Furniture orders continue to rebound

HIGH POINT -- New furniture orders rose 9 percent in June compared with the same time last year, according to the latest Furniture Insights monthly report.

The increase, derived from a survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors, compares to a 16 percent decline in June 2009 from the previous year.

Year-to-date, new orders remain 10 percent higher than in the first half of 2009, when they were 20 percent below the first half of 2008.

The report is created by Ken Smith, a certified public accountant at High Point-based Smith Leonard Accountants and Consultants. Smith has documented year-to-year increases for new furniture orders since November, when a long streak of declining orders came to an end.

"The June results continued to show improvement compared to 2009 results," Smith said in the report. "While we still have a ways to go to get back to 2008 numbers, at least the increases continue to come. Not to be negative, but we do need to remember 2008 results were also off for the most part in the double-digit range, especially in the last half of the year."

Smith also said that while the numbers still show improvement, talk of another bout of recession and high unemployment rates continues to keep consumers from feeling good.

"We just need the economy to show some strength, but most seem to feel that it might be a while," he said.