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Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/cex USDL-01-480

Technical information: 202-691-6900 FOR RELEASE: 10:00 A.M. EST

Media information: 202-691-5902 Thursday, December 27, 2001

 CONSUMER EXPENDITURES IN 2000

 Average annual expenditures per consumer unit rose 2.8 percent in 2000,

following increases of 4.1 percent in 1999 and 2.1 percent in 1998, according 

to results from the Consumer Expenditure Survey released by the Bureau of Labor

Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The increase in expenditures from 

1999 to 2000 was less than the 3.4 percent annual average rise in the Consumer

Price Index (CPI) over this period.

 The changes in expenditures from 1999 to 2000 varied among the major 

components of spending. Expenditures on housing and food rose less than the 

overall change--by 2.2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Spending on apparel 

and services, transportation, and health care rose in the 5.5- to 6.5-percent range,

whereas spending on entertainment and on personal insurance and pensions each 

decreased in 2000--by 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Annual expenditures of all consumer units and percent changes, 

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-2000

____________________________________________________________________________

 Percent change

Item 1998 1999 2000 1998-99 1999-2000

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of consumer 

 units (000's) 107,182 108,465 109,367 

Income before taxes 1/ $41,622 $43,951 $44,649 

 

Average age of 

 reference person 47.6 47.9 48.2 

 

Average number in 

 consumer unit: 

 Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5 

 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.4 

 Vehicles 2.0 1.9 1.9 

Percent homeowner 64 65 66 

 

Average annual 

 expenditures $35,535 $36,995 $38,045 4.1 2.8

 Food 4,810 5,031 5,158 4.6 2.5

 At home 2,780 2,915 3,021 4.9 3.6

 Away from home 2,030 2,116 2,137 4.2 1.0

 Housing 11,713 12,057 12,319 2.9 2.2

 Apparel and services 1,674 1,743 1,856 4.1 6.5

 Transportation 6,616 7,011 7,417 6.0 5.8

 Health care 1,903 1,959 2,066 2.9 5.5

 Entertainment 1,746 1,891 1,863 8.3 -1.5

 Personal insurance 

 and pensions 3,381 3,436 3,365 1.6 -2.1
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 Other expenditures 3,693 3,868 4,001 4.7 3.4

______________________________________________________________________________

1/ Income values are derived from "complete income reporters" only.

 Consumer Expenditure Survey data include the expenditures and income of 

consumers, as well as the demographic characteristics of those consumers. A 

soon-to-be-published report will include tables showing the 2000 data classified

by income quintile, income class, size of consumer unit, number of earners, 

composition of consumer unit, age of the reference person, region of residence,

housing tenure, type of area (urban-rural), race, Hispanic origin, occupation, 

and education. These are standard classifications that have been published in

prior reports and bulletins.

Other available data

 Detailed reports that include integrated Consumer Expenditure (CE)

Survey data are published at two-year intervals and contain tables of 

average annual expenditures, income, and characteristics for the same 

classifications that are shown in the annual report but with additional detail.

The most recent two-year report included CE Survey data for 1998 and 1999 and 

was published in the fall of 2001. Also included in the two-year reports are 

tables showing average annual data over a two-year period for the following

characteristics: income before taxes cross-tabulated by either age, consumer 

unit size, or region; single consumers by gender cross-tabulated by either income

or age; and selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The two-year report

also includes analyses of expenditure data as they apply to various topics of

interest. 

 

 Tables with the same level of detail as shown in the two-year reports are

available on the Internet by accessing the BLS site(http://www.bls.gov/cex). 

Other survey information also is available on the Internet, including answers to 

frequently asked questions, a glossary, and order forms for survey products. 

The data are available back to 1984. Variance estimates for integrated Diary 

and Interview survey data for 2000 will be available upon request.

 The 2000 Diary and Interview microdata soon will be available 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 the EXPN files

cover different time periods depending on the specific question asked, and the 

files also contain relevant non-expenditure information not found on the MTAB files.

The Interview and Diary microdata files are available on CD-ROM back to 1990 and for

selected earlier years. Tabulations of integrated data for 2000 with more detail 

than is shown in this news release or in the annual report are included on the CD-ROM. 

Beginning with the 1996 microdata on CD-ROM, files are available in a choice of either 

ASCII format or PC SAS datasets.

 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. Information in this 

release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. 
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Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.