FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2005, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Patrick Kent 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1(05)-08 

CB05-138

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

August 2005 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in August 

increased $6.8 billion or 3.3 percent to $210.9 billion, 

the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This 

followed a 5.3 percent July decrease. Excluding 

transportation, new orders increased 4.2 percent. 

Excluding defense, new orders increased 3.6 percent. 

 

 Computers and electronic products, up three of the last 

four months, had the largest increase, $1.6 billion or 5.5 

percent to $31.6 billion. Primary metals, fabricated 

metal products, machinery, and transportation equipment 

also had significant increases. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in August, 

up three of the last four months, increased $3.4 billion or 

1.7 percent to $208.5 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis 

in 1992 and followed a 0.7 percent July decrease. 

 Transportation equipment, up five of the last six 

months, had the largest increase, $1.6 billion or 2.9 

percent to $58.5 billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

August, up for the fourth consecutive month, increased 

$9.8 billion or 1.7 percent to $590.8 billion. This was at 

the highest level since the series began and followed a 

1.1 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up for the fourth 

consecutive month, had the largest increase, $4.3 billion 

or 1.5 percent to $294.7 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series began. 

Inventories 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in August, 

down two of the last three months, decreased $0.6 

billion or 0.2 percent to $282.2 billion. This followed a 

0.8 percent July increase. 

 Transportation equipment, down two of the last three 

months, had the largest decrease, $0.6 billion or 0.8 

percent to $65.7 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in August 

increased $3.0 billion or 4.3 percent to $74.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.8 billion or 2.8 percent to $66.0 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $8.3 billion or 2.8 

percent to $305.9 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 

billion or 0.2 percent to $111.8 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in August 

decreased $0.1 billion or 1.6 percent to $7.0 billion. 

Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 5.4 percent to $8.0 

billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.9 billion or 0.7 

percent to $133.9 billion. Inventories decreased $0.3 

billion or 1.8 percent to $15.0 billion. 

Revised July Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted July figures for all 

manufacturing industries are: new orders, $386.9 billion 

(revised from $387.8 billion); shipments, $388.0 billion 

(revised from $389.3 billion); unfilled orders, $581.0 

billion (revised from $580.5 billion); and total 

inventories, $464.3 billion (revised from $463.8 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 October 4, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. 

The advance report on durable goods for September is scheduled for release on October 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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug Change

2005 2 2005 r 2005 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2005 2 2005 r 2004 2005 2004 05/04

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 208,493 205,093 206,451 1.7 -0.7 0.2 213,138 177,809 201,562 1,628,062 1,538,023 5.9

 New Orders

4

.............................. 210,856 204,031 215,339 3.3 -5.3 1.9 211,433 174,445 193,032 1,614,530 1,515,168 6.6

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 149,961 148,204 149,195 1.2 -0.7 0.2 152,398 137,132 142,893 1,178,354 1,082,741 8.8

 New Orders

4

.............................. 148,015 142,074 147,500 4.2 -3.7 3.7 147,874 130,655 135,793 1,141,892 1,053,173 8.4

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 198,941 195,988 197,120 1.5 -0.6 0.3 203,916 169,451 192,604 1,555,676 1,465,724 6.1

 New Orders

4

.............................. 202,503 195,493 205,517 3.6 -4.9 1.1 205,648 168,903 186,474 1,553,629 1,443,584 7.6

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 142,015 139,036 140,402 2.1 -1.0 0.2 143,871 123,422 134,523 1,108,301 1,029,226 7.7

 New Orders

4

.............................. 151,829 145,232 156,096 4.5 -7.0 2.4 149,587 126,423 133,003 1,150,136 1,058,720 8.6

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 15,308 14,954 15,204 2.4 -1.6 -0.6 15,916 13,669 15,545 125,589 113,082 11.1

 New Orders.............................. 16,305 14,925 14,871 9.2 0.4 -0.8 16,837 13,682 16,083 125,212 117,862 6.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 23,774 23,449 23,876 1.4 -1.8 -0.5 25,291 22,177 24,263 190,388 178,977 6.4

 New Orders.............................. 24,574 23,486 24,552 4.6 -4.3 1.5 25,651 22,198 24,480 195,070 185,544 5.1

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 26,090 25,782 25,826 1.2 -0.2 0.2 25,832 24,194 23,435 207,804 188,558 10.2

 New Orders.............................. 27,113 26,202 28,199 3.5 -7.1 10.3 26,340 23,864 24,064 213,615 193,602 10.3

 Computers and electronic products:

 Shipments................................ 37,482 36,646 36,769 2.3 -0.3 -0.2 35,765 32,079 32,927 283,067 255,243 10.9

