Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) totaled $12.821 trillion in the United States in 2016. Purchases of goods and services accounted for 77.49% or $9.934 trillion of that amount. The other 22.51% or $2.886 trillion of PCE did not involve a purchase of any kind. However, the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which calculates PCE, includes in its total for PCE the monetary value of transactions for which no payment was made. Examples include the imputed monetary value for meals furnished to employees and military personnel. Other examples of “nonpurchase...