Post-recession consumer spending: less mobility, more mobile tech
Over the last three years, American consumers may have grown more cautious about their spending, but that caution has been selective. Interestingly, there has been a distinct pattern away from physical mobility -- spending on relocation, cars, sports vehicles, and travel -- and strongly toward mobile technologies.
You only need to look at the long lines that have been forming in front of your nearest Apple store, contrasted with the struggling auto dealership down the street, to draw the conclusion that tougher times sparked interest in more virtual activities.
Mike Mandel just posted some figures, culled from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, that looks at spending by American consumers between the fourth quarter of 2007 -- when the economic downturn officially began, to the end of the second quarter of this year. By the way, he observes that the latest BEA numbers show aggregate personal consumption expenditures are up 2.9%, or $285 billion.
And the winners are:
Telephone equipment +16.6% $1.5 billion
Pets +14.4 $5.7 billion
Education +13.4% $36.9 billion
Childcare +12.8% $3.8 billion
Healthcare +10.8% $193.7 billion
Housing +6.4% $95.4 billion
Food & drink (off-premises) +5.3% $40.3 billion
Communication services +5.0% $14.1 billion
Information processing equip. +3.9% $2.6 billion
Not doing too well over the last seven quarters:
Moving, storage & freight service -16.6% -$3.7 billion
Motor vehicles and parts -16.0% -$64.2 billion
Gasoline/energy -15.3% -$61 billion
Sports & recreation vehicles -12.8% -$6.3 billion
Video & audio equipment -8.4% -$9.9 billion
US travel overseas -7.4% -$4.5 billion
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com