Durable goods industries and non-durables industries

Question

Why does the business cycle influence output and employment in durable goods industries more strictly than in industries generating non-durables?

 

Answer 1

Since durable goods last, consumers can postpone buying replacements. It happens while people are worried regarding a recession & whether there will be a paycheque next month. And firms will soon end generating what people are not buying. Therefore durable goods industries suffer large output declines at the time of recessions. On the contrary, consumers cannot long postpone the buying of non-durables such as food; thus recessions only slightly reduce nondurable output.