Furniture buying index drops to 57, office furniture tanks

The Furniture Buying Index fell two points this month to a reading of 57, according to America’s Research Group.
“… more consumers have put discretionary spending on a complete and total hold,” Britt Beemer, chairman of the group, said.
The Furniture Buying Index is compiled each month by America’s Research Group from interviews with 5,000 to 8,000 consumers across the country.
The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association is forecasting a continued slowdown for the office furniture industry.
Orders and shipments of office furniture for the first quarter of 2009 came in below expectations, according to the association, which recently refined its forecast model to better reflect the image of some of the model’s drivers and improve accuracy.
The domestic market should improve as 2009 progresses, but recovery for the rest of the world will be slower.
Projections as of late May are:
*2009U.S. Production: $8.0 billion, a decrease of 28.6 percentU.S. Consumption: $9.4 billion, a decrease of 27.4 percent
*2010U.S. Production: $8.2 billion, an increase of 2.8 percentU.S. Consumption: $9.8 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent