FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (11)-07 

CB11-143

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

July 2011 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $7.7 billion or 4.0 percent to $201.5 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, 

up two of the last three months, followed a 1.3 percent 

June decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders 

increased 0.7 percent. Excluding defense, new orders 

increased 4.8 percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three 

months, had the largest increase, $6.7 billion or 14.6 

percent to $53.0 billion. This was led by nondefense 

aircraft and parts which increased $3.2 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

seven of the last eight months, increased $5.0 billion or 

2.5 percent to $202.2 billion. This followed a 1.1 percent 

June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up two consecutive months, 

had the largest increase, $3.7 billion or 8.0 percent to 

$49.8 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $6.1 

billion or 0.7 percent to $869.5 billion. This followed a 

0.3 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up seven consecutive 

months, had the largest increase, $3.3 billion or 0.7 

percent to $500.9 billion. This followed a slight June 

increase. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

nineteen consecutive months, increased $2.9 billion or 

0.8 percent to $361.0 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis in 1992 and followed a 0.6 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up nineteen 

consecutive months, had the largest increase, $1.7 billion 

or 1.5 percent to $110.8 billion. This was also at the 

highest level since the series was first published on a 

NAICS basis and followed a 1.2 percent June increase. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $1.7 billion or 2.4 percent to $72.7 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.8 billion or 1.2 percent to $69.2 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.5 billion or 0.7 

percent to $508.8 billion. Inventories increased $1.4 

billion or 0.8 percent to $164.2 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$0.7 billion or 7.8 percent to $8.0 billion. Shipments 

decreased $0.4 billion or 5.2 percent to $7.3 billion. 

Unfilled orders increased $0.7 billion or 0.5 percent to 

$151.1 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 billion or 0.9 

percent to $20.5 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $441.6 

billion (revised from $440.7 billion); shipments, $445.0 

billion (revised from $444.3 billion); unfilled orders, 

$863.4 billion (unchanged); and total inventories, $594.9 

billion (revised from $594.4 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 August 31, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The advance report on durable goods for August is scheduled for release on September 28, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. 
 2

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 

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul Change

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Jul 2 Jun r May 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2011 2010 11/10

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Shipments................................ 202,197 197,215 195,099 2.5 1.1 0.5 186,944 213,099 175,920 1,349,907 1,256,200 7.5

 New Orders4

.............................. 201,450 193,729 196,209 4.0 -1.3 2.0 181,823 206,064 166,598 1,342,850 1,226,920 9.4

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 152,432 151,115 149,133 0.9 1.3 0.9 147,471 162,168 137,144 1,033,591 951,779 8.6

 New Orders4

.............................. 148,413 147,434 146,593 0.7 0.6 0.8 141,114 157,035 130,261 1,017,084 931,730 9.2

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 192,710 187,214 185,028 2.9 1.2 0.6 178,463 202,001 165,260 1,280,633 1,171,350 9.3

 New Orders4

.............................. 191,460 182,767 184,508 4.8 -0.9 1.6 175,034 194,212 158,119 1,267,424 1,143,571 10.8

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 144,779 142,672 140,840 1.5 1.3 0.9 134,072 155,499 125,330 973,219 904,172 7.6

 New Orders.............................. 150,887 145,289 148,424 3.9 -2.1 2.7 137,168 153,424 124,463 1,012,065 916,229 10.5

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 24,758 23,946 23,149 3.4 3.4 2.6 23,777 25,711 17,874 162,692 127,123 28.0

 New Orders.............................. 25,070 22,732 22,686 10.3 0.2 0.2 24,040 23,893 19,221 162,983 132,430 23.1

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 24,840 25,053 24,794 -0.9 1.0 0.7 24,104 26,743 23,066 171,129 162,233 5.5

 New Orders.............................. 25,609 25,868 24,872 -1.0 4.0 0.9 24,815 26,669 22,941 176,879 165,064 7.2

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 29,316 29,456 28,327 -0.5 4.0 2.3 27,584 31,748 24,609 199,373 180,169 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 31,393 31,858 32,455 -1.5 -1.8 2.5 29,464 33,367 25,734 219,296 189,415 15.8

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 31,220 30,500 30,840 2.4 -1.1 -0.8 30,473 32,277 31,257 209,675 203,567 3.0

