National Report - March 4 - The number of U.S. households actively shopping for carpeting, furniture and major appliances in February totaled 16 percent, marking a decrease of one percentage point compared with the previous month, according to a monthly national survey conducted by Leo J. Shapiro and Associates in Chicago.

The poll found that 3 percent of U.S. households were actively shopping for carpeting, 11 percent were shopping for furniture and 7 percent were looking for a major appliance in February. About 35 percent of those households said they might actually buy one of those products in the coming year. That down 6 percentage points compared with the previous month.

Each month a new sample of 450 households is surveyed. Interviews are done by telephone and divided about equally between the woman and man of the house. The survey, which is projectable to U.S. households who are telephone subscribers, has been done continuously since 1975 and is based on 5,400 interviews annually.