|
Search GILS
Records
Browse GILS Records
Title: Consumer Expenditure
Survey: CEX
Originator:
Department/Agency Name:
Department Of Labor
Major Organizational
Subdivision: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Minor Organizational
Subdivision: Office of Prices and Living Conditions
Name of Unit: Division
of Consumer Expenditure Studies
Access Constraints: None.
Approved for Public Release
Use Constraints: The Interview and
Diary Surveys are sample surveys and are subject to two types of errors,
nonsampling and sampling. Nonsampling errors can be attributed to many sources,
such as differences in the interpretation of questions, inability or
unwillingness of the respondent to provide correct information, mistakes in
recording or coding the data obtained, and other errors of collection,
response, processing, coverage, and estimation for missing data. The full
extent of nonsampling error is unknown. Sampling errors occur because the
survey data are collected from a sample and not from the entire population.
Tables with coefficients of variation and other reliability statistics are
available on request. However, because the statistics are shown at the detailed
item level, the tables are extensive. Caution should be used in interpreting
the expenditure data, especially when relating averages to individual
circumstances. The data shown in the published tables are averages for
demographic groups of consumer units. Expenditures by individual consumer units
may differ from the average even if the characteristics of the group are
similar to the individual consumer unit. Income, family size, age of family
members, geographic location, and individual tastes and preferences all
influence expenditures.
Abstract: The Consumer Expenditure
Survey collects information from the Nation's households and families on their
buying habits (expenditures), income, and characteristics. The strength of the
survey is that it allows data users to relate the expenditures and income of
consumers to the characteristics of those consumers. The survey consists of two
components, a quarterly Interview Survey and a weekly Diary Survey, each with
its own questionnaire and sample.
Purpose: Data from the
Consumer Expenditure Survey are used in a number of different ways by a variety
of users. Market researchers find the data useful in analyzing the demand for
groups of goods and services. The data allow them to track spending trends of
different types of consumer units (see the response to question 3 for the
definition of a consumer unit). Government and private agencies use the data to
study the welfare of particular segments of the population, such as of consumer
units with a reference person age 65 and over or under age 25, or for
low-income consumer units (see the response to question 4 for the definition of
a reference person). Economic policymakers use the data to study the impact of
policy changes in the welfare of different socioeconomic groups. Researchers
use the data in a variety of studies, including those that focus on the
spending behavior of different family types, trends in expenditures on various
expenditure components including new types of goods and services, gift-giving
behavior, consumption studies, and historical spending trends. An important use
of the survey by BLS is for the periodic revision of the Bureau's Consumer
Price Index (CPI). Survey results are used to select new market baskets of
goods and services for the CPI, to determine the relative importance of CPI
components, and to derive new cost weights for the market baskets.
Agency Program: 29 U.S.C. 1, 2; 19 U.S.C. 2393 Statutory
Requirement Met by the Program: The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall acquire
and diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on
subjects connected with labor, in the most general and comprehensive sense of
the word, and the means of promoting their prosperity (29 U.S.C. 1).
Local Subject Terms:
- Interview survey
- Diary survey
- Consumer spending
- Consumption
- Consumer purchases
- Consumer buying
- Consumer Price Index
- CPI
- US Federal GILS
Availability:
Distributor:
Name:
Office of Publications and Special Studies
Organization:
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Street
Address: 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Room 2860
City:
Washington
State:
DC
Zip
Code: 20212
Country:
USA
Network
Address: blsdata_staff@bls.gov
Hours
of Service: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET
Telephone:
(202) 691-5200
Fax:
(202) 691-7890
Order Process: website
Linkage:
http://stats.bls.gov
Linkage Type: text/html
Point of Contact:
Name: Office of
Publications and Special Studies
Organization: Bureau of
Labor Statistics
Street
Address: 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Room 2860
City: Washington
State: DC
Zip Code: 20212
Country: USA
Network Address:
blsdata_staff@bls.gov
Hours of Service: 8:30
a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET
Telephone: (202)
691-5200
Fax:
(202) 691-7890
Sources of Data:
Department/Agency Name:
Department Of Labor
Major Organizational
Subdivision: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Minor Organizational
Subdivision: Office of Prices and Living Conditions
Name of Unit: Division
of Consumer Expenditure Studies
Record Source:
Name: Office of
Publications and Special Studies
Organization: Bureau of
Labor Statistics
Street
Address: 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Room 2860
City: Washington
State: DC
Zip Code: 20212
Country: USA
Network Address:
blsdata_staff@bls.gov
Hours of Service: 8:30
a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET
Telephone: (202)
691-5200
Fax:
(202) 691-7890
Date of Last Modification: 20000908
Control Identifier: DOL-BLS-000166
| |
|
