FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 AT 8:30 A.M. EDT 

Chris Savage or Adriana Stoica 

Manufacturing and Construction Division 

(301) 763-4832 

M3-1 (14)-07 

CB14-158

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

July 2014 

New Orders 

 New orders for manufactured durable goods in July 

increased $55.3 billion or 22.6 percent to $300.1 billion, 

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

up five of the last six months, was at the highest level 

since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 

1992, and followed a 2.7 percent June increase. 

Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.8 

percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 24.9 

percent. 

 

 Transportation equipment, also up five of the last six 

months, drove the increase, $56.6 billion or 74.2 percent 

to $133.0 billion. 

Shipments 

 Shipments of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

five of the last six months, increased $8.0 billion or 3.3 

percent to $248.9 billion. This was at the highest level 

since the series was first published on a NAICS basis 

and followed a 1.2 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up two consecutive months, 

led the increase, $5.6 billion or 7.9 percent to $76.3 

billion. 

 

Unfilled Orders 

 Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in 

July, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased 

$59.2 billion or 5.4 percent to $1,158.5 billion. This was 

at the highest level since the series was first published on 

a NAICS basis and followed a 1.0 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, up ten of the last eleven 

months, led the increase, $56.7 billion or 8.3 percent to 

$738.4 billion.

Inventories 

 

 Inventories of manufactured durable goods in July, up 

fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $2.1 billion 

or 0.5 percent to $401.9 billion. This was at the highest 

level since the series was first published on a NAICS 

basis and followed a 0.5 percent June increase. 

 Transportation equipment, also up fifteen of the last 

sixteen months, led the increase, $0.7 billion or 0.5 

percent to $129.6 billion. 

Capital Goods 

 Nondefense new orders for capital goods in July 

increased $51.5 billion or 60.8 percent to $136.3 billion. 

Shipments increased $1.1 billion or 1.4 percent to $79.1 

billion. Unfilled orders increased $57.2 billion or 8.6 

percent to $725.2 billion. Inventories increased $2.3 

billion or 1.2 percent to $184.2 billion. 

 Defense new orders for capital goods in July decreased 

$1.5 billion or 15.3 percent to $8.6 billion. Shipments 

increased $0.2 billion or 1.7 percent to $9.6 billion. 

Unfilled orders decreased $1.0 billion or 0.6 percent to 

$159.5 billion. Inventories decreased $0.2 billion or 1.0 

percent to $23.8 billion. 

Revised June Data 

 Revised seasonally adjusted June figures for all 

manufacturing industries were: new orders, $505.6 

billion (revised from $503.2 billion); shipments, $501.7 

billion (revised from $499.8 billion); unfilled orders, 

$1,099.3 billion (revised from $1,098.5 billion); and 

total inventories, $654.1 billion (revised from $653.8 

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 September 3, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Advance Report on durable goods for August is 

scheduled for release on September 25, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. See back page for survey description. To receive the latest updates on the 

Nation's key economic indicators, download the America's Economy app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. The U.S. 

Census Bureau updated its Application Programming Interface (API) with monthly and quarterly economic indicators. The API allows developers to combine Census Bureau statistics with other data sets to create tools for research on a variety of topics.
 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 Percent

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

2014 2 2014 r 2014 Jul 2 Jun r May 2014 2 2014 r 2013 2014 2013 2014/2013

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Shipments................................ 248,886 240,870 238,102 3.3 1.2 0.0 235,883 258,028 214,826 1,659,042 1,582,729 4.8

 New Orders4.............................. 300,123 244,836 238,337 22.6 2.7 -0.9 282,636 263,315 206,266 1,704,625 1,575,165 8.2

 Excluding transportation:

 Shipments................................ 172,580 170,131 168,352 1.4 1.1 0.0 171,141 181,492 158,358 1,174,872 1,119,576 4.9

 New Orders4.............................. 167,162 168,518 163,589 -0.8 3.0 -0.1 162,273 178,449 151,232 1,150,214 1,097,990 4.8

 Excluding defense:

 Shipments................................ 237,076 229,358 226,477 3.4 1.3 0.1 225,483 245,408 204,653 1,579,253 1,500,879 5.2

 New Orders4.............................. 289,335 231,742 225,582 24.9 2.7 0.2 274,844 245,011 198,202 1,623,889 1,504,051 8.0

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Shipments................................ 174,023 169,878 166,802 2.4 1.8 -0.1 164,568 183,326 150,761 1,163,542 1,110,584 4.8

 New Orders.............................. 233,232 181,118 174,172 28.8 4.0 -1.6 221,683 194,801 150,641 1,262,686 1,150,952 9.7

 Primary metals:

 Shipments................................ 27,412 27,067 26,809 1.3 1.0 0.9 27,131 27,842 24,965 188,676 177,463 6.3

 New Orders.............................. 27,895 27,988 27,455 -0.3 1.9 2.6 27,379 28,220 24,903 192,045 180,881 6.2

 Fabricated metal products:

 Shipments................................ 30,242 30,158 29,624 0.3 1.8 0.7 30,024 31,688 28,643 206,874 201,433 2.7

