HIGH POINT, NC -- U.S. new orders of residential furniture rose 11% in October compared to the same month in 2010.

"While the 11 percent increase was a good one, it compared to October 2010 when orders were down 5 percent from October 2009," noted accounting firm Smith Leonard in its December issue of Furniture Insights. "The 2011 order rate was only 6 percent higher than October 2009, but still not bad."

New orders for 2011 are up 7% over the first 10 months of the year. Approximately 62% of the participants to Smith Leonard's monthly survey reported increased orders year-to-date, up from 60 percent last month.

U.S. shipments of residential furniture increased by 6% in October compared to October 2010.  Year-to-date, shipments are 3% ahead of 2010, when they were 8% ahead of the first 10 months of 2009. Approximately 58% of the participants have reported increased shipments for the year, the same as reported through September.