The office furniture industry is set to see modest growth for the rest of 2010, followed by solid growth in 2011, according to an updated outlook from the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA).
Overall, the industry still faces a slow recovery from a severe 2009 downturn that pushed shipments down nearly 30 percent to their lowest level since 1992.
The updated outlook from BIFMA, in an upgrade from three months earlier, predicts a 0.5 percent decline in North American shipments for all of 2010, to $7.8 billion. BIFMA’s previous outlook in May forecast a 5.1 percent decline for 2010.
A better-than-expected second quarter, coupled with predicted 2 percent growth for the third and fourth quarters, led to the upgrade in the outlook for 2010, BIFMA Executive Director Tom Reardon said.
Barring a double-dip recession, the new BIFMA outlook shows the industry should “continue to recover very slowly,” Reardon said.