(Editor: Leona)

U.S. residential furniture factories had another good year in 2014 with gains of 6.5% in orders and 6% in shipments, Smith Leonard reported.

Factories closed the year with a bang with December gains of 15% in orders and 6% in shipments, which usually lag orders, Ken Smith, managing partner of the accounting and consulting firm, said in his monthly Furniture Insights newsletter.

“Orders have been up 20 of the last 21 months. Last year, new orders were up 6% so we are comparing to a pretty good year,” he said. Orders in 2014 were up for 74% of the participants in the firm’s factory survey, which Smith said “was one of the highest percentages of participants reporting increases in a long time.”

The rush of orders left factories with big backlogs in December, which were up 17% from the same month a year earlier, he said.

“So overall, the results for 2014 were very positive — though we are sure not as positive as some would want. Some of the participants enjoyed nice double-digit growth in orders and shipments,” Smith said.

Most economic indicators continue to favor the industry, although they are “maybe not as robust as previous indications.” Existing home sales were off a little in January, but still up from a year earlier, while consumer confidence slid a little in February.

“But the stock market remains strong, interest rates are great, inflation is not a problem (and) housing continues to improve, at least when looking at the big picture,” Smith said.