file:///U|/Desktop/test/PURLS%20for%20Perm/1999_cesan_12212000.txt[11/26/2018 1:33:05 PM]

Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov USDL-00-369

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

Media information: 202-691-5902 Thursday, December 21, 2000

 CONSUMER EXPENDITURES IN 1999

 Average annual expenditures per consumer unit rose 4.1 percent in 1999,

following increases of 2.1 percent in 1998 and 3.0 percent in 1997, 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 

1998 to 1999 was larger than the 2.2 percent annual average rise in the Consumer

Price Index (CPI) over this period.

 The changes in expenditures from 1998 to 1999 varied among the major 

components of spending. Expenditures on food rose 4.6 percent in 1999 after 

showing little change a year earlier. Housing, the largest spending component, 

and health care each rose 2.9 percent in 1999. Spending on apparel and services 

and on entertainment rose 4.1 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively, following 

decreases in spending on both components the prior year. Transportation spending 

rose 6 percent, and personal insurance and pensions spending rose 1.6 percent.

Annual expenditures of all consumer units and percent changes, 

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1997-99

____________________________________________________________________________

 Percent change

Item 1997 1998 1999 1997-98 1998-99

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

Number of consumer 

 units (000's) 105,576 107,182 108,465 

Income before taxes 1/ $39,926 $41,622 $43,951 

 

Average age of 

 reference person 47.7 47.6 47.9 

 

Average number in 

 consumer unit: 

 Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5 

 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 

 Vehicles 2.0 2.0 1.9 

Percent homeowner 64 64 65 

 

Average annual 

 expenditures $34,819 $35,535 $36,995 2.1 4.1

 Food 4,801 4,810 5,031 .2 4.6

 At home 2,880 2,780 2,915 -3.5 4.9

 Away from home 1,921 2,030 2,116 5.7 4.2

 Housing 11,272 11,713 12,057 3.9 2.9

 Apparel and services 1,729 1,674 1,743 -3.2 4.1

 Transportation 6,457 6,616 7,011 2.5 6.0

 Health care 1,841 1,903 1,959 3.4 2.9

 Entertainment 1,813 1,746 1,891 -3.7 8.3

 Personal insurance 
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 and pensions 3,223 3,381 3,436 4.9 1.6

 Other expenditures 3,684 3,693 3,868 .2 4.7

______________________________________________________________________________

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 1999 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 1996 and 1997 and 

was published in the fall of 1999. 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. The next two-year report will include CE Survey data for 1998 and

1999 and will be published in late summer 2001.

 

 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://stats.bls.gov/csxhome.htm. 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.

 The 1999 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. Annual data are available on tape back to 1980. 

Microdata files with summary expenditure information from the Interview survey are 

available for 1984-94 on one CD-ROM. Tabulations of integrated data for 1999 

with more detail than is shown in this news release or in the annual report also

are available.

 For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 
file:///U|/Desktop/test/PURLS%20for%20Perm/1999_cesan_12212000.txt[11/26/2018 1:33:05 PM]

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. 

Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.