Text table 21. Comparison of aggregate expenditures for food: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Diary Survey and Personal

Consumption Expenditures (PCE), 1998-99

CE Diary survey Ratio of CE to PCE
Food category (in billions)
1998 1999 1998 1999
Total $291.6 $311.8 68 70
Cereals and cereal pr 15.7 17.3 68 72
Bakery products ... 29.8 31.3 67 67
Beef, pork, other mes 774 81.2 79 80
Fish and seafood .. 1.5 11.5 1.10 1.15
Eggs 3.5 35 a7 74
Fresh milk ar 12.9 13.2 89 87
Other dairy products . 19.4 a7 68 73
Fresh fruits and vegetables . 31.5 32.6 85 84
Processed fruits and vegetables . 19.0 21.5 111 1.19
Sugar and other sweets W7 12.4 38 37
Fats and oils ... 8.2 9.1 95 1.00
Nonalcoholic beverages 24.7 26.2 40 40
Miscellaneous prepared foods . 41.5 45.5 66 69
NOTE: Sums may not equal totals, due to rounding. in U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis,
“National Income and Product Accounts,” Survey of Current Busi-
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, ness, August 2000. Detailed PCE estimates used in the compari-
Consumer Expenditure Survey, annual. PCE estimates are shown sons are from unpublished annual PCE data received May 2001.

Text table 22. Comparison of aggregate expenditures for health care: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey

and National Health Expenditures, 1996-99

| Aggregate consumer expenditures Ratio of CE survey
Consumer Expenditure Survey to
Expenditure category (In billions) National Health Expenditures*
1996 1997 1998 1999 1996 1997 1998 1999
Health care, total? $95.0 $96.6 $99.5 $105.9 70 67 65 65
Medica! commodities, total aS | 42.0 43.1 475 67 65 64 65
Drugs and supplies 34.2 | 33.9 35.2 38.9 63 61 60 60
Medical equipment 74 8.0 7.9 8.7 91 95 92 37
Medical services, total 53.4 54.6 56.4 58.4 73 69 66 65
Professional services .. 44.5 45.4 47.5 51.7 ral 66 65 &7
Physicians services 14.8 14.1 14.8 14.6 A5 39 38 37
Dental services 20.1 21.5 22.8 24.2 96 93 93 95
Other professional | |
services 9.5 9.8 9.9 12.9 1.16 1.04 92 1.13
Hospital care 9.0 92 | 89 | 67 | 86 84 76 53

‘The NHE data used are out of pocket expenditures.

2 Excludes health insurance premiums, nonprescription vitamins,
nursing home care, rental of medical equipment, and repair of
medical equipment.

NOTE: Sums may not equal totals, due to rounding. CE catego-

38 Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-99

ries have been grouped as needed to match NHE.

SOURCE: The NHE data used to obtain the ratios are from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Care
Financing Administration, Office ‘of the Actuary, National Health
Statistics Group. The data is available online: http://www.hcfa.gov


omparisons with other data sources

= ” a

A“ part of the evaluation of the Consumer Expenditure Survey results, BLS compares its esti-
mates of aggregate consumer expenditures with independent sources of data. Consumer Expen-
diture Survey data in these comparisons are integrated data from both the Interview and Diary sur-
veys, unless otherwise noted. To facilitate comparison, some adjustments are made to the Consumer
Expenditure Survey data and the independent sources to account for differences in concept and
coverage. The degree of comparability varies by component, as noted in the tables. Data are not
shown when differences in concept or content are so great that comparison would be meaningless.
Because most agencies have revised their estimates since publication of data in the last Consumer
Expenditure Survey report, readers should avoid comparing these ratios with those in earlier BLS
publications. Additionally, Consumer Expenditure Survey data and several of the independent source
data are subject to both sampling and non-sampling error. Comparisons allow monitoring of esti-

mates for consistency over time.

