U.S. factory orders up 11%
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 3, 2002
HIGH POINT — U.S. residential furniture factories ended a rough year on a positive note in December, with new orders up 11% from December 2000, according to BDO Seidman.
It was the first time in 16 months that orders were up from the comparable month a year earlier, the accounting and consulting firm said.
Shipments in December were still down 7% from a year ago — mainly because there was less of a backlog to work off this year, the firm's survey of manufacturers indicated. And the gain in orders was off a weak month — December 2000 orders were down 23% from 1999.
"Even so, we will take any positive results," Ken Smith, national director of BDO's Furniture Industry Services, said in the firm's Furniture Insights newsletter.
For the year, U.S. factory shipments were down 9.4% to $24.5 billion, and orders were down 8.4% to $24.2 billion, BDO estimated. That was a reversal from several years of business gains, including 2000, when shipments rose 5% and orders were up about 2% from 1999 levels.
Total factory employment in December was estimated to be down about 15% from a year ago. According to BDO, "Many plants have trimmed the number of employees to give most of the employees more full-time work instead of working short weeks."
With the new year, the economy seems to be improving, although the timing and strength of a recovery is uncertain, the firm said. The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose in December, which usually points to an upward movement in the economy in the next three to six months, and consumer confidence was firming, although it was still below pre-Sept. 11 levels.
"Most reports continue to indicate rebounds in the third quarter," BDO said.
| In billions of current dollars | Change | from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. '01 | Dec. '00 | ||
| Orders | $1.810 | -15% | 11% |
| Shipments | 1.932 | -4% | -7% |
| Order backlog | 1.921 | -6% | -14% |
| January - December | Change from 2000 | ||
| Orders | $24.177 | -8% | |
| Shipments | 24.507 | -9% | |
| Source: BDO Seidman |
-
Factory orders up 4% in Jan.
Apr 12, 2010 -
June factory orders down 16% from '08
Sep 7, 2009 -
Dec. factory orders rise 12%
Mar 29, 2010 -
Factory orders stop slide
Jan 4, 2010
Featured Company
-
FurnitureCore.com
FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
