2000 Consumer Expenditures Surveys — 2001-12-27

Average annual expenditures per consumer unit rose 2.8 percent in 2000, following increases of 4.1 percent in 1999 and 2.1 percent in 1998, 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 1999 to 2000 was less than the 3.4 percent annual average rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over this period. The changes in expenditures from 1999 to 2000 varied among the major components of spending. Expenditures on housing and food rose less than the overall change--by 2.2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Spending on apparel and services, transportation, and health care rose in the 5.5- to 6.5-percent range, whereas spending on entertainment and on personal insurance and pensions each decreased in 2000--by 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.