New residential furniture orders rose 43% in September from the comparable month in 2019, with nearly 91% of manufacturers reporting increases
The continued rise in September helped year-to-date orders grow 11% from 2019, with 56% of survey respondents reporting higher levels than the year-ago period.
Shipments were up 4% in September compared to a year ago after a 3% increase reported last month. Some 59% reported increased September shipments.
Year to date shipments were down 10% compared to the first nine months of 2019. But 22% of participants reported an increase in year to date shipments, so companies are believed to be catching up.
But with orders so much higher than shipments, backlogs continued to grow, up 123% over last September.
Furniture shipments increased 4% over September 2019 but were down 10% compared to the first nine months of last year.
