- After business closures and quarantines in 2020, Americans are ready to go out and spend this summer.
- We're spending more on movie theaters and trains than just a few months ago, in January 2021.
- This chart shows which goods and services have seen the largest percent changes from January to May.
Now that almost 60% of US adults are fully vaccinated, life looks a lot different.
Americans are buying dresses and jeans to wear outside our homes, booking hotel reservation and flights to travel again, and more are feeling comfortable with dining out. And, according to recent data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, we're headed back to movies, theme parks, and train stations in droves.
The following chart shows the five goods and services that had the largest percent increases in personal spending from January to May of this year (shaded in green) and the five that had the largest decreases (shaded in red) during this period. The chart highlights how spending for these types of goods and services has changed over the past few months since the start of the year.
Americans are spending a lot more at movie theaters than they were earlier in the year - $2.32 billion in May at an annualized rate, up 166.13% from January's $871 million. Spending at movie theaters has not only climbed over the year, but in just one month from April to May it grew by 20.60%. That's one of the largest monthly percent increases among the goods and services.
Two types of transportation have also seen major increases compared to January: railway transportation and intracity mass transit, such as buses. Railway transportation grew from $276 million in January 2021 to $510 million in May, or a percent increase of 84.78%.
A few large amusement parks in the US reopened this year: Universal Studios Hollywood reopened in mid-April and Disneyland Park and California Adventure reopened on April 30. Americans are ready to spend time (and money) letting off steam after a year of closures during the pandemic. Spending for amusement parks, campgrounds, and related recreational services was one of the larger monthly growths from April to May at 17.98%.
On the other end, Americans are spending less on funeral and burial services than they were at the start of the year. We spent $25 billion on this kind of service in May 2021 at an annualized rate, down 31.52% from January's $36.51 billion.
Although spending is up for some goods and services compared to earlier this year, Indeed economist AnnElizabeth Konkel told Insider in an email that consumer spending on services is still not back to its pre-pandemic level.
"This isn't shocking given that COVID-19 has complicated any sort of in-person interaction, though there is some relief this summer with widespread vaccinations," Konkel wrote in an email. "While some sectors, like movie theaters, are seeing improved spending compared to last winter, they are still not back to their pre-pandemic levels."
Is your dollar not going as far as it used to? Please reach out to mhoff@insider.com.