But What Exactly Are Americans Buying?

This morning, on The Wall Street Journal’s website, there was a live video of Americans coming and going in a shopping mall, arms filled with packages. It goes to show how our neighbor’s buying habits are put under a magnifying glass on this day, Black Friday.

Many would like the Americans, big spenders who fueled the world economy for a long time, to rediscover their bad habits of consumption.

But, as this Wall Street Journal analysis reveals, the behavior of Americans has changed profoundly since 2009.

When Americans spend money, they are more susceptible to buying goods like a smartphone, clothing or even a car rather than going out to a restaurant or going to the salon for a manicure.

It is, it seems, normal that consumer spending on goods is bouncing back faster than spending on services, but the buying habits of Americans are still marked by the economic crisis, two years after the official end of the recession in the United States at the end of spring 2009.

Since the second trimester of 2009, the sale of goods has risen by 9.1 percent (adjusted for inflation). The newspaper did the analysis based on facts provided by the United States Department of Commerce. However, consumer spending on discretionary services has only risen 2.8 percent during the same period.

Now, services play an important role in the creation of jobs. Services represent nearly half of the United States’ gross domestic product and more than half of jobs, notes Alan Krueger, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Also, as much as Americans put off their haircut or repairing their car, the United States won’t get out of this difficult situation.