 New Orders.............................. 23,812 24,652 24,399 -3.4 1.0 0.4 20,931 27,403 21,956 162,997 161,313 1.0

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 5,772 5,754 5,608 0.3 2.6 -2.1 5,904 6,837 5,531 38,064 33,544 13.5

 New Orders.............................. 5,448 5,884 5,773 -7.4 1.9 2.0 5,580 6,967 5,265 37,729 33,455 12.8

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,021 3,077 3,117 -1.8 -1.3 -3.9 2,645 3,513 3,283 21,195 25,280 -16.2

 New Orders.............................. 2,607 3,466 2,992 -24.8 15.8 8.5 2,013 3,771 3,035 19,458 23,891 -18.6

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,988 10,129 10,149 -1.4 -0.2 1.6 9,440 10,944 9,211 69,266 65,037 6.5

 New Orders.............................. 10,185 10,374 10,401 -1.8 -0.3 2.8 9,899 11,102 9,600 72,371 68,514 5.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 49,765 46,100 45,966 8.0 0.3 -0.6 39,473 50,931 38,776 316,316 304,421 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 53,037 46,295 49,616 14.6 -6.7 5.8 40,709 49,029 36,337 325,766 295,190 10.4

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 32,241 28,876 28,941 11.7 -0.2 0.1 24,490 30,914 22,125 199,071 179,839 10.7

 New Orders.............................. 32,286 28,954 28,935 11.5 0.1 0.2 24,546 30,662 22,004 198,719 178,823 11.1

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,488 6,938 6,720 7.9 3.2 -1.5 6,323 8,467 6,710 46,893 44,303 5.8

 New Orders.............................. 10,476 7,303 9,611 43.4 -24.0 31.4 8,884 7,246 6,666 55,002 42,608 29.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,803 4,213 4,241 -9.7 -0.7 1.1 3,317 4,969 4,235 28,314 34,643 -18.3

 New Orders.............................. 3,839 4,090 5,145 -6.1 -20.5 13.4 2,925 4,746 3,821 30,676 34,970 -12.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 32,310 32,031 31,874 0.9 0.5 0.0 32,093 34,745 31,127 221,456 213,650 3.7

 New Orders.............................. 32,344 31,950 31,780 1.2 0.5 -0.9 31,965 34,601 30,809 222,558 214,994 3.5

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 76,514 76,074 74,869 0.6 1.6 1.0 71,054 83,170 68,538 514,367 491,349 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 80,703 79,656 81,859 1.3 -2.7 5.6 72,575 84,356 66,046 544,418 495,329 9.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 69,179 68,340 66,985 1.2 2.0 1.3 64,395 74,879 60,000 459,877 422,457 8.9

 New Orders.............................. 72,675 70,946 72,856 2.4 -2.6 5.4 67,223 75,243 59,729 483,879 428,577 12.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 64,548 64,443 63,253 0.2 1.9 1.7 60,592 70,104 55,656 433,498 396,148 9.4

 New Orders.......................... 65,934 66,907 66,540 -1.5 0.6 1.9 61,748 71,531 56,008 451,477 403,843 11.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,335 7,734 7,884 -5.2 -1.9 -1.0 6,659 8,291 8,538 54,490 68,892 -20.9

 New Orders.............................. 8,028 8,710 9,003 -7.8 -3.3 7.6 5,352 9,113 6,317 60,539 66,752 -9.3

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 of shipments for the semiconductor industry are no longer shown separately. 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. 
 3

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 

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2011/

2011 2 2011 r 2011 Jul 2 Jun r May 2011 2 2011 r 2010 2010

DURABLE GOODS

 Total: 

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 869,473 863,365 860,748 0.7 0.3 0.9 868,304 865,208 810,730 7.1

 Total Inventories....................... 360,998 358,125 355,983 0.8 0.6 1.3 364,251 357,234 322,562 12.9

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 368,579 365,743 363,321 0.8 0.7 1.1 369,594 367,734 326,047 13.4

 Total Inventories....................... 250,248 249,025 248,153 0.5 0.4 1.1 252,142 248,492 228,510 10.3

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4

........................... 699,460 693,855 692,199 0.8 0.2 0.9 698,748 693,960 648,268 7.8

