ARLINGTON, Va. — Combined U.S. factory shipments of 761,032 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for May were down 10 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 159,599 were also down 8 percent compared to May 2003. Total shipments for the first five months of 2003 are down 4 percent from those of last year.

ARI also reports that May 2003 factory stocks were down 72,139 units from April 2003 and up 169,562 units from May 2002. Distributor inventories for May 2003 were up 39,555 units from April 2003 and up 57,272 units from May 2002. May 2003 distributor shipments were down 15 percent from May 2002 with year-to-date shipments down 10 percent.