Volume 2, Issue 4 – February 28th, 2014
New orders in November 2013 were 10% higher than new orders in November 2012 according to the latest survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors by the Smith Leonard accounting firm.
This represented the eighth consecutive month that new orders exceeded the previous year’s monthly comparison, the firm said.
Smith Leonard pointed out that October orders were 5% higher than October 2012. New orders were up for 77% of the participants in November, up from 56% reported for October and 72% for September.
Year-to-date, new orders remained 6% percent higher than 2012. New orders increased year-to-date for some 80% of the companies surveyed, the same as was reported for October 2013.
Shipments in November 2013 were 10% higher than November 2012 and were up 7% over October results. This followed a 9% increase reported for October. Shipments were up for some 69% of the participants, up from 61% reported last month.
Year-to-date, shipments remained 5% ahead of 2012 through the 11 months, Smith Leonard reported. Approximately 68% of the participants reported increased shipments year-to-date, the same percentage that were reported for October.
Backlogs were 13% higher than November 2012. Backlogs fell 1% from October as shipments slightly exceeded orders.
Receivable levels were 5% higher than November 2012, in line with year-to-date shipments and compared favorably to monthly shipments. These levels were flat with October in spite of the 7% increase in shipments.
Inventory levels fell 1% from October and were 3% higher than November 2012. The 3% increase was the same as reported for the previous month.
“Overall, inventories appear in really good shape considering current business levels,” Smith Leonard said.
The factory and warehouse workforce grew 3% over November 2012, while payrolls were up 15%.