Consumption Monthly
Consumption Monthly
Consumption Monthly
Monthly snapshot of US consumer spending and saving behavior, consolidating four of the most closely watched consumption indicators into a single API call. Sourced from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and US Census Bureau via FRED, this dataset covers personal consumption expenditures, retail sales, and the personal saving rate — providing a comprehensive read on the health and trajectory of the US consumer. Date field reflects the first day of the reference month.
Fields: pce · pceMoMChgPc · retailSales · retailSalesMoMChgPc · personalSavingRate
Units: pce and retailSales in millions of USD; pceMoMChgPc and retailSalesMoMChgPc as month-over-month percentage change; personalSavingRate as a percentage of disposable income.
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Use Cases
Consumer sector equity research (retail, discretionary, staples), GDP growth forecasting, Fed inflation monitoring (PCE is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge), personal saving rate as a consumer stress/resilience indicator, retail sales trend analysis for earnings previews, cross-referencing wage growth against spending to assess real purchasing power, recession monitoring via sustained spending contraction, and alert triggers on MoM retail sales or PCE threshold moves.
Highlights
The CONSUMPTION_MONTHLY dataset brings together the two most important measures of US consumer activity — Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and Retail Sales — alongside the personal saving rate, in a single monthly API call. PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation and spending benchmark, making it essential for rate policy analysis. Retail sales provides a higher-frequency read on goods spending, while the saving rate signals whether consumers are drawing down buffers or rebuilding them. Together, these three indicators paint a complete picture of consumer health — from aggregate spending levels and momentum to the underlying financial resilience of US households.
Provider
Methods
https://api.blueskyapi.com/v1/data/CORE/CONSUMPTION_MONTHLYhttps://api.blueskyapi.com/v1/data/CORE/CONSUMPTION_MONTHLY/:country
Time Series Query Parameters
You can use any time series query parameters with this dataset.
View the full documentation →
Response Attributes
| Key | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
country* key | string | |
date* index | string | |
| pce | number, null | |
| pceMoMChgPc | number, null | |
| personalSavingRate | number, null | |
| retailSales | number, null | |
| retailSalesMoMChgPc | number, null |
* required
| Field | Type | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| date | string | YYYY-MM-DD | First day of reference month |
| country | string | — | Country code (e.g. US) |
| pce | float | Millions of USD | Personal consumption expenditures, seasonally adjusted annual rate |
| pceMoMChgPc | float | Percentage points | PCE month-over-month percentage change |
| retailSales | float | Millions of USD | Total retail and food services sales, seasonally adjusted |
| retailSalesMoMChgPc | float | Percentage points | Retail sales month-over-month percentage change |
| personalSavingRate | float | Percentage points | Personal saving as a percentage of disposable income |
| id | string | — | Dataset identifier (CONSUMPTION_MONTHLY) |
| key | string | — | Partition key (US) |
| subkey | string | — | Sub-partition key (empty) |
| updated | float | Unix ms | Timestamp of last data refresh |
Disclaimer
Monthly consumption data is sourced from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the US Census Bureau via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). This data is provided for informational purposes only and is subject to the terms of use of the respective data providers. Blue-Sky Data Platform LLC makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the data and accepts no liability for decisions made in reliance upon it. Users are responsible for ensuring their use of this data complies with applicable provider terms and licensing requirements.
Attribution
PCE and personal saving rate data: US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). Retail sales data: US Census Bureau via FRED. Key FRED series: PCE (personal consumption expenditures), PSAVERT (personal saving rate), RSAFS (retail sales).