For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 USDL-14-1671
Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex
Media Contact : (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
CONSUMER EXPENDITURES--2013
Average expenditures per consumer unit (1) in 2013 were $51,100, little changed
from 2012 levels, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In 2013
spending decreased 0.7 percent during the same period that the Consumer Price
Index (CPI-U) increased 1.5 percent. In 2012 spending had increased 3.5 percent,
outpacing the increase in prices. In 2013 average income per consumer unit
edged down from 2012.
Most of the major components of household spending decreased in 2013, as shown
in table A. The largest declines occurred in the all other expenditures
(-8.2 percent) and apparel and services (-7.6 percent) components. The all
other expenditures category includes alcoholic beverages, education,
miscellaneous, personal care products, reading, and tobacco products, all of
which showed decreases. The only major components of household spending to
increase were healthcare (2.1 percent), housing (1.5 percent), and
transportation (0.1 percent). Overall food expenditures did not change in 2013,
however food at home increased 1.4 percent while food away from home decreased
2.0 percent. Other highlights include a 4.7-percent decrease in entertainment
spending and a 4.1-percent decrease in cash contributions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Changes to Consumer Expenditures (CE) Tax Data |
| |
|The CE introduced new estimates of state and federal tax liabilities using |
|the TaxSim calculator produced by the National Bureau of Economic Research |
|(NBER). Beginning with the second quarter of 2013, the state and federal tax |
|amounts used in the tables are estimates based on the expenditures and |
|income and family characteristics. The CE gratefully acknowledges the support|
|of NBER. These estimates improve the quality of the tax liabilities data |
|along with estimates of after-tax income data. The tax data collected |
|directly from consumer units during the Interview survey will be available |
|in the 2014 public use microdata, after which they will no longer be |
|collected. A report analyzing the impact of the change is forthcoming. |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units
and percent changes, 2011-2013
_____________________________________________________________________________
Percent change
Item 2011 2012 2013 2011-2012 2012-2013
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual expenditures:
Total $49,705 $51,442 $51,100 3.5 -0.7
Food 6,458 6,599 6,602 2.2 0.0
At home 3,838 3,921 3,977 2.2 1.4
Away from home 2,620 2,678 2,625 2.2 -2.0
Housing 16,803 16,887 17,148 0.5 1.5
Apparel and services 1,740 1,736 1,604 -0.2 -7.6
Transportation 8,293 8,998 9,004 8.5 0.1
Healthcare 3,313 3,556 3,631 7.3 2.1
Entertainment 2,572 2,605 2,482 1.3 -4.7
Cash contributions 1,721 1,913 1,834 11.2 -4.1
Personal insurance 5,424 5,591 5,528 3.1 -1.1
and pensions
All other expenditures 3,382 3,557 3,267 5.2 -8.2
Consumer unit characteristics:
Number of consumer 122,187 124,416 125,670
units (000’s)
Average age of 49.7 50.0 50.1
reference person
Average number in
consumer unit:
People 2.5 2.5 2.5
Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3
Vehicles 1.9 1.9 1.9
Percent homeowner 64.9 64.3 63.7
Income before taxes $63,685 $65,596 $63,784 3.0 -2.8
_____________________________________________________________________________
Spending patterns, 2012-2013
Table B highlight spending patterns of selected components.
Spending changes included:
• Health insurance spending routinely accounts for 61 percent of overall
health care expenditures. The 21.8-percent increase in health insurance
expenditures since 2010 was the driving force behind the increased
expenditures on overall healthcare, an 8.2 percent increase from 2012 to
2013. The percent reporting health insurance expenditures changed from
64 percent in 2010 to 65 percent in 2013.
• Gasoline expenditures decreased by 5.1 percent from 2012 to 2013. In
the CPI-U, the average price per gallon for all types of gasoline for
2013 dropped 3.0 percent from 2012.
• Overall expenditures on transportation were essentially unchanged due
to lower gasoline spending being offset by a 1.9-percent increase in
vehicle expenditures from 2012 to 2013.
• Apparel spending continued to decline. The drop from 2012 to 2013 was
widespread across most of the subcategories, including an 8.3-percent drop for
men and boys clothing and a 7.6-percent drop for women and girls clothing.
• The decrease in cash contributions from 2012 to 2013 can largely be
attributed to a 9.1-percent decrease in contributions to charities and a
4.8-percent drop in contributions to church and religious organizations.
Table B. Average annual consumer expenditures for selected components,
2011-2013
_____________________________________________________________________________
Item 2011 2012 2013
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health insurance $1,922 $2,061 $2,229
Gasoline 2,451 2,549 2,418
Vehicle purchases, net outlay (2) 2,669 3,210 3,271
Apparel and services 1,740 1,736 1,604
Cash contributions to church, 649 734 699
religious organizations
_____________________________________________________________________________
Spending by income quintile
Table C show the percent change for expenditures by income quintile. Overall
spending decreased in all quintiles except for the lowest quintile, which
increased by $239. Spending on healthcare increased in all categories with the
exception of the highest income quintile in 2013. In contrast, all quintiles
decreased spending on cash contributions. Expenditures on food increased for
the lowest two quintiles, while spending decreased for the upper quintiles.
