ARLINGTON, Va. - Combined U.S. factory shipments of 388,533 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for November were up 9 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 116,964 also jumped 26 percent compared to November 2003. Total shipments of 6,443,615 units are up 1 percent from 2002 and are on pace to meet or exceed 2002 record shipments of 6,746,326 units.

ARI also reports that November 2003 factory stocks were down 31,414 units from October 2003, and up 5,725 units from November 2002. Distributor inventories for 2003 were down 34,268 units from October 2003, and down 36,817 units from November 2002. Distributor shipments for 2003 were up 22 percent from 2002, with year-to-date shipments down 0.1 percent.