Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Smith Leonard: Furniture Orders Up 4% in December
March 3,
2020 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
After two months of declining orders, new orders in December 2019 increased 4% according to a report by the Smith Leonard accounting and consulting firm.
The firm’s monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors showed that orders were still down 2% for 2019 and only 58% of the participants reported increases in December. For the year, new orders were down for 71% of participants.
The survey also showed shipments in December 2019 were up 2% with 52% of the participants reporting increased shipments for the month. For the year, shipments were just slightly ahead of 2018 but were down for 62% of the participants. Backlogs fell 4% from November 2019, but were 2% higher than December 2018.
Receivable levels remained in good shape, while December inventory levels were a bit high considering current order and shipment levels.