Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)
Organization
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Description
- Provides data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States.
- CE data are collected by the Census Bureau for BLS in two surveys: the Interview Survey for major and/or recurring items and the Diary Survey for more minor or frequently purchased items.
- CE data are primarily used to revise the relative importance of goods and services in the market basket of the Consumer Price Index.
Vintage/Release Frequency
Annual since 1980
Observational Unit
Household
Collection Methodology
- The Interview Survey is a rotating panel survey in which approximately 10,000 addresses are contacted each calendar quarter that yield approximately 6,000 useable interviews.
- One-fourth of the addresses that are contacted each quarter are new to the survey. After a housing unit has been in the sample for four consecutive quarters, it is dropped from the survey, and a new address is selected to replace it.
Proposal or Application required?
No
Special Notes
- A phased implementation of a re-design is being implemented since July 2022
- Experimental State Weights for 2019, supporting state-level analysis for selected states, are also available with their documentation.
- Public Use Microdata Annual Workshop offered (https://www.bls.gov/cex/ceworkshopthankyou.htm).