In addition, the period of 2004–16 saw an overall trend of fewer CUs owning homes. Between 20, expenditures on housing were between 32.9 and 33.3 percent of total expenditures. (See table A.) Nevertheless, housing expenditures remained steady at 33.1 percent of total spending. This was primarily driven by expenses on shelter, up 6.9 percent, and owned dwellings, up 10.4 percent. Housing expenditures were up 5.3 percent for 2017. Percent distribution of total annual expenditures by major category for all consumer units, 2014–17 Spending Category The remaining expenditures for major categories remained about the same as their 2016 levels. Cash contribution shares reversed their 2016 gains and fell from 3.6 to 3.1 percent in 2017. (See table A.) Expenditure shares on gasoline and motor oil in 20 were 4.6 and 3.7 percent, respectively.įood expenditures were up 0.3 percentage points to 12.9 percent of average annual expenditures, as the shares for food at home and food away from home both increased.
Gasoline and motor oil expenditure shares stayed constant, at 3.3 percent from 2016 to 2017, and public and other transportation increased 14.3 percent. Within that category, vehicle purchases increased from 6.3 percent in 2016 to 6.7 percent in 2017, compared with 6.2 percent in 2014 to 7.1 percent in 2015. The share for total transportation increased a tenth of a percent to 15.9 percent. Personal insurance and pensions fell from 11.9 percent to 11.3 percent of average annual expenditures.
The most notable changes in expenditure shares between 20 were in personal insurance and pensions, and the transportation subcategories of vehicle purchases and public and other transportation. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Percentage of total expenditures for select categories, 2014–17 Spending category Housing expenditures were followed by transportation expenditures (15.9 percent) and food expenditures (12.9 percent).Ĭhart 1. (See chart 1.) As in previous years, housing was the largest component of overall expenditures, accounting for 33.1 percent of total expenditures in 2017. Expenditure shares usually do not fluctuate much in the short term, and therefore are more useful for identifying spending trends over time. Table B details expenditure shares, or the percent distribution of total annual expenditures by major expenditure categories, for all CUs from 2014 to 2017. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey. Average annual expenditures by major category of all consumer units and percent changes, 2014–17 Item Personal insurance and pensions, tobacco and smoking supplies, reading, and cash contributions declined by 0.9 to 10.0 percent. Food, alcoholic beverages, housing, transportation, healthcare, personal care products and services, education, and entertainment expenditures were up between 5.3 and 15.3 percent. (See table A.) Expenditures on apparel and services increased by 1.7 percent. Developments in 2017ĭuring 2017, spending increased for 10 of the 14 major aggregated categories of expenditures tracked by CE: food, alcoholic beverages, housing, apparel and services, transportation, healthcare, entertainment, personal care products and services, education, and miscellaneous expenditures. 2 In 2016, prices as measured by the CPI-U increased by 1.3 percent, compared with the 2.4-percent increase in spending. city average, all items, base period 1982–1984=100), rose by 2.1 percent in 2017, compared with the 4.8-percent increase in spending. Prices, as measured by the average annual change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, U.S. Despite the 2017 increase in expenditures, there was a decrease of 1.5 percent in average income before taxes, from 2016 ($74,664) to 2017 ($73,573). The average annual expenditures by CUs increased from $57,311 in 2016 to $60,060 in 2017. This follows an increase of 2.4 percent in 2016, previously recorded by the CE. 1 This report highlights spending patterns for 2017 from the CE, including a brief discussion of expenditure changes for the year.Īs first reported in the Consumer Expenditures 2017 News Release, consumer spending increased 4.8 percent. (For details about the CE, see the technical notes.) The tables show average expenditures, income, and characteristics for consumer units (CUs) classified by income before taxes by quintile, decile, and range age of the reference person size of the consumer unit composition of the consumer unit number of earners housing tenure (homeowner or renter) and type of area (urban or rural) region of residence occupation highest education level of any consumer unit member race Hispanic or Latino origin and generation of reference person. This Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) annual report presents integrated data from the 2017 Diary and Interview portions of the CE, including data tables. Subscribe to BLS Reports Consumer Expenditures in 2017