Personal Consumption Expenditures. The principal source
of independent estimates used in comparisons with the
Consumer Expenditure Survey is the Personal Consump-
tion Expenditures (PCE) component of the National
Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), published by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Commerce. PCE estimates of aggregate expendi-
tures represent the market value of goods and services pur-
chased by all persons. These estimates are derived by com-
plex methods that trace the flow of goods and services
through the economy. Total expenditures of persons
includes expenditures of the civilian population of the
United States, including persons living abroad, persons in
the military, and nonprofit institutions. (Expenditures of
nonprofit institutions are not distributed among individual
goods. Instead, they are included in specific service cat-
egories—primarily medical care, education and research,
and religious and welfare activities—categories that are
not compared with Consumer Expenditure Survey data.)
PCE estimates are not directly subject to the quantifiable
sampling errors found in household surveys; they are sub-
ject to sampling and non-sampling errors in the source
data from which they are derived. They are also subject to
difficulties in applying complex procedures for allocat-
ing these data among the final demand sectors.

BEA conducts comprehensive revisions of the NIPA at
approximately 5-year intervals, primarily to update the
series with new results from the Census Bureau’s quin-
quennial censuses and other sources used in the accounts.
This kind of revision is referred to as benchmarking. Such
revisions may also include revisions to selected methods

of estimation, PCE estimates based on different bench-
marks sometimes differ by large amounts, and as a result,
revisions to PCE can have a substantial effect on compari-
sons with the Consumer Expenditure Survey. In addition,
BEA conducts annual revisions to PCE that affect earlier
data and may also include changes in estimation methods.
Therefore, due to benchmarking and annual revisions to
PCE, the Consumer Expenditure Survey-to-PCE ratios in
this report should not be compared with previously pub-
lished ratios.

Text table 20 shows Consumer Expenditure Survey
estimates of aggregate expenditures for selected expendi-
ture categories for 1996 through 1999, adjusted for
comparability with PCE, and ratios to. PCE. The ratios
indicate that the Consumer Expenditure Survey estimates
for the major categories of consumption are lower than
PCE. For most items, the relationship between the
two series over time has been generally about the same.
These include the expenditure categories of food, alco-
holic beverages, telephone, apparel and services, and
entertainment,

Detailed food comparisons. Text table 21 shows detailed
annual estimates of food-at home expenditures from the
CE Diary survey compared to PCE. In general, the rela-
tionship between CE survey estimates and estimates from
PCE is as expected and is consistent over the period shown.
Differences between the CE Diary survey estimates and
the PCE data are most likely due to differences in the meth-
ods of data collection and estimation. These variations
reflect fundamental differences in the purposes for which

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-99 35


the data are collected. Comparisons show that CE Diary
survey estimates of food-at-home expenditures for 1996
and 1999 are generally lower than PCE, which is based on
administrative data and covers a larger population. The
relatively low ratios may reflect underreporting in the CE.

National Health Expenditures. The Health Care Financ-
ing Administration (HCFA) of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services publishes annual data, referred
to as National Health Expenditures (NHE), on total aggre-
gate health care expenditures of the United States. Total
health care expenditures include expenditures for health
care by all sources in the U. S. economy, including public
and private sources. The NHE data cover U.S. citizens
living abroad, military personnel, inhabitants of U.S. terri-
tories, and parts of the institutional population (a larger
population than is covered by the Consumer Expenditure
Survey). In particular, the NHE is designed to cover the
nursing home population, whereas the Consumer Expen-
diture Survey is not.

Estimates of out-of-pocket personal health care expen-
ditures from NHE are compared to the Consumer Expendi-
ture Survey. Out-of-pocket expenditures for health care
include expenditures for medical care that are not covered
by personal health insurance or other sources of payment.
Such expenditures can include copayments and deduct-
ible amounts required by health insurance plans. To
derive its out-of-pocket estimates, HCFA uses data from
administrative and industry sources, as well as Consumer
Expenditure Survey data.