 New Orders.............................. 30,646 30,763 29,979 -0.4 2.6 0.5 30,186 31,211 28,606 210,625 212,043 -0.7

 Machinery:

 Shipments................................ 36,567 35,697 35,894 2.4 -0.5 0.0 35,626 38,372 32,837 251,295 239,950 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 37,690 38,285 36,509 -1.6 4.9 -1.0 36,591 40,197 33,876 263,788 244,938 7.7

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Shipments................................ 29,710 29,038 28,438 2.3 2.1 -1.5 29,516 31,801 26,494 198,107 188,035 5.4

 New Orders.............................. 22,456 22,732 21,849 -1.2 4.0 -1.3 19,694 26,352 18,555 150,435 145,043 3.7

 Computers and related products:

 Shipments................................ 2,335 2,452 2,333 -4.8 5.1 -3.4 1,582 3,537 1,482 14,990 14,830 1.1

 New Orders.............................. 2,463 2,646 2,677 -6.9 -1.2 13.4 1,710 3,731 1,501 15,436 15,027 2.7

 

 Communications equipment:

 Shipments................................ 3,870 3,837 3,706 0.9 3.5 -3.6 3,341 4,563 3,445 25,736 26,742 -3.8

 New Orders.............................. 4,137 3,763 3,560 9.9 5.7 -16.6 3,404 4,116 3,377 28,038 29,874 -6.1

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Shipments................................ 10,661 10,440 10,204 2.1 2.3 0.4 10,375 11,300 9,895 71,709 71,505 0.3

 New Orders.............................. 10,527 10,933 10,320 -3.7 5.9 -3.7 10,026 11,921 9,734 74,113 73,003 1.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Shipments................................ 76,306 70,739 69,750 7.9 1.4 -0.1 64,742 76,536 56,468 484,170 463,153 4.5

 New Orders.............................. 132,961 76,318 74,748 74.2 2.1 -2.6 120,363 84,866 55,034 554,411 477,175 16.2

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Shipments................................ 50,935 46,144 46,706 10.4 -1.2 1.5 42,751 48,505 36,670 322,639 307,440 4.9

 New Orders.............................. 50,980 46,251 46,839 10.2 -1.3 1.7 42,533 48,450 36,381 322,646 307,020 5.1 

 Nondefense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 13,238 12,868 11,274 2.9 14.1 -5.2 11,622 15,016 10,057 80,976 74,169 9.2

 New Orders.............................. 70,281 16,815 15,141 318.0 11.1 -2.9 69,200 18,041 10,838 148,583 99,877 48.8

 Defense aircraft and parts:

 Shipments................................ 4,573 4,414 4,613 3.6 -4.3 -1.3 3,821 4,984 3,586 30,738 31,324 -1.9

 New Orders.............................. 4,211 5,918 5,418 -28.8 9.2 17.3 3,284 7,440 3,835 30,376 25,462 19.3

 All other durable goods: 

 Shipments................................ 37,988 37,731 37,383 0.7 0.9 -0.1 38,469 40,489 35,524 258,211 241,190 7.1

 New Orders.............................. 37,948 37,817 37,477 0.3 0.9 0.0 38,397 40,548 35,558 259,208 242,082 7.1

 Capital goods3

:

 Shipments................................ 88,715 87,502 85,287 1.4 2.6 -1.0 82,854 96,654 76,966 594,230 571,858 3.9

 New Orders.............................. 144,879 94,904 90,391 52.7 5.0 -5.2 136,801 105,808 76,874 674,637 607,503 11.1

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 79,147 78,091 75,792 1.4 3.0 -1.0 74,405 86,515 68,718 529,241 505,496 4.7

 New Orders.............................. 136,298 84,776 80,658 60.8 5.1 -2.3 130,627 91,385 70,429 609,464 549,790 10.9

 Excluding aircraft:

 Shipments........................... 69,932 68,911 68,280 1.5 0.9 0.1 66,293 75,763 61,620 473,783 454,683 4.2

 New Orders.......................... 72,639 72,986 69,237 -0.5 5.4 -1.4 68,338 78,506 62,238 495,146 474,956 4.3

 Defense capital goods:

 Shipments................................ 9,568 9,411 9,495 1.7 -0.9 -1.5 8,449 10,139 8,248 64,989 66,362 -2.1

 New Orders.............................. 8,581 10,128 9,733 -15.3 4.1 -24.0 6,174 14,423 6,445 65,173 57,713 12.9

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 Change

Jul Jun May Jun - May - Apr - Jul Jun Jul 2014/

2014 2 2014 r 2014 Jul 2 Jun r May 2014 2 2014 r 2013 2013

DURABLE GOODS

 Total:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 1,158,521 1,099,312 1,088,072 5.4 1.0 0.7 1,159,422 1,102,307 1,031,232 12.4

 Total Inventories....................... 401,903 399,846 397,981 0.5 0.5 1.0 404,958 397,291 381,955 6.0

 Excluding transportation:

