Factory orders up 3% in March
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, June 20, 2005
High Point — U.S. furniture factory orders were up 3% in March compared with the same month in 2004, pushing this year's first quarter slightly ahead of last year, according to BDO Seidman.
The March gain followed two consecutive months of declining orders, the accounting and consulting firm said.
March's gain was impressive considering that March 2004 orders were up 18% from a weak month in 2003. Orders in the first quarter of 2004 were up 15% from 2003, according to BDO's estimate.
Factory shipments were 4% higher, both for March and for the first quarter. With shipments running a bit stronger than orders, the order backlog in March was down 2% from a year ago.
About 45% of the participants in BDO's monthly factory survey reported order gains in March, and 40% reported higher shipments.
Ken Smith, national director of BDO's Furniture Industry Services, said in the firm's monthly Furniture Insights newsletter that some companies continue to do well this year while business is soft for others.
"We continue to believe that 2005 will probably look very much like the economy in general, with modest growth for the year," he said.
| Factory orders, shipments in March | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In billions of dollars | |||
| Change from | |||
| Feb '05 | March '04 | ||
| Source: BDO Seidman | |||
| Orders | $2.335 | 9% | 3% |
| Shipments | 2.461 | 16% | 4% |
| Order backlog | 2.260 | -1% | -2% |
| January–March | Change from 2004 | ||
| Orders | $6.478 | — | |
| Shipments | 6.628 | 4% | |
