CONSUMER EXPENDITURES--2009
"Average annual expenditures per consumer unit(1) fell 2.8 percent in 2009
following an increase of 1.7 percent in 2008, according to results from the
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The spending decrease was larger than the 0.4-percent decrease in
prices from 2008 to 2009 as measured by the average annual change in the
Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). This was the first time there has been a drop in
spending from the previous year since the CE began publishing integrated data
in 1984 from the Diary and Interview components of the CE.

Spending on housing and transportation fell 1.3 percent and 11.0 percent,
respectively, contributing to the overall drop in spending in 2009. Healthcare
expenditures rose 5.0 percent, the only increase among the major components of
spending. Among the other major components, food dropped 1.1 percent, apparel
fell 4.2 percent, entertainment dropped 5.0 percent, and personal insurance
and pensions fell 2.4 percent."