U.S. furniture, bedding retail sales top $114 billion in 2019

Time：2019-12-30 14:02:15    Share：

Total U.S. sales of furniture and bedding totaled an estimated $114.5 billion this year, according to estimates from Furniture Today, which are based on personal consumption and expenditure data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

According to the estimates, furniture and bedding sales in the U.S. are up 2.8% from last year. This marks the slowest growth, by a slight margin, since 2016. The slower growth can possibly be attributed to President Trump raising tariffs on China, which has significantly impacted the furniture industry.

The economy continued to trudge along this year, albeit at a somewhat slower pace than in previous years. Real GDP and real disposable income both grew at a slower pace in Q2 in 2019 than they did one year ago. Real GDP only increased 2% in Q2 from one year ago, while real disposable income grew 2.5% during that same period.

However, there are bright spots as unemployment was down a tick this past August, while median household income was up. Median household income reached $63,179 in 2018, up 0.9% from the previous year.

Those under the age of 25 had the largest median household income growth, which increased by 9.1% from 2017 to 2018. The 25-to-34 age bracket experienced the second largest growth (5%) over that same period.

Housing starts were up 6.6% across the U.S this past August, with all regions seeing growth except the West, where housing starts decreased 4.8% from one year ago. Housing permits were up 12% in August from one year ago, with all regions experiencing growth except the Midwest, which declined 1.6%.