PORTLAND, Maine — Higher health care spending led an overall rise in household expenditures in Maine last year, according to new federal data.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its state-level personal consumption expenditure data Tuesday, showing that spending in 16 categories of goods and services rose in Maine slower than national and regional averages, to $54.7 billion in 2014.
That amount was 3.5 percent higher than 2013, compared with 4.2 percent growth nationwide for personal consumption expenditures.
That rate at the state and national levels accelerated compared with the change from 2013 to 2014.
The figures also break down the spending categories that contributed most to the increase.
In 2014, health care spending accounted for 0.7 percentage points of the 3.5 percent increase in Maine, which was slightly higher than the average of 0.6 percentage points of the total across all states.
While making up the largest share of the increased spending in Maine, health care was not the fastest growing category of spending.
Amid a continuing economic recovery, spending on automobiles and vehicle parts grew the fastest in Maine last year, rising 6.6 percent higher than 2013. That increase came as a dramatic drop in oil prices made gasoline and other energy goods the only category where people spent less than the year before.
Maine’s spending on gasoline dropped 1.2 percent, compared with 1.4 percent across New England states and 2.9 percent nationally.
Maine continued to lead the region for per capita spending on gasoline and other energy products, spending $2,203 per capita compared with $1,426 per capita across New England and $1,258 per capita nationally.