Factory Orders Up - Office Furniture Mfgs Up

New factory orders increased 0.7% in November, reversing an identical 0.7% drop in October. Not coincidentally all of the "major" office furniture manufacturers reported sales increases for their most recently reported quarters:

• Steelcase: + 9% year over year revenue growth for Q311
• Herman Miller: +19.9% year over year revenue growth for Q211
• Knoll: + 12% year over year growth for Q311
• HNI (parent of Allsteel): Forecast + 10-12% for Q410

Look for pricing to begin returning to normal (read that as prices will go up), as factory capacity starts to fill, and the cut-throat discounting that has been present for the past two years starts to recede.