Table C. Dollar change and percent change in average annual expenditures on
major components by income quintile, 2012-2013
______________________________________________________________________________
Lowest Second Third
Item Dollar Percent Dollar Percent Dollar
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual expenditure change:
Total $239 1.1 -$73 -0.2 -$509
Food 153 4.4 257 5.7 -70
At home 98 4.1 230 7.7 -27
Away from home 56 5.2 28 1.8 -42
Housing 127 1.4 -264 -2.2 53
Apparel and services -35 -4.6 -92 -8.1 19
Transportation -120 -3.5 394 7.2 -110
Healthcare 113 6.7 63 2.3 12
Entertainment 13 1.3 -187 -11.7 -59
Cash contributions -121 -17.3 -55 -5.0 -6
Personal insurance and pensions -26 -5.3 41 2.5 -127
All other expenditures 137 7.8 -231 -10.8 -223
______________________________________________________________________________
Third Fourth Highest
Item Percent Dollar Percent Dollar Percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual expenditure change:
Total -1.2 -$1,138 -1.9 -$131 -0.1
Food -1.2 -176 -2.2 -150 -1.3
At home -0.7 -111 -2.4 90 1.5
Away from home -1.9 -66 -2.0 -241 -4.5
Housing 0.4 221 1.2 1,196 4.0
Apparel and services 1.4 -254 -12.0 -296 -8.8
Transportation -1.3 -641 -5.6 516 3.2
Healthcare 0.4 217 5.2 -30 -0.5
Entertainment -2.9 -64 -2.2 -311 -5.7
Cash contributions -0.5 -94 -4.3 -109 -2.6
Personal insurance and pensions -3.5 -84 -1.3 -91 -0.6
All other expenditures -8.6 -264 -7.2 -853 -11.2
______________________________________________________________________________
Tables and data
Consumer Expenditure Survey data include the expenditures and income of
consumers, as well as the demographic characteristics of those consumers.
Tables with more expenditure detail are available at www.bls.gov/cex.
Published tables provide 2013 CE data by standard classifications that include
income quintile, income class, age of reference person, size of consumer unit,
number of earners, composition of consumer unit, region of residence, housing
tenure, type of area (urban-rural), race, Hispanic origin, occupation, and
highest education level of any member. These annual tables include means,
shares, and standard errors. Other tables available on the website include
expenditures by age, region, size, or gender cross-tabulated by income before
taxes and other demographic variables. Historical tables back to 1984 and
tabulations for selected metropolitan areas are also available.
A forthcoming Annual Report will include a brief discussion of expenditure
changes in 2013 and tables with data classified by the standard characteristics
that are included on the website. Future articles in the BLS Beyond the Numbers
web report series will highlight recent trends in prices and spending in the
U.S. economy, and will feature 2013 CE data. Recent CE-specific Beyond the
Numbers articles provide analyses of topical economic issues and long term
spending trends, as well as comparisons of CE data to other
data series (see www.bls.gov/cex/csxwebarticles.htm).
Other survey information available on the Internet includes answers to
frequently asked questions, a glossary, order forms for survey products,
and analytical articles that use CE data. Also available are the Diary Survey
questionnaire form and a modified version of the computer assisted personal
Interview (CAPI) instrument used to collect the Interview Survey data.
The 2013 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary Survey
data, and paradata (information about the survey process), are available on the
CE website for free electronic download. The Interview files contain expenditure
data in two different formats: MTBI files that present monthly values in an
item-coding framework based on the CPI pricing scheme, and EXPN files that
organize expenditures by the section of the Interview questionnaire in which
they are collected. Expenditure values on EXPN files cover different time
periods depending on the specific questions asked, and the files also contain
relevant non-expenditure information not found on the MTBI files. The
public-use microdata for 2013 also includes the new estimates of state and
federal tax liabilities. The CE introduced these estimates to improve the
quality of the surveyed tax liabilities, which suffered from low response
rates. The surveyed tax data will be available for 2013, after which it will
no longer be collected. Past releases of CE public-use microdata that were
previously only available on USB Flash Drives for purchase will become available
on the CE website for free download. The 2002 to 2012 releases are already
available online. Prior releases will be posted incrementally online in reverse
chronological order through the 1996 release. For releases prior to 1996 and
those not yet available online, users can continue to purchase USB Flash Drives
using the public-use microdata order form (see www.bls.gov/cex/pumdhome.htm).
Future releases of public-use microdata will be available online for free download.
For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey,
Office of Prices and Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20212-0001 or call (202) 691-6900;
E-mail: cexinfo@bls.gov. Information in this release is available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200;
Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339.
1 Consumer units include families, single persons living alone or sharing a
household with others but who are financially independent, or two or more persons
living together who share expenses.
2 Net outlays subtract the value of any vehicle trade-ins, in order to capture the
out-of-pocket expenditures on vehicles.
United States Department of Labor