Text table 22 shows Consumer Expenditure Survey es-
timates of aggregate expenditures for health care (exclud-
ing health insurance, nonprescription vitamins, nursing
home care, and repair and rental of medical equipment)
and ratios to NHE estimates of out-of-pocket health care
expenditures (excluding nursing home care). As reported
in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, aggregate medical
care expenditures, excluding those expenditure items re-
ported above, were $105.9 billion in 1999, or 65 percent
of the NHE estimate of $162.6 billion (excluding nursing
home care expenditures). Of the Consumer Expenditure
Survey total, $47.5 billion were spent on medical com-
modities and $58.4 billion on medical services. These
amounts were 65 percent of both the NHE medical com-
modities and services estimates. Medical services Con-
sumer Expenditure Survey-to-NHE ratios show more varia-
tions over the 1996-99 period than do medical commodi-
ties. Fluctuations in medical services, such as out-of-pocket
expenditures for physicians services and hospital care, may
reflect volatility in spending on personal health care ser-
vices due to changes in health insurance plans. In addi-
tion, comparison of health care expenditures may reflect
underreporting in the Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Current Population Survey. The Bureau of the Census

36 Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-99

collects income data in the Supplement to the Current
Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a household inter-
view survey of approximately 60,000 households. Using
data collected for calendar years 1997 through 1999, com-
parisons are made with Consumer Expenditure Survey
estimates of total consumer unit income before taxes and
by source of income. CPS estimates of aggregate income
by source of income are derived from Census Bureau esti-
mates of mean income of persons and the number of per-
sons with specified income.

There are several differences between the Consumer
Expenditure Survey and the CPS, in the concepts and meth-
ods of measuring income. The CPS collects data in March
for the previous calendar year. By comparison, the Con-
sumer Expenditure Survey estimates of income are
obtained in the second and fifth interviews of the con-
sumer unit. These estimates refer to the prior 12 months
and, due to the rotating panel design of the survey, inter-
views may occur any time during the year. The Census
Bureau imputes CPS income data that are missing (due to
nonresponse to income questions) based on demographic
characteristics. In contrast, income data that are missing in
the Consumer Expenditure Survey, due to nonresponse,
are not imputed as part of the Consumer Expenditure Sur-
vey estimation procedure. Instead, Consumer Expenditure
Survey income estimates are based on complete income
reporters only. Neither procedure accounts for
underreporting.

In addition to the differences between the Consumer
Expenditure Survey and the CPS described above, begin-
ning in 1993, computer-assisted personal interviews col-
lected the CPS income data. By comparison, the Consumer
Expenditure Survey data are collected by traditional pa-
per and pencil interview.

Text table 23 shows that the Consumer Expenditure
Survey estimates of total income before taxes are 81 to 82
percent of CPS. This reflects comparable levels of esti-
mates from the two surveys for the two largest sources of
income: wages and salaries (the largest source) and Social
Security and railroad retirement income. Also, some smaller
sources of income were comparable between the two sur-
veys: Self-employment income; public assistance and
Supplemental Security Income; pensions and annuities;
and alimony, child support, and other regular financial
support. Some differences in the estimates are expected,
because of methodology differences between the two sur-
veys described above and because the CPS is designed
specifically to collect income data, whereas the Consumer
Expenditure Survey is designed primarily to collect
expenditure data. (In addition, the CPS population is greater
than that of the Consumer Expenditure Survey.) Some
variation in the ratios reflects the difficulty of obtaining
income information via household survey that is experi-
enced by both the Consumer Expenditure Survey and CPS.


