U.S. furniture makers struggled again in August, new orders fell again!

U.S. manufacturing remains the weakest sector since the pandemic. The Institute for Supply Management's August index showed manufacturing growth at 52.8%, unchanged from the previous month and the lowest level since June 2020.

Compared to July, manufacturers' output fell 3% and consumer prices fell 7.5% (the lowest level since June 2020). The number of new orders in the manufacturing sector rose 3.3% and employment rose 4.4%.

"U.S. manufacturing continues to grow at a similar rate to the previous two months, with new order rates starting to return to growth and supplier deliveries remaining at 100 percent," said Timothy R. Fiore, president of the Institute for Supply Management. Appropriate level of tension and prices are softening again, reflecting the trend of balanced supply and demand."

[The pace of price increases slowed sharply in August, coupled with slowing lead times, should bring buyers back into the market, boosting order volumes. The market remains optimistic about demand, with cautious versus optimistic The ratio was 1:5. Our panelists remained nervous about the weakening economy, with 18% pointing to concerns about shrinking orders in their comments. 12% raised concerns about increasing inventories across the supply chain growing concerns," added Timothy Fiore.

As before, compared with the other 17 manufacturing industries, the performance of the furniture industry in August was still unsatisfactory. The furniture and wood products industries saw the largest decline in new orders and were the only two industries to report high levels of customer inventories. At the same time, the furniture industry was also one of eight industries reporting an increase in raw material prices compared to July.

On the positive side, however, suppliers in the furniture and wood products industry saw faster deliveries compared to June, which also improved from May. The industry has seen a reduction in overstock since July, and no changes in product productivity and employee employment, which may be a good sign since both indicators fell sharply in May.