1999 Consumer Expenditures Surveys — 2000-12-21

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.