 Total Inventories....................... 334,964 332,332 329,835 0.8 0.8 1.2 338,210 331,520 297,395 13.7

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 869,473 863,365 860,748 0.7 0.3 0.9 868,304 865,208 810,730 7.1

 Total Inventories....................... 296,436 294,070 291,894 0.8 0.7 1.4 299,312 293,488 262,436 14.1

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 31,805 31,493 32,707 1.0 -3.7 -1.4 31,952 31,689 29,008 10.1

 Total Inventories....................... 34,023 33,847 33,777 0.5 0.2 1.3 34,794 34,263 29,791 16.8

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 64,350 63,581 62,766 1.2 1.3 0.1 65,038 64,327 61,486 5.8

 Total Inventories....................... 45,544 45,254 45,047 0.6 0.5 2.0 46,107 45,438 41,469 11.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 114,070 111,993 109,591 1.9 2.2 3.9 114,201 112,321 85,528 33.5

 Total Inventories....................... 58,215 57,700 57,249 0.9 0.8 1.6 58,222 57,283 51,193 13.7

 Computers and electronic products4:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 123,777 124,330 124,075 -0.4 0.2 0.0 123,096 124,421 119,724 2.8

 Total Inventories....................... 48,492 48,259 48,131 0.5 0.3 0.3 48,676 47,579 45,127 7.9

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,319 3,643 3,513 -8.9 3.7 4.9 3,319 3,643 3,455 -3.9

 Total Inventories....................... 5,906 5,784 5,703 2.1 1.4 -1.9 5,914 5,696 5,841 1.2

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 28,252 28,666 28,277 -1.4 1.4 -0.4 27,854 28,486 28,182 -1.2

 Total Inventories....................... 9,932 9,943 9,747 -0.1 2.0 1.1 9,885 9,681 9,056 9.2

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 25,950 25,753 25,508 0.8 1.0 1.0 26,357 25,898 22,108 19.2

 Total Inventories....................... 15,455 15,506 15,489 -0.3 0.1 0.6 15,660 15,552 14,658 6.8

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 500,894 497,622 497,427 0.7 0.0 0.7 498,710 497,474 484,683 2.9

 Total Inventories....................... 110,750 109,100 107,830 1.5 1.2 1.7 112,109 108,742 94,052 19.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 13,626 13,581 13,503 0.3 0.6 0.0 13,444 13,388 12,884 4.3

 Total Inventories....................... 25,481 25,002 24,891 1.9 0.4 1.2 25,786 24,614 22,767 13.3

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 347,241 344,253 343,888 0.9 0.1 0.8 345,525 342,964 329,384 4.9

 Total Inventories....................... 60,116 59,188 57,838 1.6 2.3 2.2 61,112 59,354 46,438 31.6

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 54,389 54,353 54,476 0.1 -0.2 1.7 54,467 54,859 51,398 6.0

 Total Inventories....................... 14,378 14,265 14,599 0.8 -2.3 2.4 14,463 14,304 14,089 2.7

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 8,627 8,593 8,674 0.4 -0.9 -1.1 8,950 9,078 8,193 9.2

 Total Inventories....................... 48,519 48,459 48,460 0.1 0.0 0.4 48,683 48,377 46,272 5.2

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 659,961 655,772 652,190 0.6 0.5 1.1 658,263 656,742 614,181 7.2

 Total Inventories....................... 184,742 183,202 181,486 0.8 0.9 1.5 185,897 182,582 160,550 15.8

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 508,846 505,350 502,744 0.7 0.5 1.2 507,542 504,714 468,960 8.2

 Total Inventories....................... 164,249 162,885 160,697 0.8 1.4 1.5 165,482 162,383 140,503 17.8

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 203,736 202,350 199,886 0.7 1.2 1.7 204,073 202,917 177,316 15.1

 Total Inventories................... 112,623 112,015 111,060 0.5 0.9 1.1 112,928 111,228 102,022 10.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 151,115 150,422 149,446 0.5 0.7 0.8 150,721 152,028 145,221 3.8

 Total Inventories....................... 20,493 20,317 20,789 0.9 -2.3 2.1 20,415 20,199 20,047 1.8

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 65 

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.