Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Smith Leonard Survey: New Orders Up 8% in January
April 16,
2019 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
New orders in January rose 8% over January 2018 and orders in January 2018 were 2% higher than January 2017, according to a report by the Smith Leonard accounting and consulting firm.
50% of the residential furniture manufacturers and distributors surveyed reported increased orders for the month – up from 45% in December 2018.
The survey also showed, shipments in January 2019 were up 14% over January 2018 and some 75% of the participants reported increased shipments for the month.
Backlogs fell 6% from December as shipments exceeded new orders. Backlog comparison from January 2018 showed a 9% increase, down from 13% reported in the December to December comparison.
Receivable and inventory levels remained in good shape with receivables up 12% over January 2018 and inventory levels up 6% over January 2018. Both of the comparisons seemed to be in line based on shipment and order levels.