DEFENSE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT -- Both Shipments and Orders Soared During October

Industry shipments from U.S. manufacturers of defense communications equipment rose by a steep 14.6% between September and October. This followed two consecutive months of decline.

At the same time, the value of new orders received by defense communications equipment manufacturers soared by 24.8% during October, on the heels of an even-more-robust gain of 43.5% recorded between August and September.

The value of shipments from manufacturers in the industry was 8.2% higher this October than last October. And through the first 10 months of this year, the value of shipments from the industry was running a solid 4.4% ahead of the total for the same period a year ago. The value of new orders placed with U.S. manufacturers of defense communications equipment was up by 11.2% over the same period of time.







DEFENSE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT: U.S. Manufacturers' Shipments

Billions of $ %Change vs. Same Month Last Year %Change (Current 12 months vs. Prev. 12 months)
Jan-01 $0.28 12.8% 12.1%
Feb-01 $0.31 21.8% 13.3%
Mar-01 $0.27 1.5% 12.7%
Apr-01 $0.29 -0.3% 11.1%
May-01 $0.31 23.5% 13.2%
Jun-01 $0.30 6.1% 12.2%
Jul-01 $0.29 4.3% 11.4%
Aug-01 $0.33 17.4% 11.7%
Sep-01 $0.29 6.3% 11.3%
Oct-01 $0.30 -3.8% 8.5%
Nov-01 $0.31 8.5% 8.3%
Dec-01 $0.32 17.5% 9.2%
Jan-02 $0.33 18.1% 9.7%
Feb-02 $0.32 2.6% 8.1%
Mar-02 $0.30 11.9% 9.0%
Apr-02 $0.31 7.7% 9.6%
May-02 $0.33 5.2% 8.2%
Jun-02 $0.30 0.0% 7.7%
Jul-02 $0.31 4.8% 7.7%
Aug-02 $0.30 -8.2% 5.5%
Sep-02 $0.29 -0.7% 4.9%
Oct-02 $0.33 8.2% 6.0%
Forecast
Q4-02 $0.32* N/A 4.3%
Q1-03 $0.34* N/A 3.5%
Q2-03 $0.35* N/A 5.2%
Q3-03 $0.33* N/A 7.9%
Q4-03 $0.35* N/A 8.6%



* average month within quarter

SOURCE: COMMERCE DEPARTMENT. FORECAST: ELECTRONIC BUSINESS




ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS - Shipments Rose in October, Following Four Straight Months of Decline

Shipments of electronic components (excluding semiconductors) rose by an estimated 3.1% during October, after declining by a revised 3.8% during September, and by smaller amounts during June, July and August.

The value of October 2002 shipments from U.S. electronic component makers was 2.1% above the total for October of 2001 -- the fourth month in a row that the current month's total bested the year-earlier level.

And the value of new orders received by U.S. electronic components makers surged by 45.9% between September and October. Orders to U.S. electronic component manufacturers had declined by magnitudes of 8.9% in August and 21.7% during September. Manufacturers in the U.S. received orders worth 6.9% more during October of this year than in October of 2001.

Through the first 10 months of 2002, industry shipments were running 11.4% behind the year-ago pace, while orders were off by the lesser amount of 6.0% from last year's January-October total.

Industry inventory levels rose by 2.5% between September and October. But October 2002 industry-wide inventory values were worth an estimated 11.0% less than the level that had been recorded during October of last year.








ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS: U.S. Manufacturers' Shipments

Billions of $ %Change vs. Same Month Last Year %Change (Current 12 months vs. Prev. 12 months)
Jan-01 $6.21 2.4% 16.5%
Feb-01 $6.24 1.7% 14.5%
Mar-01 $5.46 -11.9% 11.3%
Apr-01 $4.29 -33.7% 5.4%
May-01 $4.54 -29.7% -2.8%
Jun-01 $4.74 -23.7% -2.9%
Jul-01 $3.97 -35.1% -6.9%
Aug-01 $4.15 -33.9% -11.1%
Sep-01 $3.84 -39.4% -15.4%
Oct-01 $4.09 -33.4% -18.9%
Nov-01 $4.31 -30.7% -22.0%
Dec-01 $4.14 -34.8% -25.4%
Jan-02 $4.23 -31.8% -28.1%
Feb-02 $4.23 -32.2% -30.9%
Mar-02 $4.15 -24.0% -32.0%
Apr-02 $4.17 -2.6% -30.1%
May-02 $4.32 -4.8% -28.5%
Jun-02 $4.27 -10.0% -27.6%
Jul-02 $4.23 6.5% -24.9%
Aug-02 $4.21 1.5% -22.3%
Sep-02 $4.05 5.3% -18.9%
Oct-02 $4.18 2.1% -16.0%
Forecast
Q4-02 $4.40* N/A -8.8%
Q1-03 $4.46* N/A 2.3%
Q2-03 $4.56* N/A 5.8%
Q3-03 $4.55* N/A 7.0%
Q4-03 $4.89* N/A 8.5%



* average month within quarter

SOURCE: COMMERCE DEPARTMENT. FORECAST: ELECTRONIC BUSINESS