March 23, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Transportation spending brakes in
1997
After having risen by 6.1 percent the previous
year, spending on transportation increased by only 1.2 percent in 1997. Consumer units
spent an average of $6,457 for transportation-related expenditures during the year.
![Annual change in average consumer expenditures on transportation, 1990-97](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925093543im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1999/Mar/wk4/art02.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
Vehicle purchases are the largest transportation component and accounted
for 42 percent of transportation spending in 1997. During the year, spending on vehicle
purchases dropped by 2.8 percent, after rising 6.7 percent in 1996. Vehicle purchases
fluctuate widely from year to year because relatively small changes in the percentage of
consumer units buying expensive, infrequently purchased vehicles have a large effect on
the average.
Spending on public transportation decreased 8.0 percent in 1997, following a
20.3-percent increase the previous year. Public transportation includes airline, ship, and
train fares, as well as mass transit.
While expenditures on vehicle purchases and public transportation fell in 1997,
spending on "other vehicle expenses" and on gasoline and motor oil increased, by
8.4 percent and 1.5 percent respectively. Other vehicle expenses account for about a third
of overall transportation costs and include vehicle finance charges, maintenance and
repairs, vehicle insurance, and vehicle rentals and leasing.
These data are a product of the BLS Consumer
Expenditure Survey. Additional information is available from
"Consumer Expenditures in 1997", Report 927.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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