U.S. residential furniture factory orders drop 27% in April

Shipments down 21% from a year earlier

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, July 2, 2009

Furniture factory orders, shipments in April 2009

HIGH POINT — U.S. residential furniture factory orders were down 27% in April from a year ago while shipments were down 21%, Smith Leonard reported.

But Ken Smith, managing director of the accounting and consulting firm, said the High Point Market's late-April date this year may have delayed some orders. The spring market ran April 25-30 this year but was earlier in 2008.

In its monthly Furniture Insights newsletter, the firm said its factory survey indicated that orders were off 22% for the first four months of this year, with 93% of respondents saying their orders were down. That's a better performance than in the fourth quarter of 2008, when orders were down 26% from a year earlier.

"Overall the economy in general, while still suffering, appears to be nearing bottom in most cases and actually showing some life in others," Smith said. "Reading the Beige Book report from the Federal Reserve, the comments are mostly negative, but there were reports of ‘stabilizing' or some upticks in certain districts."

He added that the furniture industry is showing "signs of life," but that results remain uneven. He noted that summer historically isn't the best selling season and that the industry is likely to be looking at "baby step improvements over the next several months, if not longer."