REPLACE MATH WITH HOME REPAIR...:

Consumers facing stagnant wages and tight budgets are rethinking spending on an array of services. They are lengthening the time between haircuts, shunning movie theaters for in-home entertainment and taking over tasks once left to professionals. The shift is one reason inflation-adjusted household spending on services has grown more slowly in this economic expansion than during previous upturns.

The can-do attitude saves consumers money and gives them a sense of empowerment, but it also dings the appliance- repair industry. Spending on appliance repair collapsed an inflation-adjusted 15.7% from the housing bust in 2006 through the recession's end in mid-2009, according to Commerce Department figures. It fell 11% more so far during the expansion.

The drop is contributing to a thinning of the ranks of repair professionals and weaker wage growth for those who remain. Market-research firm IBIS World named appliance repair as the riskiest career for 2015.

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