2019 – Midyear Update Consumer Expenditures Surveys — 2020-04-28

Average expenditures per consumer unit(1) for July 2018 through June 2019 were up 2.7 percent compared with the July 2017 through June 2018 midyear average, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) rose 2.1 percent and average pretax incomes increased 6.4 percent. Data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) measure how consumers allocate their spending among the various components of total expenditures. According to the CE, most major components of household spending increased over the 12 months ending June 2019. (See table A.) The 6.9-percent rise in transportation spending was the largest percentage increase among all major components, followed by a 6.5-percent rise in personal insurance and pensions expenditures. However, the largest change over the period was a 7.1-percent drop in education spending. --Education spending decreased 7.1 percent.