HIGH POINT – New furniture orders fell 3% in January compared with last year, according to Smith Leonard in its latest Furniture Insights report, but they are up 2% from December.
January shipments were up 4% from last year and up 8% from December. Backlogs were down 5% from last year and down 4% from December, as “current shipments outpaced new orders,” Smith Leonard said.
Receivable levels were flat with last year but up 6% from December, both of which Smith Leonard said are in line with shipment trends. Inventories and employee/payroll levels are again materially in line with recent months (factoring in the holiday breaks), but down from 2024, “indicating that companies have aligned levels to match current operations.”
Mark Laferriere, assurance partner at Smith Leonard, gave his thoughts:
“Another month, another round of looming tariff activity potentially being announced today, so I’ll stick to what we do know, which is that consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month as concerns grew about labor market conditions and stock market volatility (seemingly hitting consumers in both the low-end and high-end of the market), among other things, which as a leading economic indicator could be a signal of trouble ahead at least until some of the current uncertainty is resolved.
“However, with the two-month reporting lag reflected in our monthly stats, the full impact of these recent trends doesn’t appear to have filtered their way down to our participants’ operations and financial results, so we’re hoping the furniture industry can maintain its recent modest gains against these potential headwinds.
“There does seem to be some reason for optimism with recent housing reports, though it would appear the Fed is going to take a wait and see approach to how current policies will impact the overall economy and inflation before implementing any further cuts.”
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