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Key indicators strong in December

By Janice Chamberlain -- Furniture Today, February 20, 2005

High Point — December was a strong month for economic indicators affecting furniture, with just two, privately owned housing starts and new home sales, failing to show improvements over December 2003.

Compared with year-earlier figures, December consumer spending for furniture and bedding showed the biggest improvement, up 8.6% over December 2003. Not far behind was furniture factory capacity utilization, which increased 5.6% over year-earlier figures.

Consumer spending on furniture and bedding in December reached $77.9 billion on an annualized basis, up 2.3% from November, as tracked by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Furniture factory capacity, measured by the Federal Reserve Board, gained 4.6% from November.

Existing single-family home sales hit an annual rate of 6.69 million units, up 5% over year-earlier figures and off 3.3% from November. The National Assn. of Realtors compiles statistics on sales of existing homes.

The Commerce and Housing and Urban Development departments release statistics on new home sales, and Commerce, through the U.S. Bureau of the Census, releases statistics on housing starts. New home sales were 1.1 million in December, inching up 0.1% over November and falling 2% from December 2003. Housing starts were off 3% from year-earlier results, but surged 10.9% over November.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, furniture factory employment, which includes contract and residential production workers, was 574,300 in December, even with November. Compared with December 2003, employment was up 3.4%.

The furniture producer price index for December stood at 163.5, also even with November and up 0.9% from a year ago. Furniture PPI is compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The latest numbers are preliminary and subject to revision.

December indicators
	% change from November 2004	% change from December 2003
Source: Furniture/Today market research, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Dept. of Labor, National Assn. of Realtors, U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, U.S. Federal Reserve Board
Housing starts	10.9%	-3.0%
Furniture factory capacity	4.6	5.6
Consumer spending	2.3	8.6
New home sales	0.1	-2.0
Furniture producer price index	0.0	3.4
Furniture factory employment	0.0	0.9
Existing home sales	-3.3	5.0

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Key indicators strong in December

Feb 20, 2005

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