cause most agencies have revised their estimates since pub-
lication of data in the last Consumer Expenditure bulletin,
teaders should avoid comparing these ratios with those in
earlier BLS publications. The survey data and several of
the independent-source data are subject to both sampling
and nonsampling error. The comparisons allow monitor-
ing of the estimates for consistency over time, relative to
the other sources.

Personal Consumption Expenditures in the National Income
and Product Accounts. Historically, the principal source of
independent estimates used for comparisons with the Con-
sumer Expenditure Survey has been the Personal Consump-
tion Expenditures (PCE), a component of the National In-
come and Product Accounts (NIPA).®

The PCE estimates represent the market value of goods
and services purchased by all persons. The estimates are
derived by complex methods that trace the flow of goods
and services through the economy. Total expenditures of
persons are defined to include expenditures of individuals
and nonprofit institutions. Expenditures of nonprofit insti-
tutions are not distributed among individual goods. Instead,
they are included in specific service categories, primarily
medical care, education and research, and religious and
welfare activities, categories which are not compared with
Consumer Expenditure survey data. The PCE estimates are
not directly subject to the quantifiable sampling errors found
in household surveys. However, they are subject to errors in
the source data and to difficulties in applying complex pro-
cedures for allocating these data among the final demand
sectors.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) conducts com-
prehensive revisions of the NIPA at approximately 5-year
intervals, primarily to update the series with new results
from the Census Bureau’s quinquennial censuses and other
sources used in the accounts. This kind of revision is re-
ferred to as benchmarking. Such revisions may also include
revisions to selected methods of estimation. PCE estimates
based on different benchmarks sometimes differ by large
amounts and as a result, revisions to PCE can have a sub-
stantial effect on comparisons with Consumer Expenditure
survey data. In addition, BEA conducts annual revisions to
PCE that affect 3 years of data and may also include changes
in estimation methods. Therefore, due to the benchmarking
and annual revisions to PCE, the CE-to-PCE ratios in this
report should not be compared with previously published
ratios,

Text table 6 shows integrated Consumer Expenditure
survey estimates for selected expenditure categories for 1990
through 1993, The Consumer Expenditure survey data were
adjusted for comparability with PCE data. The Consumer
Expenditure-to-PCE ratios indicate that CE survey estimates
for major categories of consumption were lower than PCE.

$ The purpose of the accounts is to measure the economic activity of the
entire U.S. economy. The accounts are prepared by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

For several categories of expenditure, the relationship be-
tween the two series over time has been generally about the
same. These include: Food; alcoholic beverages; rent, utili-
ties, fuels, and public services; and entertainment, to name
afew.

Detailed food comparisons. CE survey estimates for food
at home are compared with PCE and two published sources
of trade association data, Supermarket Business and Pro-
gressive Grocer magazines. Supermarket Business Inc.
annually conducts independent mail and telephone surveys
of food manufacturers, packers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Focusing on measuring total industry sales, the study re-
ports estimates of the total value of retail food sales, cover-
ing all types of food stores. Results from the surveys are
reported in Supermarket Business, usually in September of
each year. Progressive Grocer, Inc. annually conducts an
independent study of supermarket sales that focuses on the
supermarket performance in relation to other kinds of re-
tail outlets, comparing changes in sales by product and by
category. Supermarkets, that is, grocery stores with annual
food sales of $2 million or more, account for about 75 per-
cent of grocery store food sales. Detailed national estimates
of the value of food sales in supermarkets, representing
30,750 supermarkets, are reported in Progressive Grocer
in July of each year.

Text table 7 compares detailed annual estimates of food
expenditures per consumer unit from the Consumer Ex-
penditure Diary survey with PCE and the trade association
data. In general, the relationship among Consumer Expen-
diture survey estimates and estimates from the three sources
is as expected and is consistent over the period shown. The
comparisons show that Diary survey estimates of food-at-
home expenditures for 1992 and 1993 were generally lower
than PCE, which covers a larger population. Ratios which
show that CE is higher than PCE probably reflect differ-
ences in estimation methods. Relatively low ratios prob-
ably reflect underreporting in the Consumer Expenditure
survey.

In contrast, the CE Diary survey estimates are generally
higher than those of Supermarket Business. Differences
between the two survey estimates are most likely due to
different methods of data collection and estimation. These
differences reflect fundamental differences in the purposes
for which the data are collected.

