ARLINGTON, Va. - Combined U.S. factory shipments of 619,974 air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for August 2003 were up 3 percent compared to shipments from the same month last year, according to statistics from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI).

Heat pump shipments of 142,188 were also up 16 percent compared to last August. Shipments for the first eight months of 2003 are down 1 percent compared to last year.

ARI also reports that factory stocks for August 2003 were down 50,130 units from July 2003 and up 63,865 units from August 2002. Distributor inventories for August were down 132,571 units from July 2003 and up 42,787 units from August 2002. Distributor shipments for August 2003 were up 12 percent from last year, with year-to-date shipments down 4 percent.