by Shipments were down 17% during the same period as industry continues to weather downturn
HIGH POINT — Furniture orders rose 2% in March over March 2023, while shipments were down 17% during the same period, according to the latest Furniture Insights report from Smith Leonard.
The firm said this continued a nine out of 10 streak of year-over-year orders being up, with about half of survey participants reporting an increase compared to a year ago.
For the month of March, new orders totaled $2.19 billion, compared to $2.16 billion in March 2023. They were flat compared to February 2024.
Meanwhile, shipments totaled $2.23 billion, down 17% from the $2.7 billion reported in March 2023 and down for 85% of survey participants. Shipments also were down 4% from the $2.32 billion reported in February.
Backlogs for the month of March totaled $2.64 billion, down 17% from the $3.18 billion reported in March 2023 and up about 2% from the $2.6 billion reported in February.
Other highlights of the report were as follows:
+ Receivable levels were down 9% from March 2023 and down 3% from February. The report said this was materially in line with the decline in shipments for the same periods.
+ Inventories were down 22% from March 2023 and down 2% from February, which the report noted is consistent with current operational levels.
+ The number of factory and warehouse workers was down 6% from March 2023 and down 1% from February.
+ Payroll expenses also were down 6% from March 2023 but up 5% from February, which the report attributed to a short prior month.
