FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2005, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1(05)-05 

CB05-90

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

May 2005 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in May 

increased $11.0 billion or 5.5 percent to $210.7 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

followed a 1.4 percent April increase. Excluding 

transportation, new orders decreased 0.2 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 5.3 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, up for the second 

consecutive month, had the largest increase, $11.3 

billion or 21.2 percent to $64.7 billion. This was led by 

nondefense aircraft and parts, which increased $11.6 

billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, 

down following two consecutive monthly increases, 

decreased $0.4 billion or 0.2 percent to $207.2 billion. 

This followed a 1.4 percent April increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down following two 

consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, 

$0.5 billion or 1.0 percent to $53.8 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

May, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, 

increased $10.8 billion or 1.9 percent to $564.0 billion. 

This was at the highest level since the series was first 

stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.1 

percent April decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up following two 

consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, 

$10.9 billion or 4.2 percent to $269.3 billion. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, up 

eighteen consecutive months, increased $0.8 billion or 

0.3 percent to $292.6 billion. This followed a slight 

April increase. 

 Machinery, up eighteen consecutive months, had the 

largest increase, $0.4 billion or 0.7 percent to $48.1 

billion. This followed a 0.7 percent April increase. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May 

increased $10.2 billion or 14.5 percent to $80.7 billion. 

Shipments decreased $0.5 billion or 0.7 percent to $68.6 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $12.2 billion or 4.8 

percent to $263.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 

billion or 0.6 percent to $113.6 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in May increased 

$0.9 billion or 13.8 percent to $7.4 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 2.5 percent to $8.4 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased $1.1 billion or 0.7 percent to 

$142.6 billion. Inventories increased 0.1 percent to 

$19.5 billion. 

Revised April Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted April figures for all 

manufacturing industries are: new orders, $382.7 billion 

(revised from $383.6 billion); shipments, $390.7 billion 

(revised from $390.9 billion); unfilled orders, $553.2 

billion (revised from $554.0 billion); and total 

inventories, $484.9 billion (revised from $485.2 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 July 5, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The 

advance report on durable goods for June is scheduled for release on July 27, 2005, 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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May Change

2005 2 2005 r 2005 May 2 Apr r Mar 2005 2 2005 r 2004 2005 2004 05/04

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 207,240 207,672 204,816 -0.2 1.4 0.3 207,787 204,947 194,617 1,016,172 956,439 6.2

 New Orders 4

.............................. 210,690 199,683 196,831 5.5 1.4 -1.5 209,367 198,052 189,432 1,004,555 952,082 5.5

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 153,416 153,304 152,198 0.1 0.7 0.3 152,294 150,494 139,619 746,827 680,315 9.8

 New Orders 4.............................. 145,997 146,319 147,343 -0.2 -0.7 0.1 144,678 145,887 136,430 728,481 673,889 8.1

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 197,051 197,627 194,865 -0.3 1.4 0.3 197,962 195,348 184,891 968,510 908,648 6.6

 New Orders 4.............................. 201,849 191,697 187,917 5.3 2.0 -1.9 202,908 190,670 182,623 961,769 900,009 6.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 142,795 143,534 141,485 -0.5 1.4 0.7 142,855 141,702 132,250 700,675 646,745 8.3

 New Orders 4.............................. 153,581 142,767 140,618 7.6 1.5 -1.9 151,505 141,512 133,986 724,622 676,000 7.2

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 14,686 14,940 15,121 -1.7 -1.2 0.0 15,218 15,440 13,659 76,816 65,514 17.3

 New Orders.............................. 14,483 14,483 14,973 0.0 -3.3 0.5 14,887 14,724 14,093 76,325 68,801 10.9

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,204 24,286 23,777 -0.3 2.1 1.3 24,698 24,086 22,910 117,769 108,787 8.3

 New Orders.............................. 24,447 24,509 24,122 -0.3 1.6 0.9 25,296 24,610 23,557 122,481 116,069 5.5

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 26,121 26,350 25,746 -0.9 2.3 -2.3 26,750 27,719 24,141 131,869 117,903 11.8

 New Orders.............................. 26,339 26,860 26,185 -1.9 2.6 -5.0 26,713 28,992 24,915 137,375 124,164 10.6

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 42,261 41,827 42,034 1.0 -0.5 1.6 39,150 37,866 35,552 198,432 180,971 9.6

 New Orders 4.............................. 34,156 34,577 36,781 -1.2 -6.0 4.7 30,788 31,984 29,787 168,723 155,060 8.8

