Built With Care and Made to Last: The North Carolina Furniture Manufacturing Industry

<p>Although it has faced rapid change and stiff global competition, The Old North State remains a national leader in furniture manufacturing.</p>

Author: Tim Aylor

September 28 through October 2 is Manufacturing Week in North Carolina so it seems like a good opportunity to highlight one of the state’s key manufacturing industries — one that has been vital to its economic development history while remaining an important part of its economy today.

In 2014, there were nearly 900 businesses that made furniture and related products in North Carolina. They employed 34,000 people and paid a total of $1.2 billion in wages.1 With 9.2 percent of U.S. furniture manufacturing jobs, North Carolina is tied with much more populous California and is second to only Mississippi in concentration of those jobs. However, growing global competition, the bursting of the housing bubble, and the Great Recession contributed to deep job losses in the sector during the last decade. From 2004 to 2014, jobs in North Carolina furniture manufacturing fell 43 percent compared to 23 percent for all manufacturing in the state.

Furniture and related product manufacturing contributed $1.9 billion to North Carolina gross state product, the third-highest state total behind California and Michigan in 2013 (the most recent year that data is available).2 Three quarters of this furniture production found its way into homes or institutions as furniture or kitchen cabinets. Office furniture and fixtures made up 15 percent of production with the remainder comprised of furniture-related products like mattresses, window blinds, and fixtures. A lot goes into making these products. Eighty percent of employees in this industry are production workers who were paid nearly $800 million in wages in 2013. The industry also consumed $3 billion in materials in order to produce the nearly $6 billion worth of furniture goods shipped from its factory gates. Furniture companies spent more than $60 million in capital expenditures to improve and modernize facilities and capital in 2013.3

North Carolina furniture manufacturing grew in prominence in the 19th century when factories sprang up to make use of the state’s abundant hardwood forests, transportation infrastructure, and skilled workforce. During the 20th century, manufacturing grew along with America’s towns and cities which were creating a burgeoning demand for well-made home and office furniture. Furniture manufacturing employment peaked in the state at the close of the 1980s. Much of the industry’s growth occurred in the Piedmont region of the state which is still the case today. High Point is its center and hosts the world-renown High Point Market, a leading furniture trade show that attracts eager buyers from all over the world.

Some of America’s greatest concentrations of furniture manufacturing employment can be found in this region’s counties. With nearly 8,500 furniture manufacturing jobs, Catawba County had the second-highest number of furniture manufacturing jobs in the country in 2014 — behind only enormous Los Angeles County, Cal. Randolph, Guilford, Caldwell, and Alexander counties also have very large concentrations of furniture manufacturing employment and are among the top 25 furniture-producing counties in the country.

The North Carolina furniture industry continues to change along with the state’s economy. Investing in new equipment and building a better-trained workforce have boosted competitiveness. Closely following taste and lifestyle trends has enabled the industry to survive and prepare to grow as the U.S. home market continues to pick up steam and as global consumers become increasingly aware of the great heritage and value of furniture crafted in our state.

Sources:

1 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, BLS and North Carolina Department of Commerce
2 GDP by State, Bureau of Economic Analysis (accessed October 1, 2015)
3 2013 Annual Survey of Manufacturers, Census Bureau
4 Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI)

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