Real Consumer Spending (Real PCE)
Real personal consumption expenditures measure total household spending on goods and services, adjusted for inflation (chained 2017 dollars), from the BEA's monthly personal income and outlays report. Consumer spending is roughly 70% of GDP, making real PCE the single most important monthly read on the US economy.
Latest reading
As of April 2026, Real Spending (YoY %) stands at 2.1% — down from 2.1% the prior reading. Year-over-year real PCE growth around 2–3% is healthy; outright contraction has accompanied every postwar recession. Because it is inflation-adjusted, it strips out the nominal boost from rising prices that flatters retail-sales headlines. Read it alongside the saving rate and consumer credit — spending that outruns income growth, funded by drawing down savings or adding debt, is borrowed and not sustainable. Series history runs from 2007 to present.
YoY %
Next release: Jun 25, 2026
Full history
Methodology & data
Real Spending is sourced from BEA via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BEA via FRED (PCEC96), monthly, chained 2017$, seasonally adjusted annual rate). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-06-20. See our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Real Consumer Spending (Real PCE)?
Real personal consumption expenditures measure total household spending on goods and services, adjusted for inflation (chained 2017 dollars), from the BEA's monthly personal income and outlays report. Consumer spending is roughly 70% of GDP, making real PCE the single most important monthly read on the US economy.
How do you read Real Spending?
Year-over-year real PCE growth around 2–3% is healthy; outright contraction has accompanied every postwar recession. Because it is inflation-adjusted, it strips out the nominal boost from rising prices that flatters retail-sales headlines. Read it alongside the saving rate and consumer credit — spending that outruns income growth, funded by drawing down savings or adding debt, is borrowed and not sustainable.
Where does the Real Spending data come from?
BEA via FRED (PCEC96), monthly, chained 2017$, seasonally adjusted annual rate. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/real-consumer-spending.csv.
How often is Real Spending updated?
Real Spending is a monthly series from BEA, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.