What is personal consumption expenditures (PCE)?

Personal consumption expenditures is a measure of consumer spending and includes all goods and services bought by U.S. households. Learn more about PCE and how it's used.

What is consumer spending?

Consumer spending refers to total spending on goods and services for personal and household use. This does not include spending on capital goods, which are good purchased by firms to produce consumer goods down the line, nor does it include money saved for future spending.

What are contemporary measures of consumer spending?

Contemporary measures of consumer spending include all private purchases of durable goods, nondurable goods, and services. Consumer spending can be regarded as complementary to personal saving, investment spending, and production in an economy. Consumer spending is all spending on final goods and services for current personal and household use.