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 10,595 10,860 10,255 -2.4 5.9 2.3 8,642 10,019 6,705 47,402 38,531 23.0

 New Orders.............................. 10,191 10,962 9,521 -7.0 15.1 -5.4 8,712 10,146 7,728 46,336 38,134 21.5 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 7,092 6,622 7,296 7.1 -9.2 2.1 7,107 5,832 6,815 34,060 32,870 3.6

 New Orders.............................. 6,692 6,728 8,322 -0.5 -19.2 10.5 6,446 6,895 6,333 37,916 35,086 8.1

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 7,336 7,222 7,118 1.6 1.5 -2.2 7,070 6,705 6,921 35,564 33,612 5.8

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,356 9,261 9,076 1.0 2.0 -1.7 9,405 9,044 8,793 44,906 42,179 6.5

 New Orders.............................. 9,306 9,274 8,945 0.3 3.7 -3.9 9,342 9,138 8,993 45,832 44,006 4.1

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 53,824 54,368 52,618 -1.0 3.3 0.3 55,493 54,453 54,998 269,345 276,124 -2.5

 New Orders.............................. 64,693 53,364 49,488 21.2 7.8 -5.8 64,689 52,165 53,002 276,074 278,193 -0.8

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 37,293 37,137 36,031 0.4 3.1 -2.7 39,117 38,157 38,918 190,163 200,631 -5.2

 New Orders.............................. 37,404 37,326 35,911 0.2 3.9 -3.1 38,983 38,104 38,998 190,090 201,809 -5.8 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 6,390 7,220 6,694 -11.5 7.9 20.6 6,315 6,601 6,342 30,901 27,893 10.8

 New Orders.............................. 18,698 7,060 5,710 164.8 23.6 -18.4 18,403 5,479 6,357 41,821 27,025 54.7

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,797 3,768 3,798 0.8 -0.8 4.5 3,416 3,513 3,523 17,361 18,362 -5.5

 New Orders.............................. 3,038 2,597 2,153 17.0 20.6 -21.3 2,147 2,552 2,248 13,707 15,442 -11.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 36,788 36,640 36,444 0.4 0.5 0.7 37,073 36,339 34,564 177,035 164,961 7.3

 New Orders.............................. 37,266 36,616 36,337 1.8 0.8 -0.2 37,652 36,439 35,085 177,745 165,789 7.2

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 76,987 77,249 75,687 -0.3 2.1 0.9 74,954 74,571 68,248 370,494 340,074 8.9

 New Orders.............................. 88,093 76,968 75,574 14.5 1.8 -2.1 84,085 74,806 67,265 390,454 353,873 10.3

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 68,562 69,032 67,498 -0.7 2.3 1.1 66,679 66,616 59,846 330,837 298,916 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 80,734 70,503 67,781 14.5 4.0 -3.2 78,759 68,944 61,719 354,376 308,156 15.0

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 65,691 65,538 64,643 0.2 1.4 -0.1 63,612 63,590 56,997 317,633 286,904 10.7

 New Orders......................... 65,246 66,799 65,682 -2.3 1.7 -1.6 63,295 66,670 58,664 329,233 297,760 10.6

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 8,425 8,217 8,189 2.5 0.3 -1.0 8,275 7,955 8,402 39,657 41,158 -3.6

 New Orders.............................. 7,359 6,465 7,793 13.8 -17.0 8.3 5,326 5,862 5,546 36,078 45,717 -21.1

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: M3-1(02), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-2002."

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

May Apr Mar Apr - Mar - Feb - May Apr May 2005/

2005 2 2005 r 2005 May 2 Apr r Mar 2005 2 2005 r 2004 2004

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................ 563,959 553,173 553,940 1.9 -0.1 -0.2 570,791 562,141 531,671 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 292,630 291,829 291,755 0.3 0.0 0.6 295,358 293,661 272,027 8.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................ 294,649 294,732 294,495 0.0 0.1 0.8 300,263 300,809 278,321 7.9

 Total Inventories....................... 220,673 220,043 219,550 0.3 0.2 0.5 222,888 221,518 203,431 9.6

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................ 406,022 393,888 392,596 3.1 0.3 0.0 410,823 398,807 369,432 11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 267,521 266,807 266,694 0.3 0.0 0.6 270,217 268,645 247,660 9.1

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................ 563,959 553,173 553,940 1.9 -0.1 -0.2 570,791 562,141 531,671 7.4

