This is the fifth 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.

Factoid #5 compares the dollar growth in personal consumption of three major home furnishings consumer products - Furniture, Major Household Appliances, and Televisions. 

The innovation in Televisions has been the major home furnishings consumer expenditure story early on, growing from 13.1 percent of the home furnishings category to 21.5 percent over the 15-year period. 

The Television industry has more than doubled since 2000, growing 141 percent.  However, most of that growth occurred before and during the recession. Since the recession, the Furniture industry has outperformed both Televisions and Appliances, growing 20 percent since 2009 compared to 9 percent for Appliances and 4 percent for Televisions.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis “Personal Consumption Expenditures”