For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, October 6, 2009 USDL-09-1208 

Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex 

Media Contact : (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

CONSUMER EXPENDITURES – 2008 

Average annual expenditures per consumer unit1 rose 1.7 percent in 2008 following an increase of 2.6 

percent in 2007, according to results from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) released by the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The spending increase was less than the 

3.8-percent increase in prices from 2007 to 2008 as measured by the average annual change in the 

Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The increase in spending in 2008 was the smallest increase since the 

0.3-percent rise in 2003. 

 

Increases in spending for housing (1.1 percent) and food (5.1 percent) were somewhat offset by 

decreases in spending for transportation (-1.8 percent) and apparel (-4.3 percent) resulting in the small 

overall increase in 2008. Among the other major components, spending increased for healthcare (4.3 

percent), personal insurance and pensions (5.0 percent), and entertainment (5.1 percent). 

Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units and percent 

changes, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2006-2008 

Percent change 

Item 2006 2007 2008 2006-2007 2007-2008 

Number of consumer units (000’s) 118,843 120,171 120,770 

Income before taxes $60,533 $63,091 $63,563 4.2 0.7

Average age of reference person 48.7 48.8 49.1 

Average number in consumer unit: 

 Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5 

 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 

 Vehicles 1.9 1.9 2.0 

Percent homeowner 67 67 66 

Average annual expenditures $48,398 $49,638 $50,486 2.6 1.7

 Food 6,111 6,133 6,443 0.4 5.1

 At home 3,417 3,465 3,744 1.4 8.1

 Away from home 2,694 2,668 2,698 -1.0 1.1

 Housing 16,366 16,920 17,109 3.4 1.1

 Apparel and services 1,874 1,881 1,801 0.4 -4.3

 Transportation 8,508 8,758 8,604 2.9 -1.8

 Healthcare 2,766 2,853 2,976 3.1 4.3

 Entertainment 2,376 2,698 2,835 13.6 5.1

 Personal insurance and pensions 5,270 5,336 5,605 1.3 5.0

 All other expenditures 5,129 5,060 5,113 -1.3 1.0

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 than is shown in 

this news release will be available at http://www.bls.gov/cex. Published tables provide 2008 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. 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. 

Consumer Spending from 1988-2008 

A primary use of the Consumer Expenditure Survey data is to measure how consumers allocate their 

spending among the various components of total expenditures. For example, the 2008 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 and 

Chart 1 show how the amounts spent for selected expenditure components changed over the 20-year 

period from 1988 to 2008, in nominal dollars. As prices and incomes generally rise over time, it is 

expected that the nominal dollar amounts spent on various components will also increase. However, 

differences in the rates of price increases (or decreases), shifts in expenditure patterns, and economic 

conditions such as the recent recessionary period, will all contribute to changes in the amounts that 

consumers allocate to the spending components. Spending changes include: 

• Spending on owned dwellings, a component of housing that includes such items as mortgage 

interest, property taxes and insurance, and maintenance and repairs, showed a large increase 

from $2,569 in 1988 to $6,760 in 2008. 

• The run-up in gasoline prices is reflected in the rapid rise in expenditures in the last several 

years. 

• Spending on both food and healthcare showed steady increases over the period. 

• The amount spent on apparel and services showed very little change over the period, from 

$1,489 in 1988 to $1,801 in 2008, a reflection of the small increase in clothing prices over the 

period—just 3.0 percent as measured by the CPI-U. In contrast, the overall CPI-U increased by 

82.0 percent over the same period. 

Table B. Average annual expenditures for selected components in nominal dollars, Consumer 

Expenditure Survey, selected years 1988-2008 

Item 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008 

Food $3,748 $4,399 $4,810 $5,340 $6,443

Owned dwellings 2,569 3,331 4,245 5,263 6,760

Utilities, fuels, and public services 1,747 2,112 2,405 2,811 3,649

Apparel and services 1,489 1,676 1,674 1,640 1,801

Gasoline and motor oil 932 977 1,017 1,333 2,715

Healthcare 1,298 1,776 1,903 2,416 2,976

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Chart 1. Average annual expenditures for selected components in nominal dollars, Consumer 

Expenditure Survey, 1988-2008 

$0

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$4,000

$5,000

$6,000

$7,000

$8,000

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Food Owned dwellings Utilities, fuels, and public services Apparel and Services Gasoline and motor oil Healthcare

 

Other available data

A forthcoming annual report will include a brief discussion of expenditure changes in 2008 and tables 

with data classified by the standard characteristics included on the website. Detailed reports that include 

CE data are published at two-year intervals and include the standard tabulations and cross-tabulations at 

the same level of expenditure detail as shown on the website. Metropolitan area tables are also included. 

All data published in the reports 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. Beginning with the 

2000 data, standard error tables for integrated data are available on the BLS site. 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 2008 Diary and Interview microdata will be available soon on CD-ROM. The Interview files 

contain expenditure data in two different formats: MTAB files that present monthly values in an itemcoding 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 

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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 the past several years, three additional formats are available beginning in 

2007—STATA, SPSS, and ASCII comma-delimited. (See www.bls.gov/cex/csxmicro.htm for details.) 

 

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.