U.S. furniture factory orders rise 12% in December versus 2008

Represents second straight month of increases

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 1, 2010

HIGH POINT — U.S. furniture factory orders in December were up for the second month in a row against weak numbers from 2008, according to Smith Leonard.

Orders rose 12% from the same month a year earlier, the accounting and consulting firm said. Orders in December 2008 were down 21% from December 2007.

This November, orders were up 10% from November 2008 and in October they were flat compared with a year ago, Ken Smith, managing partner of Smith Leonard, noted in the firm's monthly Furniture Insights newsletter.

"With orders up or at least flat three months in a row, we do believe we may have hit bottom. Admittedly, the comparisons to the fourth quarter last year were against very weak numbers, but at least it doesn't appear we were digging a deeper hole," he said.

For the full year, orders in 2009 were down 13% from 2008. Some 91% of participants in Smith Leonard's factory survey reported lower orders.

Factory shipments in December were up 3% from a year earlier - the first increase in more than three years, since June 2006. For all of 2009, shipments were down 15% from 2008, when they were down 12% from 2007.

Smith also said that despite the upturn at the end of the year, sales could suffer because of the harsh winter, especially in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. He noted that consumer confidence declined in February, which may have been affected by the weather.

One positive he noted was that the last wave of tax credits for home buying is nearing, which could spur more activity in housing and should be good for furniture.