Average annual expenditures per consumer unit, which is similar to a household, rose 2.6 percent in 2007 following an increase of 4.3 percent in 2006, according to results from the Consumer Expenditure Survey released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Spending kept pace with inflation in 2007 as the increase in expenditures from 2006 to 2007 was close to the 2.8 percent rise in the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) over this period.

Moderate increases in spending on housing (3.4 percent), transportation (2.9 percent), and food (0.4 percent), the three largest components of spending, contributed to the small overall increase in 2007. Among the other major components, spending increased for personal insurance and pensions (1.3 percent), health care (3.1 percent), entertainment (13.6 percent), and apparel and services (0.4 percent).