Prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that a 1.6-percent rise in the shelter index was predominantly responsible for the overall increase although it was partially offset by 2-month declines in several indexes including medical care. Shelter similarly led the all items less food and energy index rise of 0.9 percent. The energy index advanced 0.8 percent, whereas the food index reported a 0.1-percent decline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The CPI-U was up 3.1 percent over the year and the index for all items less food and energy was mainly responsible, up 4.6 percent, due to rising shelter prices. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices were up 6.5 percent. The pace of decline in the energy index quickened with June's 12-month decline of 15.3 percent outstripping the April drop of 3.6 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, June 2020–June 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jun 2020	0.1	0.5
Aug 2020	0.4	0.8
Oct 2020	0.8	1.1
Dec 2020	1.1	0.9
Feb 2021	1.0	0.6
Apr 2021	3.5	3.1
Jun 2021	4.9	4.5
Aug 2021	4.6	4.1
Oct 2021	5.6	4.6
Dec 2021	6.6	5.6
Feb 2022	7.3	5.9
Apr 2022	8.4	6.3
Jun 2022	8.8	5.6
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Oct 2022	7.8	5.8
Dec 2022	6.4	5.2
Feb 2023	6.9	6.3
Apr 2023	4.7	5.0
Jun 2023	3.1	4.6

Food prices decreased by 0.1 percent for the 2 months ending in June. The food at home index drove the decline, down 0.5 percent, although there were increases for each decline among its components. Leading the decrease was meats, poultry, fish and eggs, down 4.5 percent due in part to falling prices for chicken and eggs— the first index decline of the year and largest since August 2020 (-7.2 percent). Prices for other food at home were down 1.1 percent and the fruits and vegetable index fell 0.7 percent due to lower prices for citrus fruits. Among the rest of the grocery categories, nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 3.7 percent; the cereals and bakery products index advanced 2.4 percent; and prices for dairy and related products were up 0.2 percent. Food away from home prices nearly offset the grocery index with a 0.5 percent increase.

Over the year, food prices rose 6.5 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 6.3 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home rose 6.8 percent. Most of the major grocery categories were up over the year. Leading the increase was other food at home (up 11.1 percent). As well as cereals and bakery products, only up 8.4 percent — the smallest increase since December 2021. Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 7.3 percent, dairy and related product prices increased 9.1 percent and prices for fruits and vegetables advanced 1.9 percent. Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs was the only category to decline, down 0.1 percent, the first index decline since June 2021.

As prices rose 0.8 percent for the 2 months ending in June, the energy index ended its bi-monthly decline trend that began in August 2022. The increase was mainly due to rising prices in the electricity index (5.2 percent). The gasoline index increased 0.3 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 4.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 15.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for the gasoline index (-27.8 percent). Fuel oil prices declined as well. Prices paid for natural gas service were down 9.4 percent during the past year, whereas prices for the electricity index were up 9.4 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.9 percent in the latest 2-month period. The rise was led by higher prices for shelter (1.6 percent) due largely to the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (up 1.3 percent), followed by rent of primary residence (up 1.1 percent), and rising prices for lodging away from home. Prices rose for new and used motor vehicles, up 1.5 percent due to a 4.3-percent increase in used cars and trucks. Other major categories in the all items less food and energy index also increased: apparel was up 1.8 percent, other goods and services up 0.8 percent, and education and communication up 0.3 percent. Partially offsetting the overall index rise were declines in medical care (-0.9 percent), household furnishings and operations (-1.0 percent), and public transportation.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.6 percent. The recent increase was mainly driven by a 7.2-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences advanced 7.3 percent and rent of primary residence rose 7.6 percent. Other categories also saw increases such as the other goods and services index, up 11.3 percent. The new and used motor vehicles index, rose 1.2 percent, and within that index, new vehicles advanced 4.2 percent and used cars and trucks declined 5.1 percent.

The August 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is published bi-monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Apr. 2023	May 2023	Jun. 2023	Jun. 2022	Apr. 2023	May 2023
All items		301.225		303.446	3.1	0.7
All items (1967 = 100)		870.222		876.638
Food and beverages		293.595		293.403	6.4	-0.1
Food		296.037		295.722	6.5	-0.1
Food at home		304.500	303.063	303.060	6.3	-0.5	0.0
Cereals and bakery products		410.733	416.718	420.737	8.4	2.4	1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		341.875	328.998	326.407	-0.1	-4.5	-0.8
Dairy and related products		244.492	245.093	244.999	9.1	0.2	0.0
Fruits and vegetables		306.952	300.447	304.917	1.9	-0.7	1.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		197.713	202.937	205.063	7.3	3.7	1.0
Other food at home		293.423	293.984	290.087	11.1	-1.1	-1.3
Food away from home		275.697		277.082	6.8	0.5
Alcoholic beverages		256.278		257.956	4.7	0.7
Housing		317.022		320.882	5.8	1.2
Shelter		388.601	391.969	394.690	7.2	1.6	0.7
Rent of primary residence		362.512	364.250	366.473	7.6	1.1	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		396.895	398.959	401.961	7.3	1.3	0.8
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		396.895	398.959	401.961	7.3	1.3	0.8
Fuels and utilities		267.964		270.444	-3.3	0.9
Household energy		220.802	219.498	223.376	-4.3	1.2	1.8
Energy services		230.031	231.037	235.649	3.2	2.4	2.0
Electricity		225.436	226.150	237.156	9.4	5.2	4.9
Utility (piped) gas service		223.635	225.241	214.732	-9.4	-4.0	-4.7
Household furnishings and operations		143.852		142.447	5.8	-1.0
Apparel		108.417		110.360	1.3	1.8
Transportation		264.597		267.233	-4.4	1.0
Private transportation		272.570		277.689	-3.6	1.9
New and used motor vehicles(3)		133.318		135.336	1.2	1.5
New vehicles(1)		237.672		238.459	4.2	0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		361.470		376.927	-5.1	4.3
Motor fuel		328.036	327.126	329.023	-27.8	0.3	0.6
Gasoline (all types)		323.785	322.907	324.799	-27.8	0.3	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		319.556	318.537	320.482	-28.2	0.3	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		333.184	333.469	335.533	-25.6	0.7	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		329.010	328.984	330.389	-24.7	0.4	0.4
Medical care		597.993		592.397	-0.7	-0.9
Recreation(3)		134.502		134.754	1.4	0.2
Education and communication(3)		135.412		135.788	0.9	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,108.544		1,114.433	3.2	0.5
Other goods and services		691.829		697.167	11.3	0.8
Commodity and service group
Commodities		221.118		221.657	-0.9	0.2
Commodities less food and beverages		181.812		182.631	-4.9	0.5
Nondurables less food and beverages		222.999		223.495	-10.1	0.2
Durables		133.052		134.006	1.5	0.7
Services		381.500		385.219	5.3	1.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		272.072		272.686	0.9	0.2
All items less medical care		288.630		291.155	3.5	0.9
Commodities less food		184.915		185.760	-4.5	0.5
Nondurables		259.297		259.460	-1.8	0.1
Nondurables less food		225.184		225.747	-9.1	0.3
Services less rent of shelter(2)		381.520		382.298	3.1	0.2
Services less medical care services		365.079		369.323	6.1	1.2
Energy		261.248	260.035	263.378	-15.3	0.8	1.3
All items less energy		308.537		310.794	4.9	0.7
All items less food and energy		313.744		316.439	4.6	0.9
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.