Average annual expenditures per consumer unit, which is similar to a household, rose 4.3 percent in 2006, following an increase of 6.9 percent in 2005, according to results from the Consumer Expenditure Survey released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The increase in expenditures from 2005 to 2006 was larger than the 3.2 percent rise in the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) over this period.

Increases in spending on housing (7.9 percent), the largest component of spending, and on food (3.0 percent), contributed to the overall increase in 2006. Among the other major components, spending increased for healthcare (3.8 percent), transportation (2.0 percent), and personal insurance and pensions (1.3 percent), while spending decreased for apparel and services (-0.6 percent) and entertainment (-0.5 percent).