Prices in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.9 percent for the 2 months ending in May 2023, down from March’s 1.3-percent increase, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the May rise was due in part to an increase in the shelter index. The all items less food and energy index, which includes shelter, contributed the most to the increase as it rose 0.8 percent. Rising prices in the energy index and the food index also contributed to the rise of the overall index. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U index was up 3.1 percent, the smallest rise in 2 years. The all items less food and energy index was mainly responsible as it rose 3.9 percent. Food prices were up 4.4 percent over the year, continuing to moderate from last year’s peak of 8.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index reduced the overall increase, declining 10.1 percent since May 2022, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, May 2020–May 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2020	-0.1	0.3
Jul 2020	0.8	0.9
Sep 2020	1.2	0.9
Nov 2020	1.4	1.4
Jan 2021	1.5	1.3
Mar 2021	2.6	2.0
May 2021	3.8	3.2
Jul 2021	4.4	3.6
Sep 2021	4.5	3.7
Nov 2021	5.8	4.4
Jan 2022	6.0	4.8
Mar 2022	7.3	6.0
May 2022	7.5	5.7
Jul 2022	7.5	5.6
Sep 2022	6.5	5.6
Nov 2022	5.6	4.9
Jan 2023	4.4	3.6
Mar 2023	3.7	4.0
May 2023	3.1	3.9

The food index rose 0.2 percent over the last 2 months, with prices for food away from home up 0.9 percent and food at home down 0.2 percent. Within the food at home category, prices for fruits and vegetables decreased 3.5 percent, in part to lowering prices for citrus fruits. Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs prices decreased 1.6 percent, largely due to falling prices for eggs. The rest of the grocery categories had similarly declining prices except for other food at home, which rose 4.8 percent, nearing last year’s record peak of 4.9 percent.

From May 2022 to May 2023, food prices increased 4.4 percent. The 7.8-percent increase for food away from home was the highest 12-month increase since the index began in January 1999. Comparatively, the food at home index reported the smallest 12-month increase (+2.2 percent) since September 2021. Leading the rise in the food at home index was other food at home (+7.5 percent), dairy and related products (+6.3 percent), and cereals and bakery products (+4.1 percent). Declining prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-3.4 percent) and fruits and vegetables (-0.4 percent) tempered the overall index rise.

After mostly declining since September 2022, the energy index rose 3.3 percent over the last 2 months ending in May. Within energy, the gasoline and utility (piped) gas service indexes reversed direction as well, up 4.2 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, since March. Declining prices for fuel oil and no change in the electricity index moderated the overall energy index rise.

Energy prices declined 10.1 percent over the year as gasoline and utility (piped) gas had double-digit decreases of 22.2 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively. Prices advanced for electricity, up 13.1 percent, moderating from last November’s 19.1-percent peak.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in the latest 2-month period. Higher prices for shelter (1.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (2.2 percent) led the overall index rise. Within the shelter index, owners’ equivalent rent of residences increased (up 1.2 percent) as did the remaining categories. In the new and used motor vehicles index, used cars and trucks led the advance, up 7.9 percent. It was the first bi-monthly increase since July 2022 but remained below the index’s peak of 17.0 percent in May 2021. Other rising prices in the all items less food and energy index included education and communication (up 1.0 percent), other goods and services (up 1.6 percent), and recreation (up 0.5 percent).  The overall index rise was partly offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.3 percent) and apparel (-1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.9 percent. Reversing a clear pattern that began after July 2020, 12-month percent changes for the all items less food and energy index have been higher than the all items index changes since March. The May increase was primarily due to a 5.6-percent rise in the shelter index as a component index, owners’ equivalent rent of residences, was up 5.7 percent. Also within shelter, the index for rent of primary residence advanced 5.8 percent. Other components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (4.3 percent); new vehicles advanced 4.0 percent but used cars and trucks declined 4.1 percent. Prices in the remaining main components rose over the year except for medical care. At -4.0 percent, the medical care index saw its second drop in a row and recorded the largest over-the-year decline in the history of the series.

The July 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on August 10, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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, and 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of Jefferson in West Virginia.

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, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023	May 2023	May 2022	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023
All items		302.930		305.614	3.1	0.9
Food and beverages		299.066		299.681	4.3	0.2
Food		307.783		308.473	4.4	0.2
Food at home		289.229	290.476	288.637	2.2	-0.2	-0.6
Cereals and bakery products		386.810		384.528	4.1	-0.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		313.396		308.310	-3.4	-1.6
Dairy and related products		286.880		285.776	6.3	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables		300.469		290.096	-0.4	-3.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		255.404		248.439	0.2	-2.7
Other food at home		237.874		249.193	7.5	4.8
Food away from home		332.381		335.461	7.8	0.9
Alcoholic beverages		218.714		218.372	3.4	-0.2
Housing		314.680		317.141	5.1	0.8
Shelter		373.375	373.835	376.936	5.6	1.0	0.8
Rent of primary residence		406.243	406.221	406.447	5.8	0.1	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		379.670	380.593	384.143	5.7	1.2	0.9
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		379.670	380.593	384.143	5.7	1.2	0.9
Fuels and utilities		277.237		282.792	4.8	2.0
Household energy		219.342	222.117	224.849	4.3	2.5	1.2
Energy services		223.023	226.397	229.686	5.1	3.0	1.5
Electricity		250.285	249.373	250.301	13.1	0.0	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service		153.845	166.227	174.406	-12.4	13.4	4.9
Household furnishings and operations		132.044		130.324	2.3	-1.3
Apparel		168.135		165.156	6.8	-1.8
Transportation		263.458		270.876	-0.5	2.8
Private transportation		272.667		281.763	0.3	3.3
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.321		130.158	4.3	2.2
New vehicles(1)		230.439		231.418	4.0	0.4
Used cars and trucks(1)		400.310		431.946	-4.1	7.9
Motor fuel		315.956	336.443	329.045	-22.1	4.1	-2.2
Gasoline (all types)		311.305	331.721	324.499	-22.2	4.2	-2.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		303.717	324.223	316.884	-22.7	4.3	-2.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		320.617	337.846	332.687	-19.4	3.8	-1.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		336.069	353.583	347.978	-17.6	3.5	-1.6
Medical care		512.859		513.052	-4.0	0.0
Recreation(3)		127.342		127.997	4.1	0.5
Education and communication(3)		164.029		165.602	2.7	1.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,585.466		1,585.466	5.3	0.0
Other goods and services		491.425		499.127	4.2	1.6
Commodity and service group
Commodities		213.318		214.570	0.9	0.6
Commodities less food and beverages		170.722		172.176	-0.9	0.9
Nondurables less food and beverages		221.637		222.817	-3.7	0.5
Durables		122.410		123.845	1.7	1.2
Services		382.757		386.777	4.3	1.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		273.817		276.134	1.7	0.8
All items less medical care		293.114		295.933	3.7	1.0
Commodities less food		172.776		174.191	-0.8	0.8
Nondurables		259.177		260.066	0.5	0.3
Nondurables less food		220.864		221.946	-3.2	0.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)		404.689		409.411	2.6	1.2
Services less medical care services		370.041		374.126	5.6	1.1
Energy		267.858	277.925	276.671	-10.1	3.3	-0.5
All items less energy		309.763		312.102	4.0	0.8
All items less food and energy		311.368		314.002	3.9	0.8
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 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.