April 1, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Expenditures for housing, personal insurance rise fastest in 1997

In 1997, the largest expenditure increases among the major components of spending were the roughly 5-percent gains in housing and in personal insurance and pensions. Housing expenditures accounted for 32.4 percent of total expenditures in 1997, up 0.6 percentage point from the previous year, while personal insurance and pensions accounted for 9.3 percent, up 0.1 percentage point.

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The 4.9-percent housing expenditure increase followed gains of 2.8 percent in 1996 and 3.5 percent in 1995.  Expenditures in 1997 on housing subcomponents showed the following changes: housefurnishings and equipment increased 12.0 percent; household operations rose 5.0 percent; shelter increased 4.6 percent; utilities, fuels, and public services jumped 2.8 percent; and housekeeping supplies fell 1.9 percent.

Following a 3.2-percent rise in 1996, the 5.3-percent personal insurance and pensions expenditure rise in 1997 broke down into a 7.4-percent increase for expenditures on life insurance and other such personal insurance, and a 5.1-percent increase for pensions and Social Security.

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Additional information is available from "Consumer Expenditures in 1997", Report 927.