by Meanwhile shipments decline 2% during same period, according to latest Furniture Insights report
HIGH POINT — New orders for residential furniture rose 1% in December from December 2023, but fell 15% from the prior month, according to the latest Furniture Insights report published by Smith Leonard.
Meanwhile, shipments were down 2% from December 2023 and down 7% from November, the firm said.
New orders totaled just over $2 billion, up from $1.97 billion in December 2023, with about two-thirds of survey participants saying they had an increase in orders compared with December 2024.
They were down from $2.4 billion in November, which the firm said factors in some seasonality with the December holidays as the orders also were down 22% from the prior month last year.
December shipments totaled $2.06 billion, down from $2.12 billion in December 2023. They also were down for about half the survey participants. They also were down from $2.18 billion in November.
For the full 12-month period, new orders totaled $26.2 billion, down 1% from $26.75 billion the same 12-month period in 2023. Shipments totaled $26.4 billion in the first 12 months, down 6% from $28.3 billion the same 12 months in 2023.
Backlogs totaled $2.4 billion in December, down 8% from $2.61 billion in December 2023 and down 3.5% from nearly $2.5 billion in November “as current shipments outpaced new orders during the last month.”
Other highlights of the report were as follows:
+ Receivable levels were down 3% from December 2023 and down 7% from November 2024, the report said, nothing that both “are materially in line with the respective shipment trends, given normal timing differences with collections.”
+ Inventories were down 2% from December 2023 and level with November 2024, “which are in line with prior periods and current operational levels.”
+ The number of factory and warehouse employees was down 5% from December 2023 and level with November.
+ Meanwhile, payroll expense was down 10% in December 2024 compared to November 2024, which it attributed to the holiday break (also being down 11% during the same period last year).
+ Year to date through December 2024, it said, payroll expense was down 3%, which the report described as “materially consistent with the employee headcount and prior periods.”
