by Two-thirds of survey respondents report increases in year-over-year activity
HIGH POINT — Orders and shipments for residential furniture were up slightly in March from a year earlier, according to the latest Furniture Insights report from Smith Leonard.
New orders totaled $2.15 billion, up 1% from $2.14 billion in March 2024. They were also up 1% from February, according to the survey, with two-thirds of participants reporting increases.
Shipments totaled $2.26 billion in March, up 1% from $2.24 billion in March 2024 and up 6% from $2.15 billion in February, which the report attributed to the shorter month. As with new orders, two-thirds of survey participants also reported an increase in shipments.
The report added that backlogs for the month of March totaled $2.37 billion, compared with $2.54 billion in March 2024, a 6.5% decrease. They were down 1% from backlogs in February, “as new orders and current shipments were relatively in sync.”
Other highlights of the report were as follows:
+ Receivable levels were down 2% from March 2024 and down 3% from February, which the report said “seems to be a reversal of last month’s apparent timing difference-driven increase.”
+ Inventories were up 3% from March 2024 and up 1% from February, which the report said are in line with prior periods and current operational levels.
+ The number of factory and warehouse workers was down 4% from March but down just 1% from February.
+ Payroll expense was down just 1% from March 2024, but up 5% from February, which the report attributed to the short month.
