Dec. factory orders up 10%
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 29, 2004
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — A strong December added to a second-half turnaround for U.S. residential furniture factories last year, according to new year-end figures from BDO Seidman.
Orders were up 10% and shipments up 3% in December, compared with the same month a year earlier, the accounting and consulting firm reported.
But the stronger second half — December was the seventh consecutive months with higher orders than the previous year — didn't keep U.S. factories from posting slight declines in business for the full year, with orders declining 2% to $24.2 billion and shipments slipping 1% to $24.8 billion. Weak business early in the year was to blame.
"According to our survey of residential furniture manufacturers, the year was apparently a turning point for most manufacturers in this period of economic instability," said Ken Smith, national director of BDO's Furniture Industry Services.
Among the survey participants, 35% of companies reported an increase in orders for the year, while 35% said their orders were down 10% or more.
In other year-end statistics measured by the survey, BDO said factory inventories in December were down 4% from a year earlier, which "seems to indicate much better inventory management," Smith said.
The number of factory employees in December declined 9% from a year earlier, and payrolls for the year were down 10% from 2002.
A healthy housing industry continued to boost the industry last year, with existing home sales rising 9.6% for the year to a record 6.1 million, BDO said. New home sales of about 1.1 million were up 11.2% from 2002.
| Factory orders, shipments in December | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In billions of dollars | |||
| Change from | |||
| Nov. '03 | Dec. '02 | ||
| Source: BDO Seidman |
|||
| Orders | $1.931 | -13% | 10% |
| Shipments | 2.027 | -3% | 3% |
| Order backlog | 1.614 | -4% | -5% |
| Jan.-Dec. | Change from 2002 | ||
| Orders | $24.225 | -2% | |
| Shipments | 24.757 | -1% | |
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Factory orders stop slide
Jan 4, 2010 -
Factory orders fall 10%
Dec 7, 2009 -
Factory orders down in February
May 11, 2008 -
August orders down 12%
Nov 9, 2009
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