Revised Growth in Furniture Consumer Spending 2010 to 2018

June 28, 2019  by Laurie Northington in General   

Consumer spending on furniture increased 7 percent last year outpacing the growth of all other broad home furnishings goods categories with sales of $114.6 billion in sales. Despite promising growth, all home furnishings goods continue to lose consumer dollars to spending on services including healthcare, rents and mortgages. This is the first factoid in a series of five factoids detailing consumer spending across all spending categories in 2018.

Overall, personal consumption expenditures have risen 41.6 percent post-recession with the majority of consumer spending – roughly two-thirds – absorbed by services and the amount increases every year. According to the government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Healthcare costs now surpass total housing expenditures at $3.10 trillion versus $2.98 trillion in 2018. Combined healthcare and housing consume much of America’s paychecks. Although services will continue to eat away at consumer dollars with rising housing rents and mortgages, overall consumers are confident in the economy. Spending on durable goods is on the rise and has increased by 44 percent since 2009.

A comprehensive historical revision to Consumer Spending statistics in the second half of last year by the BEA confirmed what many furniture retailers tried to tell us all along. Specifically, that growth in Furniture spending coming out of the Recession ending in 2009 was not as robust has first published. The Bureau of Economic Analysis lowered estimates of Furniture spending beginning in 2011 and which has cumulated to an 8 percent correction that has carried through 2018.

Source: Personal Consumption Expenditures, Bureau of Labor Statistics
*seasonally adjusted at annual rates (SAAR)