 Unfilled Orders4......................... 420,089 417,535 411,874 0.6 1.4 0.6 422,740 421,246 397,681 6.3

 Total Inventories....................... 272,326 270,939 270,152 0.5 0.3 0.9 274,309 269,440 263,707 4.0

 Excluding defense:

 Unfilled Orders4........................... 967,852 907,621 897,963 6.6 1.1 0.7 967,571 907,848 831,614 16.3

 Total Inventories....................... 372,752 370,469 369,054 0.6 0.4 1.1 375,639 367,931 353,392 6.3

 Manufacturing with unfilled orders:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 1,158,521 1,099,312 1,088,072 5.4 1.0 0.7 1,159,422 1,102,307 1,031,232 12.4

 Total Inventories....................... 329,880 327,823 326,061 0.6 0.5 1.0 333,023 326,178 313,384 6.3

 Primary metals:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 39,404 38,921 38,000 1.2 2.4 1.7 39,422 39,174 35,545 10.9

 Total Inventories....................... 36,700 36,431 36,201 0.7 0.6 1.0 36,862 36,439 35,093 5.0

 Fabricated metal products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 86,448 86,044 85,439 0.5 0.7 0.4 87,548 87,386 89,562 -2.2

 Total Inventories....................... 49,587 49,356 49,106 0.5 0.5 0.5 50,128 49,399 47,842 4.8

 Machinery: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 119,653 118,530 115,942 0.9 2.2 0.5 120,240 119,275 106,778 12.6

 Total Inventories....................... 67,754 67,194 66,773 0.8 0.6 0.9 68,062 66,411 66,123 2.9

 Computers and electronic products4

:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 142,596 141,878 140,910 0.5 0.7 0.4 142,860 142,320 135,602 5.4

 Total Inventories....................... 48,265 48,463 48,680 -0.4 -0.4 2.3 48,875 47,861 47,224 3.5

 Computers and related products:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 3,835 3,707 3,513 3.5 5.5 10.9 3,835 3,707 3,424 12.0

 Total Inventories....................... 4,700 4,598 4,583 2.2 0.3 -2.1 4,801 4,397 4,659 3.0 

 Communications equipment:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 37,967 37,700 37,774 0.7 -0.2 -0.4 37,829 37,766 33,562 12.7

 Total Inventories....................... 7,656 7,799 7,795 -1.8 0.1 0.7 7,638 7,703 7,358 3.8

 Electrical equipment, appliances, 

 and components: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 24,402 24,536 24,043 -0.5 2.1 0.5 24,694 25,043 22,472 9.9

 Total Inventories....................... 16,789 16,388 16,593 2.4 -1.2 0.0 17,037 16,361 17,118 -0.5

 Transportation equipment: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 738,432 681,777 676,198 8.3 0.8 0.7 736,682 681,061 633,551 16.3

 Total Inventories....................... 129,577 128,907 127,829 0.5 0.8 1.2 130,649 127,851 118,248 10.5

 Motor vehicles and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 16,802 16,757 16,650 0.3 0.6 0.8 16,523 16,741 16,365 1.0

 Total Inventories....................... 26,647 26,586 26,312 0.2 1.0 -0.6 26,893 25,879 25,226 6.6 

 Nondefense Aircraft and parts:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 565,769 508,726 504,779 11.2 0.8 0.8 563,315 505,737 457,064 23.2

 Total Inventories....................... 73,370 72,471 72,177 1.2 0.4 2.2 73,917 72,266 64,088 15.3

 Defense Aircraft and parts: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 64,103 64,465 62,961 -0.6 2.4 1.3 64,149 64,686 66,497 -3.5

 Total Inventories....................... 14,410 14,196 14,224 1.5 -0.2 0.4 14,541 14,218 14,061 3.4

 All other durable goods: 

 Unfilled Orders......................... 7,586 7,626 7,540 -0.5 1.1 1.3 7,976 8,048 7,722 3.3

 Total Inventories....................... 53,231 53,107 52,799 0.2 0.6 0.4 53,345 52,969 50,307 6.0

 Capital goods3:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 884,674 828,510 821,108 6.8 0.9 0.6 884,852 830,905 776,859 13.9

 Total Inventories....................... 207,983 205,964 205,198 1.0 0.4 1.2 209,451 204,858 195,895 6.9

 Nondefense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 725,162 668,011 661,326 8.6 1.0 0.7 724,094 667,872 607,565 19.2

 Total Inventories....................... 184,215 181,950 181,619 1.2 0.2 1.4 185,646 180,883 172,791 7.4

 Excluding aircraft: 

 Unfilled Orders.................... 248,439 245,732 241,657 1.1 1.7 0.4 250,008 247,963 228,112 9.6

 Total Inventories................... 122,819 121,723 121,498 0.9 0.2 0.5 123,750 120,540 120,242 2.9

 Defense capital goods:

 Unfilled Orders......................... 159,512 160,499 159,782 -0.6 0.4 0.1 160,758 163,033 169,294 -5.0

 Total Inventories....................... 23,768 24,014 23,579 -1.0 1.8 0.0 23,805 23,975 23,104 3.0

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.