Grand Rapids, MI, June 6, 2006--Growth in office furniture shipments and orders slipped into single-digits year-over-year in April, according to the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association.
Industry orders in April rose 6 percent to $815 million, breaking a string of eight consecutive double-digit monthly gains, the association said in a report released on Friday.
Shipments in April also rose 6 percent, to $825 million, the lowest growth rate since last July, BIFMA said.
"We have expected, and continue to suggest, that the rate of growth will moderate to 3 to 6 percent from higher rates of the past year," Raymond James analyst Budd Bugatch said in a research note on Monday, adding it was consistent with expected growth in U.S. gross domestic product, the measure of total goods and services production within U.S. borders.
The U.S. office furniture industry has boomed in recent quarters on strong global demand, boosting the profits of such companies as Herman Miller Inc., and Steelcase Inc., after suffering from 2001 through 2003.
Industry officials warned not to draw any conclusions from one month of data.
"That is somewhat of a lower rate of growth than we've experienced in previous months," BIFMA executive director Tom Reardon said. "But it's a one-month occurrence, it's hard to say if it'll become a trend."
The BIFMA report was based on a survey of 45 companies that account for about 76 percent of industry volume.
