Consumer Expenditure Survey Extracts

Source Census Bureau / Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

This page contains the NBER collection of the Consumer Expenditure Survey. The Consumer Expenditure Survey, done by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 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. The extracts of the quarterly Interview Survey, initiated by John Sabelhaus and continued by Ed Harris of the Congressional Budget Office, make access to data much more straightforward.

The family records data contain consumer unit information on expenditures, income, wealth, and basic household demographics. The member record data contains additional consumer unit member earnings and demographic information.

1985 Q3 and Q4 and 1995 Q3 and Q4 are not available due to a change in the sampling frame.

For each household, the four quarterly records have been merged into an annual record. For example, the 1997:1 files contain the annual expenditures for households that began the survey 1997:1 and combines expenditures reported from 1997:1 - 1997:4. None of the newid variables will match across quarters because each quarter is a completely different sample.

The source data used to create the extracts is available only from the BLS.

Internal users can access this data in a UNIX shell at /homes/data/ces_cbo or on an NBER PC via Network Neighborhood --> NBER --> home --> data --> ces_cbo

Updates and changes.

Documentation, Variable List, and Sample SAS Files

Documentation -- MS Word	Cexfam.doc
Documentation -- WordPerfect	Cexfam.wpd
Documentation -- Adobe PDF	Cexfam.pdf
Documentation -- Text	Cexfam.txt
Suggested Variable names & positions	varlist.txt
Sample SAS Program -- Family Files	cbofam.sas
Sample SAS Program -- Member Files	cbomemb.sas
Sample SAS Program -- Merges the member and family files	cbomerge.sas

FAMILY RECORDS

Year	Q1-Q4, Pkzipped	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
1980	ffile80.zip	ffile801.Z	ffile802.Z	ffile803.Z	ffile804.Z
1981	ffile81.zip	ffile811.Z	ffile812.Z	ffile813.Z	ffile814.Z
1982	ffile82.zip	ffile821.Z	ffile822.Z	ffile823.Z	ffile824.Z
1983	ffile83.zip	ffile831.Z	ffile832.Z	ffile833.Z	ffile834.Z
1984	ffile84.zip	ffile841.Z	ffile842.Z	ffile843.Z	ffile844.Z
1985	ffile85.zip	ffile851.Z	ffile852.Z	NA	NA
1986	ffile86.zip	ffile861.Z	ffile862.Z	ffile863.Z	ffile864.Z
1987	ffile87.zip	ffile871.Z	ffile872.Z	ffile873.Z	ffile874.Z
1988	ffile88.zip	ffile881.Z	ffile882.Z	ffile883.Z	ffile884.Z
1989	ffile89.zip	ffile891.Z	ffile892.Z	ffile893.Z	ffile894.Z
1990	ffile90.zip	ffile901.Z	ffile902.Z	ffile903.Z	ffile904.Z
1991	ffile91.zip	ffile911.Z	ffile912.Z	ffile913.Z	ffile914.Z
1992	ffile92.zip	ffile921.Z	ffile922.Z	ffile923.Z	ffile924.Z
1993	ffile93.zip	ffile931.Z	ffile932.Z	ffile933.Z	ffile934.Z
1994	ffile94.zip	ffile941.Z	ffile942.Z	ffile943.Z	ffile944.Z
1995	ffile95.zip	ffile951.Z	ffile952.Z	NA	NA
1996	ffile96.zip	ffile961.Z	ffile962.Z	ffile963.Z	ffile964.Z
1997	ffile97.zip	ffile971.Z	ffile972.Z	ffile973.Z	ffile974.Z
1998	ffile98.zip	ffile981.Z	ffile982.Z	ffile983.Z	ffile984.Z
1999	ffile99.zip	ffile991.Z	ffile992.Z	ffile993.Z	ffile994.Z
2000	ffile00.zip	ffile001.Z	ffile002.Z	ffile003.Z	ffile004.Z
2001	ffile01.zip	ffile011.Z	ffile012.Z	ffile013.Z	ffile014.Z
2002	ffile02.zip	ffile021.Z	ffile022.Z	ffile023.Z	ffile024.Z
2003	ffile03.zip	ffile031.Z	ffile032.Z	--	--

MEMBER RECORDS

Year	Q1-Q4, Pkzipped	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
1980	mfile80.zip	mfile801.Z	mfile802.Z	mfile803.Z	mfile804.Z
1981	mfile81.zip	mfile811.Z	mfile812.Z	mfile813.Z	mfile814.Z
1982	mfile82.zip	mfile821.Z	mfile822.Z	mfile823.Z	mfile824.Z
1983	mfile83.zip	mfile831.Z	mfile832.Z	mfile833.Z	mfile834.Z
1984	mfile84.zip	mfile841.Z	mfile842.Z	mfile843.Z	mfile844.Z
1985	mfile85.zip	mfile851.Z	mfile852.Z	NA	NA
1986	mfile86.zip	mfile861.Z	mfile862.Z	mfile863.Z	mfile864.Z
1987	mfile87.zip	mfile871.Z	mfile872.Z	mfile873.Z	mfile874.Z
1988	mfile88.zip	mfile881.Z	mfile882.Z	mfile883.Z	mfile884.Z
1989	mfile89.zip	mfile891.Z	mfile892.Z	mfile893.Z	mfile894.Z
1990	mfile90.zip	mfile901.Z	mfile902.Z	mfile903.Z	mfile904.Z
1991	mfile91.zip	mfile911.Z	mfile912.Z	mfile913.Z	mfile914.Z
1992	mfile92.zip	mfile921.Z	mfile922.Z	mfile923.Z	mfile924.Z
1993	mfile93.zip	mfile931.Z	mfile932.Z	mfile933.Z	mfile934.Z
1994	mfile94.zip	mfile941.Z	mfile942.Z	mfile943.Z	mfile944.Z
1995	mfile95.zip	mfile951.Z	mfile952.Z	NA	NA
1996	mfile96.zip	mfile961.Z	mfile962.Z	mfile963.Z	mfile964.Z
1997	mfile97.zip	mfile971.Z	mfile972.Z	mfile973.Z	mfile974.Z
1998	mfile98.zip	mfile981.Z	mfile982.Z	mfile983.Z	mfile984.Z
1999	mfile99.zip	mfile991.Z	mfile992.Z	mfile993.Z	mfile994.Z
2000	mfile00.zip	mfile001.Z	mfile002.Z	mfile003.Z	mfile004.Z
2001	mfile01.zip	mfile011.Z	mfile012.Z	mfile013.Z	mfile014.Z
2002	mfile02.zip	mfile021.Z	mfile022.Z	mfile023.Z	mfile024.Z
2003	mfile03.zip	mfile031.Z	mfile032.Z	--	--

FORTRAN Source Code

The source data used to create the extracts is available from the BLS.

main.f90	Main Program
doccex.f90	Creates 109 income, expenditure, and wealth categories
cexqtr.f90	Reads source CEX files (available from the BLS)
cexfam.f90	Creates unified family record from cexqtr.f90 output
create f & m files	Applies attrition adjustment factors to cexfam.f90 output
inc22	An input file for doccex.f90
con47	An input file for doccex.f90
oth40	An input file for doccex.f90
mapwtv2.txt	Maps CE interviews to calendar years
cextitle	Contains titles of the 109 CE categories
Declarations	A module containing program control variables used by many modules
aggregate	Compares CEX and NIPA aggregates over time