For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, October 5, 2010 USDL-10-1390
Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex
Media Contact : (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
CONSUMER EXPENDITURES--2009
Average annual expenditures per consumer unit(1) fell 2.8 percent in 2009
following an increase of 1.7 percent in 2008, according to results from the
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The spending decrease was larger than the 0.4-percent decrease in
prices from 2008 to 2009 as measured by the average annual change in the
Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). This was the first time there has been a drop in
spending from the previous year since the CE began publishing integrated data
in 1984 from the Diary and Interview components of the CE.
Spending on housing and transportation fell 1.3 percent and 11.0 percent,
respectively, contributing to the overall drop in spending in 2009. Healthcare
expenditures rose 5.0 percent, the only increase among the major components of
spending. Among the other major components, food dropped 1.1 percent, apparel
fell 4.2 percent, entertainment dropped 5.0 percent, and personal insurance
and pensions fell 2.4 percent.
Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units
and percent changes, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2007-2009
_____________________________________________________________________________
Percent change
Item 2007 2008 2009 2007-2008 2008-2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of consumer
units (000’s) 120,171 120,770 120,847
Income before taxes $63,091 $63,563 $62,857 0.7 -1.1
Average age of
reference person 48.8 49.1 49.4
Average number in
consumer unit:
Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5
Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3
Vehicles 1.9 2.0 2.0
Percent homeowner 67 66 66
Average annual
expenditures $49,638 $50,486 $49,067 1.7 -2.8
Food 6,133 6,443 6,372 5.1 -1.1
At home 3,465 3,744 3,753 8.1 0.2
Away from home 2,668 2,698 2,619 1.1 -2.9
Housing 16,920 17,109 16,895 1.1 -1.3
Apparel and services 1,881 1,801 1,725 -4.3 -4.2
Transportation 8,758 8,604 7,658 -1.8 -11.0
Healthcare 2,853 2,976 3,126 4.3 5.0
Entertainment 2,698 2,835 2,693 5.1 -5.0
Personal insurance
and pensions 5,336 5,605 5,471 5.0 -2.4
All other expenditures 5,059 5,113 5,127 1.0 0.3
_____________________________________________________________________________
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.
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 2009 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.
Spending patterns from 2007-2009
Consumer Expenditure Survey data measure how consumers allocate their spending
among the various components of total expenditures. For example, the 2009 data
show that the largest component of consumers’ budgets is housing, which
accounts for about a third of overall spending. Another use of the CE data is
to look at how spending patterns change over time. Table B shows how the
amounts spent for selected expenditure components changed over the 3-year
period from 2007 to 2009. Changes in total spending and many of its components
reflected the impact the weak economy had on how consumers allocated their
budgets. Spending changes included:
• Mortgage interest payments and charges, a subcomponent of housing, fell
from $3,890 in 2007 to $3,594 in 2009, evidence of the higher than normal
default rate on mortgages, falling house prices, lower rates of
homeownership, and declining mortgage interest rates over the period.
• While the price increase in rent of primary residence as measured by the
CPI-U increased 6.0 percent over the period, spending on rented dwellings
increased 9.9 percent over the period from 2007 to 2009. Consumer units
within the highest income quintile group increased expenditures for rented
dwellings from $1,293 in 2007 to $1,911 in 2009.
• Gasoline and motor oil expenditures fluctuated as the price of gasoline
rose and fell sharply during the period. Gasoline prices for motor vehicles
rose 16.6 percent from 2007 to 2008 and dropped 27.4 percent from 2008 to
2009, as measured by the CPI-U.
• The level of spending on healthcare continued to rise, from $2,853 in 2007
to $3,126 in 2009, largely due to the increase in the health insurance
subcomponent.
Table B. Average annual expenditures for selected components, Consumer
Expenditure Survey, 2007-2009
_____________________________________________________________________________
Item 2007 2008 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mortgage interest and charges $3,890 $3,826 $3,594
Rented dwellings 2,602 2,724 2,860
Apparel and services 1,881 1,801 1,725
Gasoline and motor oil 2,384 2,715 1,986
Healthcare 2,853 2,976 3,126
_____________________________________________________________________________
Other available data
A forthcoming annual report will include a brief discussion of expenditure
changes in 2009 and tables with data classified by the standard
characteristics included on the website. Methodological and analytical
articles using CE data from the past several years will be included in the
upcoming Consumer Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2010 report. 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 2009 Diary and Interview microdata are now available for purchase on
CD-ROM. CE paradata, information about the survey process, are available for
the first time this year. 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 beginning in 2007--STATA, SPSS, and ASCII
comma-delimited. (See www.bls.gov/cex/csxmicro.htm for details and ordering
information.)
For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys,
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; TDD
message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
United States Department of Labor
