April 30, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumers in the South spend less on entertainment in 1997

Consumer expenditures on entertainment fell in 1997 by 1.3 percent nationwide, but changes in entertainment spending varied by region of the country. Entertainment expenditures rose 13 percent in the West, increased moderately by 4 percent in the Midwest and 1 percent in the Northeast, and decreased by 15 percent in the South.

[Chart data—TXT]

In the West, spending on three of the four subcomponents of entertainment—fees and admissions; pets, toys, and playground equipment; and other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services—rose by 14 percent or more during 1997.

In the South, those same three subcomponents fell by 12 percent or more during 1997. The previous year, these categories all reported expenditure increases—9 percent for entertainment fees and admissions; 15 percent for pets, toys, and playground equipment; and 91 percent for other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services (where yearly changes in spending on unmotored and motorized recreational vehicles can have a large impact on the overall expenditure average in the category).

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Additional information is available from "Consumer Expenditures in 1997", Report 927.