Shipments rise 3% in November
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 20, 2006
High Point — Furniture factory orders in November were about even with the same month a year earlier, while shipments were 3% higher, BDO Seidman reported.
The accounting and consulting firm said its survey of residential furniture makers showed that through 11 months, orders in 2005 were running 3% ahead of 2004, while shipments were up 4%.
"November was somewhat of an OK month and was probably better than October due to the late (High Point) furniture market," said Ken Smith, national director of BDO's Furniture Industry Services, in the firm's monthly Furniture Insights newsletter.
He said BDO is hearing that furniture remains "spotty" at retail, depending on the types of products sold and distribution channels.
"We hear the same thing from the manufacturers and distributors," said Smith.
"With approximately 40% of our (survey) participants reporting increases while 60% report declines, it is clear that there is no particular trend," he added.
Some economic trends remain favorable for furniture, including improving consumer confidence and low unemployment. But housing starts and new home sales in December were down from November on a seasonally adjusted basis, BDO noted.
| Factory orders, shipments in November | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In billions of dollars | |||
| Change from | |||
| Oct. '05 | Nov. '04 | ||
| Source: BDO Seidman | |||
| Orders | $2.256 | 4% | — |
| Shipments | 2.275 | 1% | 3% |
| January–November | Change from 2004 | ||
| Orders | $24.358 | 3% | |
| Shipments | 24.803 | 4% | |