Consumer Expenditure survey estimates are substantially
higher than Progressive Grocer estimates. This is expected
because this trade source only covers supermarkets, as noted
above. CE survey estimates for fruits and vegetables, which
are close to 10 percent below Progressive Grocer estimates,
may reflect underreporting in the Diary survey.

National Health Accounts. The Health Care Financing Ad-
ministration (HCFA) of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services publishes total aggregate health costs of
the United States in the National Health Accounts (NHA).
Total health care costs include medical care payments from


all sources, public and private. The NHA data cover U.S.
citizens living abroad, military personnel, inhabitants of
U.S. territories, and parts of the institutional population—
a larger population than covered by the Consumer Expen-
diture Survey. In particular, the NHA is designed to cover
the nursing home population, while the Consumer Expen-
diture Survey is not. To derive the out-of-pocket estimates,
HCFA uses data from administrative and industry sources,
as well as some Consumer Expenditure Survey data. The
NHA estimates used for these comparisons reflect several

revisions in methodology and data sources since the last
Consumer Expenditure bulletin comparisons.

The estimates are out-of-pocket expenditures for health
care which include expenditures for medical care that are
not covered by insurance. Such expenditures may include
copayments and deductible amounts that are required by
health insurance plans. In the 1990-91 Consumer Expen-
diture bulletin BLS compared estimates for out-of-pocket
health insurance premium payments with estimates derived
from NHA data. However, the NHA data needed to con-

Text Table 6. Comparison of aggregate expenditures for selected expenditure categories: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey and

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), 1990-93

Consumer Expenditure Survey .
Expenditure category (in billions) Ratio of CE to PCE
1990 1991 1992 1983 1990 1991 1992 1983
Food ... $408 $410 $420 $431 0.76 0.75 0.76 0.75
Food at home 240 259 264 273 70 74 75 5
Food away from home'. 168 151 156 158 87 76 76 74
Alcoholic beverages ... 28 29 0 27 39 38 40 35
Rent, utilities, and public services’ 297 305 328 336 99 96 1,00 97
Rented dwellings, total ... 171 171 192 191 1,04 99 1.07 1,02
Utilities, fuels, and public services 183 195 198 en 96 96 93 93
Telephone .... 57 61 62 66 1.07 1.06 97 87
Household ‘operations’. 21 22 24 23 85 92 88 84
Household furnishings and. ‘equipment 148 159 160 164 68 71 68 66
Household textiles ... 10 10 9 10 45 45 39 A
Furniture ......0 30 29 32 32 82 78 82 75
Floor coverings 9 "1 7 9 76 99 59 7”
Major appliances — 16 15 16 7 62 57 56 53
‘Small appli s, Miscellaneous household
equipment.......... onenne 83 94 95 97 68 74 72 70
Apparel and services 160 171 172 168 81 85 80 75
Transportation ... 378 387 399 418 81 88 84 81
Vehicle purchases®.. 182 187 194 208 | (99 1.12 1.05 1.00
Gasoline and motor 102 97 97 98 95 97 94 94
Other vehicle expenses 67 74 80 82 53 58 56 53
Public transportation ...... 27 28 28 30 59 63 60 61
Entertainment ... 129 136 141 155 61 62 61 62
Fees and admissions, 36 37 38 4 77 76 72 74
Televisions, radios, sound equipment 44 46 49 59 63 61 61 6
Pets, toys, and playground equipment 27 26 27 29 70 67 &7 68
Other entertainment supplies, equipment ... 44 54 53 51 40 48 46 A2
Personal care products and services .. 35 39 39 38 59 64 61 58
Reading .... . 19 20 21 22 46 48 45 45
Tobacco | products ‘and smoking supplies 27 27 27 27 61 60 54 53
Miscellaneous’. aes 33 3 w 33 32 29 30 27

‘ 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 util-
ties. PCE data cover total expenditures for utilities and fuels even if paid by
landiords.

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

Various subcategories are combined to approximate equivalent content.

5The PCE estimates are derived using estimates of dealer margin (a con-
cept which cannot be matched to CE) 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 approximate the value of net

transactions of used vehicles.