 Total Inventories....................... 229,618 228,859 228,956 0.3 0.0 0.7 231,426 229,970 211,737 9.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 18,004 18,207 18,664 -1.1 -2.4 -0.8 18,374 18,705 19,289 -4.7

 Total Inventories....................... 23,594 23,539 23,410 0.2 0.6 2.2 23,492 23,522 18,452 27.3

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 47,824 47,581 47,358 0.5 0.5 0.7 49,330 48,732 45,303 8.9

 Total Inventories....................... 37,224 37,221 37,111 0.0 0.3 1.2 37,495 37,568 32,739 14.5

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 54,394 54,176 53,666 0.4 1.0 0.8 55,907 55,944 49,143 13.8

 Total Inventories....................... 48,079 47,722 47,393 0.7 0.7 0.5 48,441 48,056 43,567 11.2

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................ 144,806 145,575 145,603 -0.5 0.0 1.3 146,741 148,033 136,857 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 49,036 48,731 49,111 0.6 -0.8 -0.8 49,664 48,671 48,411 2.6

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,965 8,369 8,267 -4.8 1.2 -8.2 8,209 8,139 8,408 -2.4

 Total Inventories....................... 6,700 6,695 6,653 0.1 0.6 1.0 6,891 6,548 6,151 12.0 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 56,575 56,975 56,869 -0.7 0.2 1.8 57,848 58,509 51,985 11.3

 Total Inventories....................... 10,111 10,158 10,462 -0.5 -2.9 -3.1 10,269 10,154 10,965 -6.3

 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......................... 15,606 15,656 15,643 -0.3 0.1 -0.8 15,778 15,841 15,242 3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 13,362 13,406 13,318 -0.3 0.7 1.1 13,787 13,801 12,912 6.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 269,310 258,441 259,445 4.2 -0.4 -1.2 270,528 261,332 253,350 6.8

 Total Inventories....................... 71,957 71,786 72,205 0.2 -0.6 1.0 72,470 72,143 68,596 5.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,590 14,479 14,290 0.8 1.3 -0.8 14,592 14,726 14,798 -1.4

 Total Inventories....................... 22,850 22,857 22,733 0.0 0.5 1.6 23,043 23,163 21,314 8.1 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 128,487 116,179 116,339 10.6 -0.1 -0.8 128,058 115,970 104,203 22.9

 Total Inventories....................... 23,995 23,747 24,379 1.0 -2.6 -0.2 24,282 23,757 23,721 2.4

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,320 49,079 50,250 -1.5 -2.3 -3.2 49,019 50,288 57,850 -15.3

 Total Inventories....................... 12,891 12,736 12,730 1.2 0.0 3.4 12,817 12,655 11,460 11.8

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,015 13,537 13,561 3.5 -0.2 -0.8 14,133 13,554 12,487 13.2

 Total Inventories....................... 49,378 49,424 49,207 -0.1 0.4 0.2 50,009 49,900 47,350 5.6

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 406,325 395,219 395,500 2.8 -0.1 0.0 410,875 401,744 371,596 10.6

 Total Inventories....................... 133,104 132,429 133,068 0.5 -0.5 0.0 134,249 132,694 127,395 5.4

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 263,706 251,534 250,063 4.8 0.6 0.1 266,577 254,497 228,787 16.5

 Total Inventories....................... 113,581 112,927 113,467 0.6 -0.5 0.3 114,709 113,222 107,638 6.6

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 158,609 159,054 157,793 -0.3 0.8 0.7 161,909 162,226 150,140 7.8

 Total Inventories.................. 96,437 96,121 95,944 0.3 0.2 0.2 97,525 96,483 90,718 7.5

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 142,619 143,685 145,437 -0.7 -1.2 -0.3 144,298 147,247 142,809 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 19,523 19,502 19,601 0.1 -0.5 -1.8 19,540 19,472 19,757 -1.1

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
NOTICE

Revised historical data for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will be issued on

August 19, 2005. These revisions reflect:

• benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the 2002 Economic Census and 2003

Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) data;

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

and inventory data;

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

previously reported data; and

• updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series.

For revised historical data go to http://www.census.gov/m3/hist/naicshist.htm. An accompanying

press release will include the revised 2005 January through June data. Please call Chris Savage on

(301)763-4832 with questions.

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), and end-of-month total inventory (at current cost or market value). The M3 includes

approximately 4,000 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 4,000 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 4,000 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.

Additional survey documentation can be found on our web site: http://www.census.gov/m3/.