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2023 Consumer Expenditure Surveys Microdata Users’ Workshop

Presentation (online), July 18, 2023

Storytelling with FRED® Graphs:

CES Data at Your Fingertips
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Diego Mendez-Carbajo

Senior Economic Education Specialist

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

diego.mendez-carbajo@stls.frb.org

Maria Arias

Research Software Engineering Manager

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

maria.a.arias@stls.frb.org

Presenters
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This information is our opinion and 

does not represent the official views of 

the Federal Open Market Committee, 

the Federal Reserve System or the 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
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SEARCHING IN FRED

CES Data
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• Sharp keywords (“expenditures”  )

• Series ID are foolproof (CXUUSEDCARSLB0101M).

• Use tags “CES” or “Consumer 

Expenditure Survey.”

Natural Language Search
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• Category

−Production & Business Activity > Expenditures 

> Consumer Expenditures

• Release

−Consumer Expenditure Surveys

Categories and Releases
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EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS EXAMPLES

CES Data
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https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=F15e
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• Search for and select “Expenditures: Tobacco Products and Smoking 

Supplies: All Consumer Units.”

• From the “Edit Graph” panel, use the “Edit Line 1” tab to customize 

the data by searching for and selecting “Consumer Price Index for All 

Urban Consumers: Tobacco and Smoking Products in U.S. City 

Average.”

• Next, create a custom formula to combine the series by typing in 

“a/b*100” and clicking “Apply.”

How this graph was created
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https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=B5fW
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• Search for and select “Expenditures: Fresh Fruits: All Consumer Units.”

• From the “Edit Graph” panel, use the “Edit Line 1” tab to customize the 

data by searching for and selecting “Expenditures: Processed Fruits: 

All Consumer Units.”

• Next, create a custom formula to combine the series by typing 

in a/b and clicking “Apply.”

• For the second line, repeat the same steps with the series 

“Expenditures: Fresh Vegetables: All Consumer Units” and 

“Expenditures: Processed Vegetables: All Consumer Units.”

• To change the line colors, use the choices in the “Format” tab.

How this graph was created
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FROM THE FRED BLOG

CES Data
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• https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2022/12/regional-consumption-expenditureson-fish-and-seafood/

• https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/11/adulting-and-life-insurance-purchases/

• https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/04/the-growing-consumer-appetite-forfresh-fruits/

• https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/04/consumer-spending-on-milk-andcookies/

• https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/02/spending-on-tobacco-products-andsmoking-supplies-over-time-and-across-groups/

• https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/02/what-the-young-and-old-spent-onreading-materials-2019-vs-1984/

Additional Examples
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Questions?

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(FRED)

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