New orders for furniture fell 3% in April compared with April 2015.

That’s according to the latest Furniture Insights survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors from High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard. Sixty-nine percent of the participants reported lower orders for the month, dropping overall year-to-date orders 1% from the first four months of last year.

Last year at this time, new orders were up 5% compared with 2014 figures. The April decline in orders marked the third straight month of declining orders, following 1% and 2% declines the previous two months.

Shipments also declined 3% in April, bringing the year-to-date results to just under a 1% increase. In April, only 36% of survey participants reported increased shipments. Year-to-date, 53% are reporting declines in shipments.

Backlogs fell 1% from March as shipments exceeded orders. Backlogs were 7% lower than April 2015. Receivable levels remained in good shape, down 6% from April 2015.

“Inventories need to be watched as they were 4% higher than April 2015, with orders and shipments not really growing,” said Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith in the report. “Overall factory and warehouse payrolls and employee levels were reasonably in line, though payrolls were a bit high.”

(Source: Furniture Today  Author: Powell Slaughter)