Furniture orders declined 9 percent in April to $2.02 billion compared with the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday by BDO Seidman.
At the same time, furniture shipments totaled $2.05 billion in April, down 7 percent from April of last year, according to Ken Smith, furniture analyst with BDO Seidman in High Point.
For the first four months of 2003, furniture orders were 10 percent below where they were a year ago.
April orders were up slightly from March, which is a normal trend due to the semi-annual furniture market held each April in High Point. Order backlogs in April reached $1.66 billion, which is down 13 percent from last year.
Furniture inventories grew 15 percent in April, compared to the same time last year, which concerns Smith.
"Even when business comes back, we are concerned that the new orders will not be for products in the warehouse. If that happens, there will be pressure to move some of the inventory at lower prices, which may create more problems in the marketplace," Smith said.
Also, the number of U.S. furniture factory employees fell another 1 percent in April compared to March, and total employment was down 10 percent in April compared to the same month last year.
"It appears that most companies are trying hard to keep employment at reduced levels even though inventories continue to build," said Smith. "It is difficult to know for sure based on our survey, but it is clear that imports are having a negative impact on employment."
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