U.S. residential furniture factory orders in July rose 39% from the comparable month in 2019 and were 30% higher than June, according to a recent survey of manufacturers and distributors. The surge in July made year-to-date orders nearly even with 2019, with 88% of survey respondents reporting higher levels than the year-ago period.
Furniture shipments were flat from July 2019, but down 14% compared to the first seven months of last year. With new orders exceeding shipments, backlogs rose 69% over July 2019. See Smith Leonard