For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 27, 2011 USDL-11-1395
Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex
Media Contact : (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
CONSUMER EXPENDITURES--2010
Average annual expenditures per consumer unit(1) fell 2.0 percent in 2010
following a decrease of 2.8 percent in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. While spending fell in 2010, prices for goods and
services increased 1.6 percent from 2009 to 2010, as measured by the average
annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). This was the second
consecutive year that there has been a drop in spending. The 2010 level of
average annual expenditures, $48,109, was lower than the 2006 amount of
$48,398.
Spending on food and housing fell 3.8 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively,
contributing to the overall drop in spending in 2010. Healthcare
(+1.0 percent) and transportation (+0.2 percent) were the only major
components of spending to increase. Among the other major components,
entertainment fell 7.0 percent, cash contributions dropped 5.2 percent,
personal insurance and pensions decreased 1.8 percent, and apparel and
services fell 1.4 percent.
Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units
and percent changes, 2008-2010
_____________________________________________________________________________
Percent change
Item 2008 2009 2010 2008-2009 2009-2010
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of consumer
units (000’s) 120,770 120,847 121,107
Income before taxes $63,563 $62,857 $62,481 -1.1 -0.6
Average age of
reference person 49.1 49.4 49.4
Average number in
consumer unit:
Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5
Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3
Vehicles 2.0 2.0 1.9
Percent homeowner 66 66 66
Average annual
expenditures $50,486 $49,067 $48,109 -2.8 -2.0
Food 6,443 6,372 6,129 -1.1 -3.8
At home 3,744 3,753 3,624 0.2 -3.4
Away from home 2,698 2,619 2,505 -2.9 -4.4
Housing 17,109 16,895 16,557 -1.3 -2.0
Apparel and services 1,801 1,725 1,700 -4.2 -1.4
Transportation 8,604 7,658 7,677 -11.0 0.2
Healthcare 2,976 3,126 3,157 5.0 1.0
Entertainment 2,835 2,693 2,504 -5.0 -7.0
Cash contributions 1,737 1,723 1,633 -0.8 -5.2
Personal insurance
and pensions 5,605 5,471 5,373 -2.4 -1.8
All other expenditures 3,376 3,404 3,379 0.8 -0.7
_____________________________________________________________________________
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.
Spending patterns, 2008-2010
Table B shows amounts spent for selected expenditure components over
the 3-year period from 2008 to 2010. Spending changes included:
• Food away from home spending steadily decreased from $2,698 in 2008 to
$2,505 in 2010.
• Mortgage interest and charges for owned homes, a subcomponent of housing,
fell from $3,826 in 2008 to $3,351 in 2010.
• Expenditures on gasoline and motor oil varied widely during the period,
decreasing 26.9 percent from 2008 to 2009, then increasing 7.4 percent
from 2009 to 2010. The fluctuations can partly be explained by the yearly
price of gasoline falling in 2009 (-27.4 percent) and then rising again
in 2010 (+18.4 percent), as measured by the CPI-U.
• The increase in healthcare spending, from $2,976 in 2008 to $3,157 in
2010, was driven by the 10.8-percent increase in health insurance
spending over the period, although the increase in health insurance from
2009 to 2010 was small (+2.6 percent). The level of spending for both
healthcare and health insurance has increased on a year-to-year basis for
well over a decade.
• Cash contributions, which includes payments to charities and religious
organizations, fell 6.0 percent from 2008 to 2010.
Table B. Average annual consumer expenditures for selected components,
2008-2010
_____________________________________________________________________________
Item 2008 2009 2010
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Food away from home $2,698 $2,619 $2,505
Mortgage interest and charges 3,826 3,594 3,351
Gasoline and motor oil 2,715 1,986 2,132
Healthcare 2,976 3,126 3,157
Cash contributions 1,737 1,723 1,633
_____________________________________________________________________________
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 2010 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
education. Standard error tables are available for most of the demographic
breakouts. 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.
Other available data
A forthcoming annual report will include a brief discussion of expenditure
changes in 2010 and tables with data classified by the standard
characteristics that are included on the website. An article in the BLS Focus
on Prices and Spending web report series, which highlights recent trends in
prices and spending in the U.S. economy, will feature 2010 CE data. Recent
CE-specific Focus articles provide analyses of topical economic issues and
long term spending trends, as well as comparisons of CE data to other data
series (see http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxwebarticles.htm). Methodological and
analytical articles using CE data from the past several years are included in
the recently released Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2011 report
(see http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxanthol11.htm). All data published in the annual
report and posted to the website are integrated from the two CE components--
the quarterly Interview Survey and weekly Diary Survey.
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 2010 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary
Survey data, and paradata (information about the survey process), are now
available for purchase on CD-ROM. The Interview files contain expenditure data
in two different formats: MTAB 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 MTAB files. The CE
microdata files are available on CD-ROM back to 1990 and for selected earlier
years. In addition to the standard ASCII and PC SAS formats offered in the
past, three additional formats are available--STATA, SPSS, and ASCII
comma-delimited. Historical data from 1996 forward are also now available in
these data types (See www.bls.gov/cex/csxmicro.htm for details and ordering
information).
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 will be made available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal
Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339.
United States Department of Labor
