EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EST, MARCH 23, 1998 (MONDAY) Public Information Office CB98-45 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: PIO@census.gov Julius Smith 301-457-4741 Motor Vehicles and Car Bodies Lead Shipments of Manufactured Goods in 1996, Census Bureau Reports At more than $198 billion, motor vehicles and car bodies led in value of shipments among 1,750 classes of manufactured products in 1996, according to tabulations released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. This represented no significant change from 1995. The report, 1996 Annual Survey of Manufactures, Value of Product Shipments, M96(AS)-2, will be available after the release time in print and on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/titles.html#mm. This report shows the value of all products shipped by the nation's manufacturers. Highlights from the 1996 report include: - Refined petroleum products with 1996 shipments totaling $152 billion, up from $131 billion in 1995. - Semiconductors and related devices, with industry-wide shipments valued at $67 billion, up more than $6 billion from 1995. Shipment values are reported in current dollars, not adjusted for price increases or declines. Data provided in the report and on the Internet tables are from a sample of 58,000 manufacturing establishments and are subject to sampling, as well as nonsampling variability. Sources of nonsampling variability include errors of response, nonreporting and coverage. Measures of sampling variability, presented as relative standard errors, are shown in the publication tables.-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access server's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
