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 
   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, 
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.