New furniture orders down 17% in June compared to 2008

If the economy is improving, the furniture industry isn’t feeling it yet.
In June 2009, new orders were 17 percent lower than orders in June 2008, according to Smith Leonard’s monthly furniture survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors.
Year-to-date, new orders are down 21 percent, down slightly from the 22 percent reported last month. Approximately 93 percent of the participants have reported lower orders year-to-date versus last year.
Shipments in May were down 19 percent compared to May 2008. This compares to a 21 percent decline comparing April 2009 to April 2008. Year-to-date, shipments remained 21 percent lower than the first 5 months of 2008. Last year, shipments for the first 5 months were 7 percent below the first 5 months of 2007.
Backlogs were down 24 percent compared to May 2008. Last month, backlogs were down 26 percent so there was a slight improvement in these levels.