CONSUMER EXPENDITURES MIDYEAR UPDATE--JULY 2014 THROUGH JUNE 2015 AVERAGE
For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Friday, April 15, 2016 USDL-16-0749
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CONSUMER EXPENDITURES MIDYEAR UPDATE -- JULY 2014
THROUGH JUNE 2015 AVERAGE
Average expenditures per consumer unit (1) for July 2014 through June
2015 were up 5.9 percent compared with the July 2013 through June 2014
midyear average, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today.
Average incomes also increased, up 6.6 percent.
All major components of household spending, with the exception of cash
contributions,increased over the 12 months ending June 2015.(See table A.)
The 19.2-percent rise in education spending was the largest percentage
increase among all major components, followed by a 12.6-percent rise in
apparel and services spending and an 11.7-percent increase in healthcare
spending.
Table A. Average expenditures and income of all consumer units
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Percent change
July 2013- July 2014- July 2013 - June 2014
Item June 2014- June 2015- to
Average Average July 2014 - June 2015
--------------------------------------- ---------- ---------------------
Income before taxes $64,432 $68,662 6.6
Average annual expenditures 51,933 54,992 5.9
Food 6,665 6,887 3.3
Housing 17,377 18,128 4.3
Apparel and services 1,674 1,885 12.6
Transportation 9,104 9,315 2.3
Vehicle purchases 3,353 3,723 11.0
Gasoline 2,379 2,094 -12.0
Healthcare 3,919 4,379 11.7
Health insurance 2,505 2,972 18.6
Entertainment 2,560 2,782 8.7
Education 1,143 1,362 19.2
Cash contributions 1,790 1,761 -1.6
Personal insurance and 5,551 6,048 9.0
pensions
All other expenditures 2,150 2,445 13.7
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Note: Subcategories do not sum to 100%.
Spending patterns, July 2014 – June 2015 compared with July 2013 – June 2014
• Transportation expenditures edged up 2.3 percent to $9,315. Within
transportation, two underlying components moved considerably in
opposite directions, vehicle purchases up 11.0 percent and gasoline
down 12.0 percent.
• Healthcare spending rose 11.7 percent to $4,379 for July 2014
through June 2015. The level of spending for healthcare has
increased every year annually from 1996 through 2014(2). The most
recent increase was driven by an 18.6-percent increase in average
household health insurance expenditures. This increase was due to
both additional consumer units reporting quarterly health insurance
expenditures, up over 3 percentage points from the previous midyear
period, and higher expenditures by those reporting health insurance
expenditures.
• Apparel and services spending increased 12.6 percent to $1,885,
after falling 1.9 percent during the previous midyear period.
Increases were seen across all components of this category: men and
boys, women and girls, children under 2, footwear, and other apparel
products and services.
• Education spending increased 19.2 percent to $1,362. The rise was
driven by increases in spending on college tuition and finance
charges for student loans.
• Categories of entertainment and personal insurance and pensions
expenditures increased 8.7 percent and 9.0 percent respectively,
reversing declines of the previous midyear period.
Spending by selected demographics
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data measure how consumers allocate their
spending among the various components of total expenditures. Table B
compares the share allocated to selected expenditures by income quintiles.
The lowest income quintile allocated larger shares to food and housing
than all other quintiles. The highest income quintile 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 healthcare among the income quintile groups.
Table B. Shares of average expenditures on selected major components by
income quintiles, July 2014 through June 2015
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Income quintiles
Lowest Second Third Fourth Highest
Item 20th 20th 20th 20th 20th
percent percent percent percent percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Food 15.7 14.3 12.7 12.5 11.2
Housing 40.0 36.4 34.2 32.0 30.3
Transportation 14.5 17.1 18.9 18.4 15.8
Healthcare 7.3 10.0 9.0 8.5 6.7
Personal insurance 2.2 5.0 8.3 11.5 15.8
& pensions
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Table C shows expenditures and income before taxes by quintile from July
2013 through June 2015. All quintiles showed increases in both
average annual expenditures and in income before taxes across the 12
months ending June 2015.
Table C. Percent change in average annual expenditures and income before
taxes by income quintile
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Average annual expenditures Income before taxes
July 2013- July 2014- Percent July 2013- July 2014- Percent
Income quintile June 2014 June 2015 change June 2014 June 2015 change
---------------------------- ---------- -------- ---------- ---------- -------
Lowest 20th $22,981 $24,455 6.4 $9,818 $10,666 8.6
percent
Second 20th 32,778 34,645 5.7 26,369 27,711 5.1
percent
Third 20th 43,739 45,546 4.1 45,724 48,661 6.4
percent
Fourth 20th 59,250 62,912 6.2 74,410 79,773 7.2
percent
Highest 20th 100,979 107,424 6.4 166,048 176,583 6.3
percent
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Other available data
Standard CE midyear tables can be found at
www.bls.gov/cex/midyear.htm. Data tables with the most detailed
subcategories of expenditures can be obtained by sending a request to
cexinfo@bls.gov.
The 2014 Annual Report, "Consumer Expenditures in 2014," which will be
available in June, will include a brief discussion of expenditure changes
in 2014 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 www.bls.gov/cex/csxwebarticles.htm and
www.bls.gov/cex/cecomparison.htm). Additional methodological and analytical
articles using CE data will be published in 2016. 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, 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 1996 through 2014 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. For releases prior to 1996, users
can continue to purchase USB flash drives using the public-use microdata order
form (see www.bls.gov/cex/pumdhome.htm).
The 2015 Annual News Release, data tables, and public-use microdata are
planned for release at the end of August 2016. Public-use microdata will not
be released on a rolling half-year basis.
The annual CE Microdata Users' Workshop and Survey Methods Symposium will be
held July 12-15, 2016 at the BLS national office. Registration is free. More
information and the registration form are available at
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.
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 A change in interview collection methods for health insurance occurred
for 2014 data. For details, please see the previous news release
www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cesan_09032015.pdf.
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Table of Contents
Last Modified Date: April 15, 2016
United States Department of Labor
