Smith Leonard: Furniture Orders up Slightly

March 1, 2016  by in Economic News, Industry   

Half of the participants reported increased orders for the month.

For the year, new orders were up 4 percent over the previous year. Fifty three percent of the participants reported increased orders for the year, despite a slow down that came in the last part of 2015.

hipments remained solid with a 5 percent increase over December 2014 and up 6 percent for the year after a 6 percent increase reported last year. Shipments were up for about 61 percent of the participants. Shipments in 2014 were up over 2013 for 74 percent of the participants.

Backlogs fell 4 percent as shipments exceeded new orders in December. Backlogs were also 4 percent lower than December 2014 but December 2014 backlogs were 17 percent higher than December 2013.

“The growth in the industry seemed to slow a bit in the latter part of 2015, but we were comparing to pretty strong results in the latter part of 2014,” wrote Ken Smith, managing partner of Smith Leonard. “The overall results seem a bit misleading as we talk with some who really seemed to feel a slowdown, yet others have continued to grow rather healthily. And this seems prevalent in both upholstery and case goods.”