August furniture orders down 12%

New furniture orders in August 2009 were 12 percent lower than August 2009, according to Smith Leonard’s Furniture Insights, a monthly survey covering the furniture industry.
However, new orders were 7 percent higher than July 2009 orders. Year-to-date, new orders are down 19 percent from the first eight months of 2008, down from 20 percent last month.
Year-to-date, 90 percent of survey participants reported lower orders compared to last year.
August shipments declined 18 percent from August 2008 but were 15 percent higher than July. The increase over July is normal considering, for most, July was a three-week month due to the vacation week. Approximately 90 percent of participants reported lower shipments in August.
Year-to-date, shipments remained 20 percent lower than the first 8 months of 2008. Approximately 93 percent of the participants reported lower shipments.
Backlogs increased 1 percent over July as orders exceeded shipments for the month. Backlogs were 7 percent lower than last August, down from a 13 percent decline reported in July.