Text table 20. Comparison of aggregate expenditures for selected expenditure categories: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey

and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), 1996-99

Consumer Expenditure Survey Ratio of CE to PCE
Expenditure category (inoiKong) aio oF CE to
1996 1997 1998 1999 1996 1997 1998 1999
Food, total... $ 481 $ 488 $500 $533 0.73 0.72 | 0.71 0.71
Food at home 294 298 292 312 72 72 68 70
Food away from home’ .. 187 190 209 221 75 | 72 75 74
Alcoholic beverages .. 32 33 33 34 33 32 31 30
Rent, utilities, and public |
services?.. 382 398 406 414 95. 96 96 95
Rented dwellings, total 218 229 237 248 4.00 1.02 1.01 1.01
Utilities, fuels, and publ
services 164 169 169 166 89 90 1 87
Telephone 80 85 89 92 83 81 79 76
Household operations’ .. 27 29 30 37 73 74 69 79
Household supplies 4 42 42 45 | 54 53 | St 52
Household furnishings and | |
equipment... 150 167 178 180 64 | 67 | 68 63
Apparel and services 187 183 180 190 57 54 | 50 48
Men and boys . 43 41 43 46 | 56 51 50 50
Women and girls .. 75 72 70 71 | 61 56 51 48
Children under 2 8 8 8 7 | 88 75 70 60
Footwear ... . 3 33 30 330 80 83 | 72 76
Other apparel products and | |
services... . 30 30 30 33 37 | 86 34 34
Transportation .... 522 525 545 594 88 | 85 85 85
Vehicle purchases‘ .. 263 256 282 323 17 1.10 1.10 | 1.13
Gasoline and motor oil 113 116 109 114 93 93 97 92
Other vehicle expenses’ ...... 103 114 112 116 56 57 54 53
Maintenance and repairs,
total 7 67 71 69 72 50 52 AT AT
Vehicle rental and other
charges ..... 35 42 43 44 69 1 70 67
Public transportation 43 39 43 40 72 60 62 55
Entertainment .. 173 179 178 190 58 | 57 53 52
Fees and admissions. 46 48 48 50 55 | 53 31 48
Televisions, radios; sound |
equipment - 59 61 60 70 65 | 64 58 63
Pets, toys, and playground
equipment... 35 35 35 37 58 | 55 52 51
Other entertainment supplies; |
equipment... 7 34 36 34 33 | 54 \ 54 | 49 | 43
Personal care products and {
services. 53 56 43 44 76 75 | 54 52
Reading 23 24 24 25 43, 43 40 37
Tobacco products anc |
smoking supplies 27 28 29 33 55 56 || 54 | ag
Miscellaneous’ .. 40 42 40 43 .22 | 22 | AQ | 18

‘Excludes school lunches and meals as pay.

’includes rent for tenant-occupied dwelling units and lodging
away from home and at school. Rent in the CE is contract rent,
which includes utilities for some renters. The CE covers direct
costs of utilities and fuels by homeowners and renters. In PCE,
data are for space rent, which excludes charges for utilities. PCE
data cover total expenditures for utilities and fuels, even if paid by
landlords.

°Excludes amounts for baby-sitting, daycare centers and care
of invalids or the elderly.

“PCE estimates are derived using estimates of dealer margin
and wholesale value of net transactions between persons and
government, foreigners, and non-dealer businesses. CE data on
vehicle purchases and trade-ins were combined to approximate
total value of new vehicle purchases. CE data on used vehicle
Purchases, trade-ins, sales and losses were combined to ap-

proximate the value of net transactions of used vehicles.
‘Includes vehicle rentals, maintenance and repairs, and other
vehicle charges. Estimates exclude aircraft rentals, vehicle
licenses, vehicle inspection, and vehicle registration.
®CE estimates exclude expenditures for other properties.

NOTE: Sums may not equal totals, due to rounding. Expenditure
estimates for home ownership, insurance, capital improvements,
health care, finance charges, education, and cash contributions
are excluded from the comparisons.

SOURCE: PCE estimates are shown in U.S. Department of Com-
merce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, “National Income and Prod-
uct Accounts,” Survey of Current Business, August 2000.
Detailed PCE estimates used in the comparisons are from unpub-
lished annual PCE data received May 2001

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-99 37