 New Orders

4

.............................. 31,642 30,003 32,074 5.5 -6.5 7.4 28,594 25,446 24,477 233,646 206,607 13.1

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 8,178 8,095 8,093 1.0 0.0 -2.8 7,435 7,661 6,118 62,936 48,268 30.4

 New Orders.............................. 8,543 7,718 8,449 10.7 -8.7 0.9 7,800 7,284 6,030 62,542 47,659 31.2

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 5,868 5,688 5,846 3.2 -2.7 3.8 5,522 4,704 5,380 43,127 41,239 4.6

 New Orders.............................. 6,388 6,196 6,652 3.1 -6.9 19.7 4,895 4,932 4,233 45,512 40,006 13.8

 Semiconductors:

 Shipments................................ 7,451 7,258 6,806 2.7 6.6 -3.1 7,421 6,365 7,010 55,367 52,349 5.8

 New Orders

4

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

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 9,754 9,546 9,452 2.2 1.0 0.2 9,997 8,735 9,189 74,164 69,545 6.6

 New Orders.............................. 10,424 9,645 9,757 8.1 -1.1 1.0 10,632 9,076 9,327 76,484 71,354 7.2

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 58,532 56,889 57,256 2.9 -0.6 0.5 60,740 40,677 58,669 449,708 455,282 -1.2

 New Orders.............................. 62,841 61,957 67,839 1.4 -8.7 -1.6 63,559 43,790 57,239 472,638 461,995 2.3

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 41,978 41,337 41,247 1.6 0.2 0.7 45,056 27,354 43,946 326,778 339,090 -3.6

 New Orders.............................. 42,011 41,679 41,257 0.8 1.0 0.3 44,889 28,126 43,955 327,079 340,424 -3.9

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 7,203 6,597 6,799 9.2 -3.0 2.3 6,493 5,437 5,764 50,905 44,555 14.3

 New Orders.............................. 13,000 11,878 15,117 9.4 -21.4 -24.9 12,507 9,774 6,593 81,508 50,913 60.1

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 3,802 3,355 3,649 13.3 -8.1 -2.6 3,650 3,034 3,653 28,432 30,278 -6.1

 New Orders.............................. 3,037 2,642 2,771 15.0 -4.7 2.4 2,027 1,735 1,626 20,510 25,071 -18.2

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,553 37,827 38,068 -0.7 -0.6 1.2 39,597 36,278 37,534 297,342 277,336 7.2

 New Orders.............................. 37,957 37,813 38,047 0.4 -0.6 0.1 39,820 36,389 37,362 297,865 278,204 7.1

 Capital goods:3

 Shipments................................ 73,957 71,744 72,951 3.1 -1.7 0.1 72,075 64,934 65,771 567,539 517,023 9.8

 New Orders.............................. 81,325 78,399 85,400 3.7 -8.2 0.2 75,959 67,723 63,469 602,842 532,322 13.2

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 65,974 64,168 64,869 2.8 -1.1 0.0 64,254 57,881 57,920 506,219 454,014 11.5

 New Orders.............................. 74,281 71,239 76,688 4.3 -7.1 -2.2 71,096 63,140 57,544 550,941 468,744 17.5

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 61,442 60,633 61,157 1.3 -0.9 -0.2 60,168 55,328 55,142 479,073 432,105 10.9

 New Orders.......................... 64,270 62,032 64,151 3.6 -3.3 4.9 61,332 55,948 53,688 491,646 440,286 11.7

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 7,983 7,576 8,082 5.4 -6.3 1.1 7,821 7,053 7,851 61,320 63,009 -2.7

 New Orders.............................. 7,044 7,160 8,712 -1.6 -17.8 27.5 4,863 4,583 5,925 51,901 63,578 -18.4

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 n

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, whi

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 desig

methodology, and data limitations are contained in our most recent annual benchmark publication, Current Industrial Reports: M3-3(04), "Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: 1992-200

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; vendin

laundry, and other machinery; photographic equipment; metalworking machinery; turbines and generators; other power transmission equipment; pumps and compressors; material handling equipment; a

other machinery; electronic computers; computer storage devices; other computer peripheral equipment; communications equipment; search and navigation equipment; electromedical, measuring, a

control instruments; electrical equipment; other electrical equipment, appliances, and components; heavy duty trucks; aircraft; railroad rolling stock; ships and boats; office and institutional furniture; a

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 equipme

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 separate
 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

Aug Jul Jun Jul - Jun - May - Aug Jul Aug 2005/

2005 2 2005 r 2005 Aug 2 Jul r Jun 2005 2 2005 r 2004 2004

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 590,810 580,996 574,800 1.7 1.1 2.8 585,401 579,685 531,055 10.2

 Total Inventories....................... 282,155 282,791 280,518 -0.2 0.8 -0.4 285,002 284,890 269,649 5.7

