C i f E ti t f th C Comparison o

f

E

stima

tes 

from the 

Cons

Expenditure Survey with 2002 Benchm

Personal Consumption Expenditures from Personal Consumption Expenditures from 

National Income and Product Accoun

Bill Passero

Senior Economist Senior Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys

2010 American Council on Consumer 

Interests AnnualC f on

ference

April 15, 2010
Data comparisons: 

Wh needed? Why needed?

 Such comparisons provide: Such comparisons provide:

A sense of degree and direction of possib

errors, rather than an exact measure of berrors, rather than an exact measure of b

Specific estimates from other sources are 

necessarily the “truth” 

 Data comparisons are employed to:

Assess the cumulative effects of non-sam

errors on qualit f CE d t lity o

f CE

d

a

ta

Develop methodological studies to improv
Issues in Comparing CE and 

 Populations In PCE but out of sco

pe for CE

 In CE but out of scope for PCE

Pa t y out o scope o C r

tly out

of scope for 

C

E

Non-profit institutions serving householdsEmployer payments 

 Components operationally defined diff
Basics

 CE  PCE

 Household Surveys Periodicity 

Annual

 PCE

 Establishment Surve Periodicity

– Annual Benchmark (detail– Quarterly– Monthly– Weekly

– Benchmark (detail– Annual– Quarterly

Weekly – Monthly

 Expenditures

– Value of goods and 

services purchased by 

Monthly

 Expenditures

– Value of goods an

purchased by the 

consumers

– Social Security 

contributions 

sector
In PCE Out of Scope fo

In PCE Out of Scope fo

 Population 

 Employees of U.S. businesses working abroad and 

government and military personnel stationed abro

 Military living on-base in the U.S. All persons in institutions and the homeless for wh

ex

penditures are made

 Non-profit institutions serving households 

 Expenditures 

 Value of home production for own consumption on 

Value of home production for own consumption on 

 Standard clothing issued to military Services furnished without payment by financial in

except lif i t life insurance carriers
Further Differences

 Intra

-sector household transactions such 

Further Differences

 Intra sector household transactions, such 

used cars or used clothing are in scope foout of scope for PCE

 PCE items partly out of scope for CE and 

defined differently defined differently

Health Care ExpendituresReligious and Welfare

 Defined differently 

Education expendituresLife insurance and pension plansOwner-occupied housing expenditures (publica
U d t f 2006 BLS St d U

p

d

a

te o

f 2006 BLS St

u

d

 Total Expenditures Comparables



To compare CE and PCE data, CE items are group

PCE detailed categories

 In many instances, there is no perfect match betw

CE and PCE items assigned to an aggregate categ

 In some cases, adjustments were made to publis

categories for greater comparability
Reclassification of PCE categor

2002 benchmark releases 2002 benchmark releases

1 Personal consumption expenditures 1 Personal consumption exp

2 H h ld i 

Old New

2 Food and tobacco3 Clothing, accessories, and jewelry4 Personal care5 Housing

2

House

h

old consumption 

3 Food and beverages 

premise consumption

4 Clothing and footwea

6 Household operation7 Medical care8 Personal business9 Transportation

5 Housing and utilities6 Furnishings, househo

routine household ma

7 Health

10 Recreation11 Education and research12 Religious and welfare activities13 Foreign travel and other, net

8 Transportation9 Communication

10 Recreation

11 Education12 Food services and ac13 Financial services an14 Other goods and serv15 Net foreign travel an

abroad by U.S. reside

16 Final consumption expe
Reclassification of PCE catego

2002 benchmark releases 2002 benchmark releases

– 

1 Durable goods 1 Goods Old New

2 Durable 

goods

2 Motor vehicles and parts3 Furniture and household equipment4 Other5 Nondurable goods6 F d

g

3 Motor vehicles and pa4

Furnishings and durabequipment

5 Recreational goods an6 Oth d bl g d

Old

6 Foo

d

7 Clothing and shoes8 Gasoline, fuel oil, and other energy goods9 Other

10 Services

6 Other durabl

e goo

ds

7 Nondurable goods8 Food and beverages p

premise consumption

9 Clothing and footwear

10 Services11 Housing12 Household operation13 Transportation14 Medical care

10 Gasoline and other en11 Other non-durable go12 Services13 Household consumption 

14 Medical care 14 Housing and utilities15 Recreation16 Other

14 Housing and utilities15 Health care16 Transportation service17 Recreational services18 Food services and acc19 Financial services and 20 Other services21 Final consumption expe

institutions serving hous
Aggregate expenditures for a

categories PCE and CE 2002 categories, PCE and CE, 2002

$9,000

$10,000

CE Aggrega

$9,000

$10,000

PCE Aggregates

$6,000$7,000$8,000

$6,000$7,000$8,000

$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000

$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000

$0

$1,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 

Total Durables 

$0

$1,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Total Durables Durables Nondurables Nondurables Services Services Total Durables 
Aggregate expenditures for 

