Consumer Spending: Index Growth Comparison of the Personal Consumption of Housing and Furniture 2000 to 2015 Q1
June 29,
2015 by in General 
This is the second in a series of five Factoids detailing Consumer Spending. Consumers are spending an increasing amount of money on Consumer Services and “Lifestyle Expenditures” – leaving fewer dollars for Furniture and other durable and non-durable goods.
Money spent on Housing, including rent, utilities and other vendor services related to housing costs, has risen at a rapid pace since 2000 – up 85.6 percent in 2015 Q1 while consumption of Furniture rose just 33.3 percent.
Unlike Furniture, which felt the impact of the Recession – dropping 11 percent in 2009, Housing services expenditures only slowed its upward momentum. On a positive note, Furniture has risen 20 percent since the peak of the recession, while Housing increased 18 percent.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, “Personal Consumption Expenditures”