For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Wednesday, March 27, 2013 USDL-13-0541
Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex
Media Contact : (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
CONSUMER EXPENDITURES MIDYEAR UPDATE -- JULY 2011
THROUGH JUNE 2012 AVERAGE
Average expenditures per consumer unit(1) for July 2011 through June 2012 were
1.9 percent higher than the 2011 annual average, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. This gradual rise in spending continued the
increase reported for all of 2011.
All major components of household spending except apparel increased over the
12 months ending in June 2012 compared to the 2011 annual average, as shown in
table A. The 6.3-percent rise in cash contributions (including payments for
support of college students, alimony and child support, and giving to
charities and religious organizations) was the largest percentage increase
among all major components. This was followed by a 4.6-percent increase in
health care spending. Other spending highlights include 2.6-percent increases
in both transportation and personal insurance and pensions, modest increases
in food (+1.1 percent) and housing (+0.8 percent), no change in entertainment
(0.0 percent), and a small drop in apparel and services spending
(-0.6 percent). Average incomes also continued to rise.
Table A. Average expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units and
percent changes, 2010 through June 2012
_______________________________________________________________________________
Percent change
2010* 2011 July 2011- 2011 Annual
Annual Annual June 2012 2010-2011 to July 2011-
Item Average Average Average Annual June 2012
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Income before taxes $62,481 $63,685 $65,132 1.9 2.3
Average annual
expenditures 48,109 49,705 50,631 3.3 1.9
Food 6,129 6,458 6,532 5.4 1.1
Housing 16,557 16,803 16,940 1.5 0.8
Apparel and services 1,700 1,740 1,730 2.4 -0.6
Transportation 7,677 8,293 8,505 8.0 2.6
Health care 3,157 3,313 3,466 4.9 4.6
Entertainment 2,504 2,572 2,573 2.7 0.0
Cash contributions 1,633 1,721 1,829 5.4 6.3
Personal insurance and
pensions 5,373 5,424 5,565 0.9 2.6
All other expenditures 3,379 3,381 3,489 0.1 3.2
_______________________________________________________________________________
*Midyear data prior to July 2011 - June 2012 are not available.
_________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Consumer Expenditures New Midyear Data |
| |
| This news release contains the first midyear update of consumer |
| expenditure data and covers 12 months of expenditures for the last 6 |
| months of 2011 and the first 6 months of 2012. It includes overlapping |
| expenditures from July 2011-December 2011 that were previously included |
| in the annual 2011 tables and adds information from January 2012-June |
| 2012. As this midyear 2012 update involves new methods of data |
| processing, previous midyear data are not available for comparison. |
_________________________________________________________________________
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 by selected demographics
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data measure how consumers allocate their
spending among the various components of total expenditures. For example,
table B compares the share allocated to selected expenditures by
income quintiles. As in previous time periods, the lowest income quintile
allocated larger shares to food and housing than the other quintiles. The
highest income group allocated a larger share to personal insurance and
pensions (including payments for life insurance, other nonhealth insurance,
pensions, and Social Security) than any other group. No clear pattern existed
for the shares allocated to transportation and health care among the income
quintile groups.
Table B. Shares of average expenditures on selected major components by income
quintiles, July 2011 through June 2012
_______________________________________________________________________________
Lowest Second Third Fourth Highest
Item 20 20 20 20 20
percent percent percent percent percent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Food 15.8 14.2 13.2 13.4 11.4
Housing 40.0 38.0 35.5 32.4 30.2
Transportation 14.6 16.3 17.9 18.1 16.2
Health care 7.3 8.2 8.0 7.0 5.7
Personal insurance & pensions 2.1 5.3 8.3 11.1 16.0
_______________________________________________________________________________
Spending patterns, 2010 through June 2012
Table C shows amounts spent for selected expenditure components from 2010
through June 2012. Earlier spending trends continued into the new time period.
Spending changes included:
• Mortgage interest and charges for owned homes, a subcomponent of housing,
fell from $3,351 on average in 2010 to $3,153 for July 2011 through June
2012.
• Natural gas expenditures continued falling from $440 in 2010 to $420 in
2011 and then to $377 for July 2011 through June 2012.
• Expenditures on gasoline and motor oil continued rising during the same
period, increasing from the annual average of $2,132 in 2010 to $2,655 in
2011 to $2,706 for July 2011 through June 2012.
• Health care spending rose from $3,313 in 2011 to $3,466 for July 2011
through June 2012. All the subcomponents of health care--health
insurance, medical services, drugs, and medical supplies--continued
gradually increasing during the period. The level of spending for health
care has increased every year starting in 1996.
• Cash contributions, which include payments for support of college
students, alimony and child support, and giving to charities and
religious organizations, continued to increase.
Table C. Average consumer expenditures for selected components, 2010 through
June 2012
_______________________________________________________________________________
2010* 2011 July 2011-
Annual Annual June 2012
Item Average Average Average
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mortgage interest and charges $3,351 $3,184 $3,153
Natural gas 440 420 377
Gasoline and motor oil 2,132 2,655 2,706
Health care 3,157 3,313 3,466
Cash contributions 1,633 1,721 1,829
_______________________________________________________________________________
*Midyear data prior to July 2011 - June 2012 are not available.
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. Newly
published tables provide July 2011 through June 2012 average 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. In addition,
these new mid-year update tables now include shares of expenditures and
standard error. These tables include overlapping expenditures from July
through December 2011 previously included in annual 2011 tables published
September 2012. The midyear tables add spending information from January
through June 2012 while dropping the January through June 2011 expenditures.
Other available data
A soon-to-be released Annual Report will include a brief discussion of
expenditure changes in 2011 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 CE data. Recent CE-specific
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 and
http://www.bls.gov/cex/cecomparison.htm). Additional methodological and
analytical articles using CE data will be published in 2013. 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 and 2011 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: 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. 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 for download, users can continue to purchase
CDs using the public-use microdata order form (see
http://www.bls.gov/cex/pumdhome.htm). All future releases of public-use
microdata will solely be available online for free electronic download.
Annual public-use microdata covering an entire calendar year will continue to
be released in September, and will not be released on a rolling half-year
basis.
The annual CE Microdata Users' Workshop and Survey Methods Symposium will be
held July 16-19, 2013 at the Bureau of Labor Statistics national office.
Registration is free. More information and the registration form are available
at http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxannualworkshop.htm.
For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey,
Office of Prices and Living Conditions at (202) 691-6900 or by email at
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
