U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Consumer Expenditure Survey

CE Visited Your Town: Past Events

Meeting with users of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data is important to the CE program. Whether you use tables or microdata, we value your comments, and the opportunity to answer questions or otherwise assist you in using the data.

This page shows conferences at which CE staff from the National Office in Washington, DC, have presented. Please note that neither the CE program nor the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is affiliated with the sponsors of these events.

If you would like to contact the CE staff about these or other matters, please use any of the methods below to contact the CE National Office. Inquiries should include your name, phone number, fax number, mailing address, or e-mail address, along with a brief message. If you have questions or want more information on regional CE data, please contact your local BLS Regional Information Office.

This page will be updated periodically. Meanwhile, please take a look at upcoming events.

Disclaimer: The authors of some of these studies and presentations are not affiliated with BLS. This information is provided for your convenience and does not constitute an endorsement.

Northeast

New York, NY

Eastern Economic Association (EEA)

• May 9-11, 2013
  Website: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/
  Conference Program: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/2013/docs/EEA2013_prelim_program.pdf
  Session title: "Employment, Income, Consumption, and Inequality: Local, National, and Global Perspectives using Data from Two U.S. Agencies (Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau)"
  Presentations:
  
  • Employment in New York City: Comparing Measurements from the Current
    Population Survey (CPS) and Current Employment Survey (CES).
    Martin Kohli and Cynthia Gillham (New York-New Jersey BLS Information Office in New York City).
  • Pay Premiums among Major Industry Groups in New York City.
    Lisa Boily (New York-New Jersey BLS Information Office in New York City).
  • The Demography of Inequality for Individuals and Families: Income and Consumption.
    Jonathan Fisher (U.S. Census Bureau, NY Office); co-authored with David Johnson (U.S. Census Bureau) and Timothy Smeeding (University of Wisconsin).
  • How Can They Afford it?: Investigating How Expenditures Persistently Exceed Income for Low-Income Consumers Before, During, and After the 2007-09 Recession.
    Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).
  • How Do U.S. Consumer Expenditures Compare with Those of Other Countries?
    Evidence from the Wake of the Recent Global Recession (2009 and 2011).
    Brett Creech (BLS).

  NOTE: This session featured speakers from the BLS New York Information Offices. These speakers can provide additional information on how to obtain local area statistics from the BLS. To contact a staff member from the New York Information Offices, please see the links at the bottom of this page.

Providence, RI

International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE)

• August 1-4, 2012
  Website: http://www.chrie.org
  Conference Program: http://www.chrie.org/data/files/gallery/ContentGallery/2012_Conference_Schedule.pdf
  Session titles: "Introducing the Consumer Expenditure Survey: A Large, Publicly Available Data Set for Analyzing Travel, Restaurant, and Recreation Expenditures"; "How to Analyze Data from Consumer Expenditure Survey: A Large, Publicly Available Data Set for Analyzing Travel, Restaurant, and Recreation Expenditures." Presented by Geoffrey Paulin.

  Poster presentation: Investigating the Impacts of Economic Downturn on Travel Expenditure.
  Li-Chun Lin (Montclair State University) and Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).

Boston, MA

Eastern Economic Association (EEA)

• March 9-11, 2012
  Website: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/
  Conference Program: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/2012/docs/Program-2012-011912.pdf
  Session titles: "Please Ask What Your Country Can Do for You: the Bureau of Labor Statistics at Your Service"; "Improving Income Tax Data in the Consumer Expenditure Survey: the Current Problem, the Proposed Solution, and Call for Comments" Session 1:
  • An Overview of the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Finding the Data You Need from Your Local EA&I Staff.
    Tim Consedine (New England BLS Information Office in Boston).
  • High Tech Industries in Massachusetts: Employment and Wage Trends During the 2001-2009 Period.
    Cynthia Gillham (New York-New Jersey BLS Information Office in New York City).
  • BLS Green Jobs Initiative: BLS Collection Methodology.
    Mark Maggi (New England BLS Information Office in Boston).
  • Introduction to the Consumer Expenditure Survey, with Examples using Travel Data.
    Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).
  Session 2: Presented by Laura Paszkiewicz and Geoffrey Paulin (BLS). Discussant: Daniel Feenberg (National Bureau of Economic Research).

