March 2011 Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and New Orders

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Shipments, inventories and new orders all posted gains at both the total manufacturing and individual industry levels during March according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
 

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Shipments, up seven consecutive months, increased $12.0 billion (2.7 percent) to $461.4 billion. Durable goods shipments increased $4.4 billion (2.1 percent) to $208.1 billion, led by transportation equipment. Shipments of nondurable goods increased $7.6 billion (3.1 percent) to $253.4 billion, thanks mainly to petroleum and coal products. Wood and Paper both rose, by 3.2 and 0.8 percent, respectively.
 

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Data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI) help round out the picture on goods shipments. AAR reported a whopping 31.5 percent jump in not-seasonally adjusted rail shipments between February and March. Applying seasonal adjustments reduces that estimate to a more sedate (and realistic sounding) 2.0 percent. The PCI (which measures diesel consumption of highway trucking) also rose by a seasonally and workday adjusted 2.7 percent.
 

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Total inventories, up 14 of the last 15 months, increased $6.3 billion (1.1 percent) to $572.3 billion in March. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.24, down from 1.26 in February. Durable goods inventories increased $4.5 billion (1.4 percent) to $334.3 billion, led again by transportation equipment. Inventories of nondurable goods increased $1.8 billion (0.8 percent) to $238.1 billion, mainly because of petroleum and coal products. Wood and Paper inventories also swelled, by 0.5 and 0.3 percent, respectively.
 

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New orders for manufactured goods rose for a fifth consecutive month in March, increasing $13.5 billion (3.0 percent) to $462.9 billion. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 2.6 percent. Durable goods orders increased $5.9 billion (2.9 percent) to $209.5 billion. Transportation equipment had the largest increase, $3.2 billion (6.2 percent) to $54.9 billion. Nondurable goods orders increased $7.6 billion (3.1 percent) to $253.4 billion.