Summary of Revisions

=> GENERAL

The revisions to the historical data from the Manufacturers' Shipments,
Inventories, and Orders survey, as shown in this publication, are the
result of:

    1. Benchmarking the shipments and inventory data to the revised, drift
       adjusted (explained in Description of Adjustments of Historical
       Benchmark Data (1988-1991)), 1988-1991 Annual Survey of Manufactures
       (ASM); 1992 Census of Manufactures; and 1993-1994 Annual Survey of
       Manufactures (ASM).

    2. Benchmarking the defense shipments series to the 1992 MC9675,
       "Shipments to Federal Government Agencies."

    3. Adjusting new and unfilled orders to be consistent with the
       benchmarked shipments and inventory data.

    4. Correcting monthly data for late receipts, reclassification of
       reported data, and revisions to previously reported data.

    5. Updating the trading day adjustment factors for the shipments
       series.

    6. Updating the seasonal adjustment factors for all series, including
       re-evaluating options used.

Table A in the printed report summarizes the results of the first three
procedures for 1988 through 1994 in the form of annual level and year-to-
year percent change revisions. Table B in the printed report shows the
revisions attributable to late or revised data, and trading day and
seasonal adjustment factor updates as they affected the more recent month-
to-month trends in the seasonally adjusted data. (These tables are not
available on this CD-ROM.) The section on Description of Adjustments of
Historical Benchmark Data (1988-1991) includes a description of the
adjustments made to the previously published 1988 through 1991 ASM data.

=> SPECIFIC

Documentation file 95M3.TDA includes a discussion of the trading day
adjustment methodology and an updated set of daily weights for each
shipments series.  The tables in appendix G from the printed report provide
updated diagnostic information on the characteristics and quality of the
seasonal adjustment for all series.  (The text from appendix G is presented
in documentation file 95M3.SUM.)  Table B in the printed report indicates
the effects of updating the trading day and seasonal adjustment factors, as
well as correcting the monthly data for late or revised data reports, on
the month-to-month percent changes for 1995 for the aggregates and major
industrial categories.

=> Data Availability

In addition to this report, historical data from 1958 through 1995 are
available on compact disc at a cost of $125.00. To order, contact Customer
Services, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC 20233. Data from this report
are also available on the Internet; please call 301-457-4804 for the
Internet address.

The monthly press releases for the M3 survey are issued around the 18th
working day of the month following the statistical period for the advance
report on durable goods and the 23rd working day for the full report. These
are available in hard copy or by a fax transmission service, both on a
subscription fee basis. To subscribe to this service, call 301-457-4832.
The pub- lication also is available on the Internet; the address is
http://www.census.gov/ftp/pub/indicator/www/M3adv.html for the advance
publication. The full report address is the same as above except for the
ending, M3prel.html. These reports are also available the day of issue
through the Department of Commerce's online Economic Bulletin Board (N-8-1)
(202-482-3870) and through the Census Bureau's online information service
CENDATA. CENDATA is available from Dialog Information Services, Inc.
(1-800-334-2464) and CompuServe (1-800-848-8199).