“com

p g arable” item cate

gori

PCE and CE, 2002-2008

$6,000

CE "Comparable" A

$6,000

PCE "Comparable" Aggregates

$4,000$5,000

$4,000$5,000

$2,000$3,000

$2,000$3,000

$0

$1,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 

$0

$1,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Total Durables Nondurables Services Total Durables 
Ratio of CE aggregates to P

aggre

gates for all cate

gories 

1997

B Total 2002

B Total 1997

B Comp 

gg g

g

“comparable” categories, 2002

1997

B Total 2002

B Total 1997

B Comp 

2002Total consumption expenditures 0.61 0.62 0.83 

Durable goods 0.75 0.71 0.75 

N d bl on

durabl

e goo

d

s 0 58 . 0 59 . 0 65 . 

Services 0.59 0.62 1.02 

2003Total consumption expenditures 0.60 0.62 0.83 

Durable goods 0.78 0.73 0.79 

Nondurable goods 0.56 0.57 0.63 

Services Services 0 59 . 0 61 . 1 01 . 

2004Total consumption expenditures 0.60 0.62 0.83 

Durable goods 0.7

4 0.62 0.69 

Nondurable goods 0.59 0.64 0.66 

Services 0.58 0.61 1.01 
Ratio of CE aggregates to PCE ag

for all categories and “compar

1997

B Total 2002

B Total 1997

B Com

categories, 2002-2007 - co

1997

B Total 2002

B Total 1997

B Com

2005Total consumption expenditures 0.61 0.62 0.83 

Durable goods 0.76 0.65 0.75 

N d bl on

durabl

e goo

d

s 0 58 . 0 63 . 0 65 . 

Services 0.59 0.62 1.02 

2006Total consumption expenditures 0.60 0.62 0.83 

Durable goods 0.72 0.60 0.73 Nondurable goods 0.58 0.63 0.65 

Services Services 0 59 . 0 62 . 1 03 . 

2007Total consumption expenditures 0.59 0.60 0.83 

Durable goods 0.68 0.58 0.69 Nondurable goods 0.56 0.61 0.63 

Services 0.59 0.61 1.04 
Ratio of CE aggregates to P

aggre

gates for “com

parable” 

2002

B C

gg g

p

benchmark categories, 2002-

1997

B Comp

(1997 Ca

2002Total consumption expenditures 0.83 0.8

Durable

goods 0.75 0.6

Nondurable goods 0.65 0.6

Services 1.02 0.9

2003

Total consumption expenditures 0.83 0.8

Durable goods 0.79 0.6Nondurable goods 0.63 0.6

Services 1.01 0.9

2004Total consumption expenditures 0.83 0.8

Durable

goods 0.69 0.6

Nondurable goods 0.66 0.6

Services 1.01 0.9
Ratio of CE aggregates to P

aggre

gates for “com

parable” 

2002

B C

gg g

p

benchmark categories, 2002-200

1997

B Comp

2002

B C

(1997 Ca

2005Total consumption expenditures 0.83 0.8

Durable goods 0 75 . 0 6

.

Nondurable goods 0.65 0.6

Services 1.02 0.9

2006Total consumption expenditures 0.83 0.8

Durable goods 0.73 0.6

Nondurable goods 0.65 0.6

Services 1.03 0.9

2007Total consumption expenditures 0.83 0.8

Durable

goods 0.69 0.6

Nondurable goods 0.63 0.6

Services 1.04 0.9
Future CE/PCE Comparis

Future CE/PCE Comparis

 F th h i t t ti 

Further researc

h in

to cons

truction 

categories comparable to detailed 

t bl t i table ca

te

gories

 Incorporation of new UCC items i

CE-PCE concordance

 2007 benchmark PCE data not lik

before 2012
Contact Informatio

Bill Passero

Senior Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Su

www bls gov/cex www.bls.gov/cex

202-691-5126

Passero.Bill@bls.gov