NOTE: The first session featured speakers from the BLS New England and New York Information Offices. These speakers can provide additional information on how to obtain local area statistics from the BLS. To contact a staff member from either the New England or New York Information Offices, please see the links at the bottom of this page.

Midwest:

There have been no events in the Midwest in 2012.

South:

New Orleans, LA

Southwestern Social Sciences Association (SSSA), 93rd Annual Meeting

• March 27-30, 2013
  Website: http://www.sssaonline.org
  Conference Program: http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/sssa/sssa13/
  Presentations:
  • Exploring the Persisting Positive Gap Between Expenditures and Income For Low-Income Consumers:
    Before, During, and After the Recession of 2007-09
    Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).
  • Expenditures of Urban and Rural Households, 2011.
    William Hawk (BLS).
  Workshop: “Analyzing Recent Patterns in Household Spending: Examples from, and Instruction in Using, Data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey.”
  • Presenters: Geoffrey Paulin and William Hawk (BLS).
  • Overview: This session started with summaries of current research using these data, after which attendees were instructed in how to find and use published tables and microdata from which the research presented was produced.
  • Target Audience: The session was of particular interest to students, both graduate and undergraduate, pursuing dissertations, theses, or class projects; junior faculty interested in publishing; and senior faculty interested in new research projects.
  • Topics Presented:
  
  1. Expenditures Before, During, and After the Recent Recession
  2. Exploring How Expenditures Persistently Exceed Income on Average for Low-Income Consumers
  3. Expenditures of Urban and Rural Households
  4. Inter-Ethnic Variation in Food Expenditure Patterns for Asian Consumers in the U.S.
  

Orlando, FL

American Association for Public Opinion Research 67th Annual Conference

• May 17-20, 2012
  Website: http://www.aapor.org
  Conference Program: http://www.aapor.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=AAPOR_Annual_Conference&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=4986
  Presentation topics:
  
  • Measurement Errors in Self-Reports of Consumer Expenditures: Are Errors Attributable to Respondents or Expenditure Types?
    Charles Q. Strohm (RTI), Emily Geisen (RTI), Ashley Richards (RTI), Brandon Kopp (BLS).
  • Would You Like a Receipt With That? Availability of Respondent Records When Collecting Expenditure Information.
    Amy Hendershott (RTI), Emily Geisen (RTI), Charles Q. Strohm (RTI), Jennifer Edgar (BLS), Chris Stringer (Census).
  • Examining the relationship between the accuracy of self-reported data and the availability of respondent financial records.
    Emily Geisen (RTI), Charles Q. Strohm (RTI), Chris Stringer (Census), Brandon Kopp (BLS).
  • Ask more, get more? Comparing responses to detailed and global questions.
    Jennifer Edgar (BLS).
  • Exploring the Effects of a Shorter Interview on Data Quality, Nonresponse, and Respondent Burden.
    Scott S. Fricker, Brett J. Creech, Jeanette Davis, Jeffrey M. Gonzalez, Lucilla L. Tan, Nhien T. To (BLS).

Memphis, TN

American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI)

• April 11-13, 2012
  Website: http://www.consumerinterests.org
  Conference Program: http://www.consumerinterests.org/pdffiles/Program_ACCI_Conference_2012.pdf
  Session title: "This From Our (Microdata) Files: Research and Instruction Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, from Novice, Intermediate, and Expert Users"
  Presentations:
  • Report on Work by First-Time Users of the Consumer Expenditure Survey Microdata.
    Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).
  • Expenditures for Higher Education by Race.
    Tian Luo (Western BLS Information Office in San Francisco).
  • Comparison of Post-Imputation Income Estimates from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and Current Population Survey.
    Bill Passero (BLS).
  • Imputing Income Taxes in the Consumer Expenditure Survey: The Problem, Proposed Solution, and Call for Review and Comment.
    Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).

