ARLINGTON, Va. - July’s shipment numbers made a small recovery in the heat pump category, but the rest of the numbers continue to fall according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).

Economists, however, are expecting a possible 2 percent economic increase in the third and fourth quarters of 2009 and Wall Street is breathing easier as Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, has declared the recession over. Recovery is expected to be slow and the national unemployment rate is predicted, according to the Wall Street Journal, to reach 10.2 percent, before beginning its descent in early 2010.

Combined U.S. factory shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for July totaled 568,197, down 16.1 percent compared with the same month a year ago. For the year-to-date, combined shipments totaled 3,353,331, down 17.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

Heat pump shipments for July totaled 156,464, up 21.3 percent from the same month a year ago. For the year-to-date, heat pump shipments totaled 1,073,924, a 14.6 percent drop compared with the same period last year.

U.S. factory shipments of gas-fired, warm-air furnaces in July totaled 161,301 a 13.8 percent drop compared with the same month a year ago. For the year-to-date, gas furnace shipments totaled 1,056,915, a 14.8 percent drop compared with the same period last year.

Oil-fired, warm-air furnaces for the same month totaled 3,057; an 11.2 percent increase compared with July 2008 totals. Oil furnace shipments for the year-to-date totaled 21,526; an 18.1 percent drop compared with the same period last year.

For more information, visit www.ahrinet.org.

Publication date: 09/28/2009