In June, real consumer durable goods spending was $2,221,453 (millions of $, SAAR), which was slightly less than the previous three months. Yet, June’s durable goods spending was 13.0% higher than it was one year ago. June 2021 did not benefit from an easy comparison with one year ago as June 2020’s durable goods spending was similar to pre-lockdown spending levels. Therefore, durable goods spending in June 2021 was quite strong. In the last 13 months, month-over-month growth was more than 10% every month.

The annual rate of growth decelerated in June, ending a streak of 11 months of accelerating growth. However, the rate of growth decelerated just 0.1% slower than May, which was the fastest rate of annual growth ever. This extreme rate of growth is causing significant problems in the supply chain as it is contributing to increased prices of raw materials, shipping problems, and production problems as some manufacturers are still dealing with reduced staffing.

Below are key spending categories that lead the most important manufacturing new orders and production indices. 

Accelerating Growth: clothing/footwear, medical care, motor vehicles/parts, other non-durable goods, total consumer

Decelerating Growth: appliances, durable goods, electronics, food/beverage, pleasure boats

Accelerating Contraction: 

Decelerating Contraction: air transportation services