  NOTE: This session provided examples using current research from the microdata files, as well as instruction in how to use them. Topics covered included expenditures on higher education by race; housing expenditures during the recent bubble; comparing CE and other data sources; and improving income tax data in CE publications and microdata. The session included a speaker from the BLS Western Information Office in San Francisco. This speaker can provide additional information on how to obtain local area statistics from the BLS. To contact a member of the BLS Western Information Office staff, please see the links at the bottom of this page.

Charlotte, NC

Eastern Family Economics and Resource Management Association (EFERMA)

• February 29-March 2, 2012
  Website: www.eferma.org
  Conference Program: http://mrupured.myweb.uga.edu/info.html
  Session title: "Understanding Microdata from the Consumer Expenditure Survey: Overview and Applied Examples Using Current Research." Presented by Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).

West:

Spokane, WA

Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference (PNREC)

• May 16-17, 2013
  Website: http://www.pnrec.org
  Conference Program: http://www.pnrec.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/PNREC13-Full-Program.pdf
  Presentation (Plenary):
  • Introducing the Consumer Expenditure Survey: A Unique and Useful Tool for
    Analyzing Detailed Spending Patterns of U.S. Households.
    Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).

Portland, OR

American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI)

• April 10-12, 2013
  Website: http://www.consumerinterests.org
  Conference Program: http://www.consumerinterests.org/2013-conference/program.html
  Workshop: "Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey for Consumer Research"
  • Presenters: Geoffrey Paulin and Adam Reichenberger (BLS).
  • Overview: The session started with an introduction to the CE, including how the tabular and microdata are collected and published, how they can be accessed online, how they are used in practice, and journals that have published research using these data (e.g., Monthly Labor Review). Presenters described current research projects that use these data. In the final segments, attendees learned about the microdata: file structure and content, sampling of variables available, and contact information for CE program experts who can answer questions about accessing and using these files. They also had the opportunity to participate in brief exercises using the microdata.
  • Target Audience: This workshop was of particular interest to students, both graduate and undergraduate, pursuing dissertations, theses, or class projects; junior faculty interested in publishing; senior faculty interested in new research projects; and other analysts with interest in consumer spending patterns for use in policy, education, and other fields.
  • Topics Presented:
  
  1. How Consumers Changed Expenditures during the 2007-2009 Recession
  2. Housing Expenditures in Recession and Recovery: A Historical Perspective
  3. Exploring How Expenditures Persistently Exceed Income on Average for Low-Income Consumers
  4. Inter-Ethnic Variation in Food Expenditure Patterns for Asian Consumers in the U.S.
  

San Diego, CA

Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)

• July 28-August 2, 2012
  Website: http://www.amstat.org
  Conference Program: http://www.amstat.org/meetings/jsm/2012/program.cfm
  Presentation topics:
  
• An exploration of the application of PLS path modeling approach to creating a summary index of respondent burden.
  Scott Fricker, Craig Kreisler, and Lucilla Tan (BLS).
• Redesign of the Consumer Expenditure Survey: Recommendations from the National Research Council.
  Robert Santos (UI), Carol House (CNSTAT), Don Dillman (WSU), Andy Peytchev (RTI), Adam Safir (BLS).
• Methods for Responsive Split Questionnaire Panel Surveys.
  Jeffrey M. Gonzalez (BLS).

San Francisco, CA

Western Economic Association International (WEAI)

• June 29-July 3, 2012
  Website: http://www.weai.org
  Preliminary Conference Program: http://www.weai.org/Content/Files/Prelim-Schedule-4-12-12.pdf

Presentations:

• Inter-Ethnic Variation in Food at Home Expenditures by U.S. Consumers within the Asian Community.
  Geoffrey Paulin (BLS).
• Expenditures for Higher Education by Race.
  Tian Luo (Western BLS Information Office in San Francisco).

NOTE: One of the speakers represented the BLS Western Information Office in San Francisco. This speaker can provide additional information on how to obtain local area statistics from the BLS. To contact a member of the BLS Western Information Office staff, please see the links at the bottom of this page.

For more information on regional CE data, please contact your local BLS Regional Information Offices.

If you have questions, please contact the CE National Office Staff.

Last Modified Date: June 5, 2013

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