 275,618 274,786 251,977 9.4

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 21,214 23,204 26,212 -8.6 -11.5 -7.6 19,856 21,713 26,210 -24.2

 Total Inventories....................... 34,217 34,829 35,168 -1.8 -1.0 0.3 33,935 34,682 30,413 11.6

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 59,829 60,622 61,556 -1.3 -1.5 -0.6 57,836 59,668 58,304 -0.8

 Total Inventories....................... 44,745 44,762 44,942 0.0 -0.4 0.3 44,104 44,565 41,221 7.0

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 105,701 106,237 107,325 -0.5 -1.0 0.5 103,926 104,703 88,247 17.8

 Total Inventories....................... 54,835 54,789 54,629 0.1 0.3 0.4 55,125 54,698 52,315 5.4

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 125,678 124,564 125,161 0.9 -0.5 0.2 123,976 123,705 120,115 3.2

 Total Inventories....................... 47,383 47,431 47,022 -0.1 0.9 0.0 48,259 48,084 45,702 5.6

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 4,140 3,590 3,924 15.3 -8.5 0.5 4,140 3,590 3,563 16.2

 Total Inventories....................... 4,925 4,861 5,039 1.3 -3.5 0.2 5,189 4,935 5,220 -0.6

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,585 37,622 37,389 -0.1 0.6 -1.0 37,024 37,566 36,058 2.7

 Total Inventories....................... 9,803 9,807 9,649 0.0 1.6 -3.0 10,234 9,962 9,639 6.2

 Semiconductors:

 Unfilled Orders

4

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

 Total Inventories

4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 22,761 23,334 24,606 -2.5 -5.2 -1.4 22,337 23,097 23,472 -4.8

 Total Inventories....................... 15,021 15,168 15,366 -1.0 -1.3 0.7 14,864 15,015 14,608 1.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 468,020 470,148 470,408 -0.5 -0.1 0.9 458,189 460,919 411,143 11.4

 Total Inventories....................... 92,578 90,142 88,576 2.7 1.8 -0.2 93,432 91,198 80,056 16.7

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,412 16,779 17,042 -2.2 -1.5 -1.7 15,981 16,201 18,278 -12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 22,520 22,842 22,904 -1.4 -0.3 -1.6 22,417 22,881 24,416 -8.2

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 310,680 311,248 309,107 -0.2 0.7 0.7 304,557 305,385 262,338 16.1

 Total Inventories....................... 44,022 41,947 40,571 4.9 3.4 1.3 44,873 42,721 32,216 39.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 47,418 47,069 46,470 0.7 1.3 1.4 46,061 45,668 39,161 17.6

 Total Inventories....................... 14,717 14,292 13,962 3.0 2.4 -1.7 14,726 14,397 12,802 15.0

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 12,440 12,644 12,957 -1.6 -2.4 -1.8 12,582 12,898 13,912 -9.6

 Total Inventories....................... 54,117 54,134 54,025 0.0 0.2 0.6 53,995 54,205 53,761 0.4

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 621,030 622,547 624,905 -0.2 -0.4 0.5 608,918 611,815 549,693 10.8

 Total Inventories....................... 162,654 161,037 159,247 1.0 1.1 0.2 164,616 162,196 146,643 12.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 480,044 481,049 481,950 -0.2 -0.2 0.1 471,832 473,374 420,991 12.1

 Total Inventories....................... 143,131 141,789 140,368 0.9 1.0 0.3 145,057 142,953 128,617 12.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 202,989 203,113 205,877 -0.1 -1.3 -0.5 200,148 201,050 187,709 6.6

 Total Inventories................... 108,570 108,897 108,679 -0.3 0.2 0.1 109,785 109,446 104,535 5.0

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 140,986 141,498 142,955 -0.4 -1.0 2.1 137,086 138,441 128,702 6.5

 Total Inventories....................... 19,523 19,248 18,879 1.4 2.0 -1.0 19,559 19,243 18,026 8.5

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 4,300 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-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 61 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-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.

2009 Release Dates for M3 Survey 

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

November 2008 Dec. 24, 2008 Jan. 6, 2009 

December 2008 Jan. 29, 2009 Feb. 5, 2009 

January 2009 Feb. 26, 2009 Mar. 5, 2009 

February 2009 Mar. 25, 2009 Apr. 2, 2009 

March 2009 Apr. 24, 2009 May 1, 2009 

April 2009 May 28, 2009 Jun. 3, 2009 

May 2009 Jun. 24, 2009 Jul. 2, 2009 

June 2009 Jul. 29, 2009 Aug. 5, 2009 

July 2009 Aug. 26, 2009 Sep. 2, 2009 

August 2009 Sep. 25, 2009 Oct. 2, 2009 

September 2009 Oct. 28, 2009 Nov. 3, 2009 

October 2009 Nov. 25, 2009 Dec. 4, 2009 

November 2009 Dec. 24, 2009