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 296,157 290,652 289,524 1.9 0.4 1.8 293,858 290,961 269,667 9.0

 Total Inventories....................... 216,442 216,516 215,054 0.0 0.7 -0.3 218,347 217,798 205,291 6.4

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 445,178 434,165 427,402 2.5 1.6 3.7 442,777 433,624 381,037 16.2

 Total Inventories....................... 263,364 263,654 261,633 -0.1 0.8 -0.3 266,046 265,593 251,307 5.9

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 590,810 580,996 574,800 1.7 1.1 2.8 585,401 579,685 531,055 10.2

 Total Inventories....................... 218,162 219,190 217,265 -0.5 0.9 -0.8 220,229 220,885 208,836 5.5

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 19,943 18,946 18,975 5.3 -0.2 -1.7 20,109 19,188 22,212 -9.5

 Total Inventories....................... 24,256 24,383 24,601 -0.5 -0.9 -0.8 24,208 24,453 20,612 17.4

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 46,144 45,344 45,307 1.8 0.1 1.5 46,492 46,132 42,228 10.1

 Total Inventories....................... 36,908 37,057 37,202 -0.4 -0.4 -1.0 37,015 37,335 34,534 7.2

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 81,838 80,815 80,395 1.3 0.5 3.0 80,411 79,903 73,176 9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 47,606 47,388 46,530 0.5 1.8 -0.2 47,960 47,395 43,520 10.2

 Computers and electronic products:

 Unfilled Orders

4

......................... 116,311 114,700 114,085 1.4 0.5 1.9 114,697 114,447 103,326 11.0

 Total Inventories....................... 44,733 44,825 44,110 -0.2 1.6 -0.6 45,924 45,473 46,077 -0.3

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 6,023 5,658 6,035 6.5 -6.2 6.3 6,023 5,658 5,673 6.2

 Total Inventories....................... 5,351 5,290 5,279 1.2 0.2 0.6 5,702 5,353 5,278 8.0

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 38,746 38,226 37,718 1.4 1.3 2.2 37,610 38,237 31,526 19.3

 Total Inventories....................... 9,958 9,951 9,797 0.1 1.6 -2.2 10,151 10,022 10,891 -6.8

 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......................... 17,609 16,939 16,840 4.0 0.6 1.8 17,731 17,096 15,760 12.5

 Total Inventories....................... 12,672 12,685 12,686 -0.1 0.0 -0.2 12,679 12,731 12,360 2.6

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 294,653 290,344 285,276 1.5 1.8 3.9 291,543 288,724 261,388 11.5

 Total Inventories....................... 65,713 66,275 65,464 -0.8 1.2 -0.5 66,655 67,092 64,358 3.6

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 15,712 15,679 15,337 0.2 2.2 0.1 15,571 15,738 15,650 -0.5

 Total Inventories....................... 24,616 24,366 24,517 1.0 -0.6 -0.3 24,887 24,728 23,594 5.5

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 154,248 148,451 143,170 3.9 3.7 6.2 153,189 147,175 115,757 32.3

 Total Inventories....................... 21,747 22,329 21,629 -2.6 3.2 -2.3 22,212 22,591 23,027 -3.5

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 48,021 48,786 49,499 -1.6 -1.4 -1.7 47,475 49,098 58,656 -19.1

 Total Inventories....................... 11,307 11,571 11,352 -2.3 1.9 0.5 11,402 11,679 10,412 9.5

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 14,312 13,908 13,922 2.9 -0.1 -0.2 14,418 14,195 12,965 11.2

 Total Inventories....................... 50,267 50,178 49,925 0.2 0.5 0.5 50,561 50,411 48,188 4.9

 Capital goods:3

 Unfilled Orders......................... 439,866 432,498 425,843 1.7 1.6 3.0 433,747 429,863 382,827 13.3

 Total Inventories....................... 126,829 126,862 124,613 0.0 1.8 -0.6 128,683 127,610 123,114 4.5

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 305,947 297,640 290,569 2.8 2.4 4.2 302,686 295,844 247,360 22.4

 Total Inventories....................... 111,843 111,602 109,658 0.2 1.8 -0.4 113,627 112,298 107,989 5.2

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 171,532 168,704 167,305 1.7 0.8 1.8 169,524 168,360 153,339 10.6

 Total Inventories................... 94,182 93,970 92,531 0.2 1.6 -0.1 95,558 94,461 89,509 6.8

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 133,919 134,858 135,274 -0.7 -0.3 0.5 131,061 134,019 135,467 -3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 14,986 15,260 14,955 -1.8 2.0 -1.9 15,056 15,312 15,125 -0.5

See footnotes at end of Table 1 
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 3,500 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 3,500 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 3,500 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.

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