Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Furniture Factory Orders, Shipments Up Double-Digits in July
October 3,
2017 by Larry Thomas in Economic News, Industry 
Furniture factory orders in July jumped 11% over July 2016, marking the sixth consecutive month of increased orders and the 11th positive month out of the past 12, according to the latest monthly survey from the accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard.
July shipments also were up double-digits, rising 10% from the same month last year, while order backlogs recorded an 8% year-over-year increase.
Smith Leonard said orders increased for 67% of the survey participants.
According to the survey, factory orders have been up every month this year, except for January, when orders were flat compared with January 2016.
The last month that orders decreased was July 2016, when orders fell 5% from July 2015.
For the first seven months of this year, orders were up 7% from the same period in 2016, while shipments rose 5% from the comparable period.
The solid growth in new orders since March continues to be good for many in the industry. With growth in orders year-to-date at 7 percent and increased orders for over 70 percent of the participants, things seem pretty good through July,” wrote Smith Leonard partner Ken Smith in a newsletter accompanying the survey results. “Unfortunately, especially for those in the path of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, things will definitely be choppy for a while.
“The recovery periods have definitely slowed business in Florida and Texas as well as lingering effects of major rains from Harvey. But as things settle down in all the hurricane impacted areas, we should see significant new orders.”