Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Smith Leonard: Furniture Orders up 3% in November
February 1,
2019 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
As expected during the final months of the year, new orders had a slight slowdown, according to a report by the Smith Leonard accounting and consulting firm. New orders in November rose 3% over November of 2017 and 6% year-to-date.
The firm’s monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors showed new orders increased for approximately 47% of the participants for the month. Year-to-date, new orders were up for approximately 68% of the participants, the same as last month.
The survey also showed, shipments in November 2018 were up 8% over November 2017 with year-to-date shipments up 3% ahead of last year with 68% reporting increases. Shipments for the month were up for some 62% of the participants compared to the previous year.
Backlogs increased 1% In November 2018 as the dollar value of orders was higher than the dollar value of shipments. Backlog comparison from November 2017 showed a 9% increase, compared to double-digit increases reported the last couple of months.
Receivable and inventory levels increased 7% over November 2017, but inventories were flat compared to October levels. Both of the comparisons seemed to be in line based on shipment and order levels.