® The estimates include vehicle rentals, maintenance and repairs, and other
vehicle charges. The estimates exclude aircraft rentals, vehicle licenses, ve-
hicle inspection, and vehicle registration.

7 CE estimates exclude expenditures for other properties.

NOTE: Sums may not equa! totals due to rounding. Expenditure estimates,
for home ownership, insurance, capital , health care, finance
charges, education, and cash contributions are excluded from the compari-
sons.

SOURCE: The PCE data that are used in the comparisons are from un-
published detailed tabulations of the National Income and Product Accounts of
the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis as of July
1994, For more information on PCE see U.S. Department of Commerce, Eco-
nomics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of Economic tional
Income and Product Accounts of the United States. Volume 2, 1959-88 (1982)
and Survey of Current Business, July 1994.

10


Text table 7. Comparison of annual aggregate expenditures for food: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Diary Survey, Personal
Consumption Expenditures (PCE), and trade association data, 1992-93

CE Diary survey | Ratioof CEto | Fateorehte | Ratio CE to
Food category (in billions) PCE Biahoas 4
1992 1983 1992 1993 1992 1993 1992 1993
Food at home, total... $260.2 | $268.4 0.74 0.74 1.10 111 1.20 1.20
Cereals and cereal pt 14.1 16.0 64 73 1,02 1.12 1.16 1.22
Bakery products... 27.0 27.3 68 65 1.08 1,05 1.23 1.20
Beef, pork, other meat, poultry 58.4 61.7 81 86 1.08 1.13 1.11 1.15
Fish and seafood .. 77 8.7 1.23 1.45 1.20 1.37 2.80 3.23
Eggs .. 28 3.0 1,08 1.28 2.07 an 1.50 151
Fresh milk and cream .. 13.4 12.8 121 1.09 1.80 1.72 1.49 1.42
Other dairy products 16.8 16.7 78 7S 1.40 1.36 1.20 1.17
Fresh fruits and vegetables 25.4 26.9 90 95 .70 72 89 91
Processed fruits and vegetabl 16.5 17.4 62 59 1.11 an 1.43 1.45
Sugar and other sweets 10.2 11.3 37 39 1.35 1.48 2.18 2.26
Fats and oils .... 72 78 78 81 1.13 121 1.36 1.52
Nonalcoholic beverages 21.3 224 51 55 98 1.03 1.14 1.14
Miscellaneous prepared foods 38.5 BS 83 i} 1.30 1.19 1.16 1.05
NOTE: Sums may not equal totals due to rounding, baracoe ae from unpublghed annual PCE dats. Supermarhat Bushoss,
; “Consumer Expenditure Study,” Supermarket Business, FM Business Pu

SOURCE: PCE estimates are shown in U.S. Department of Commerce, cations, Inc., September issues, 1983-94, Progressive Grocer Company, "The
Bureau of Economic Analysis, "National Income and Product Accounts,” Sur- [year] Manual," Progressive Grocer, Maclean Hunter Me-
vey of Current Business, July 1994. Detalled PCE estimates used in the com- dia Inc., July issues, 1903-04,

Text table 8. Comparison of aggregate expenditures for health care: Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey and
National Health Accounts, 1990-93

CE survey Ratio of CE to
Expenditure categories (in billions) National Health Accounts
1990 1991 1992 1993 1990 1991 1992 1993

Health care, total '. $85 $86 $90 $95. 0.73 0.71 0.70 0.71

Medical commodities, total .. 3 Kad 38 40 68 66 ral 73

Drugs and supplies 26 27 Ko) Ko 64 61 6 69

Medica! equipment. 6 7 7 10 94 1.00 1.00 99

Medical services, total 52 52 52 55 a7 75 69 69

Professional service: 46 4 “4 48 78 72 67 67

Hospital care .. eanseee 7 9 8 8 66 91 87 83
‘Excludes health insurance premiums, nursing home care, and medical SOURCE: NHA data used to obtain the ratios are from the U.S. Depart-
‘equipment repairs. ment of Health and Human Services, Health Care Financing Administration,

“National Health Expenditures, 1993,” Health Care Financing Review, Volume
NOTE: Sums may not equal totals due to rounding. CE Survey categories 16, Number 1, Fall 1994.
have been grouped as needed to match NHA.