The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston-Brockton-Nashua area was up 0.2 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that over the two-month period an increase in the all items less food and energy index was partially offset by lower gasoline prices. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bimonthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months the Boston CPI-U rose 1.6 percent. The increase was largely attributable to higher shelter prices, up 3.3 percent. (See chart 1.)  

 

Food

Food prices edged up 0.5 percent since July due to higher grocery store, also known as food at home, and restaurant prices. Prices within each category were up 0.5 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

From September 2013 to September 2014 the index for food rose 1.5 percent mainly due to higher grocery store prices (+1.6 percent) and, to a lesser extent, higher restaurant prices (+1.3 percent).  

Energy

The energy index fell 4.2 percent over the two months, mainly due to lower gasoline prices, down 6.1 percent.  Area motorists paid $3.476 per gallon of gasoline in September.

Energy prices were down 1.2 percent from a year ago, attributable to lower gasoline prices down 4.8 percent, and to a lesser extent, lower utility (piped) gas prices, down 5.3 percent.  Partially offsetting these declines was an 8.0-percent advance in local electricity prices. 

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent in September, due to higher prices for shelter and apparel.  Price increases within apparel were attributable to higher prices for women’s and girls’ apparel and the introduction of fall fashion lines. 

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.9 percent, with higher shelter costs, rising 3.3 percent from September 2013, being the main cause of this increase. This marked the 39^th consecutive annual increase in the local shelter index.

CPI-W

In September, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 255.818. The CPI-W edged up 0.1 percent over two months and rose 1.0 percent over the year.

The November 2014 Consumer Price Index for Boston-Brockton-Nashua is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 17, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 change 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/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together withweights 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 Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Mass.-N.H.-Maine-Conn. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties and parts of Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts; parts of Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire; part of York County in Maine; and part of Windham County in Connecticut.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service (800) 877-8339.

 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Ma.-N.H.-Maine-Conn., (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Jul. 2014	Aug. 2014	Sep. 2014	Sep. 2013	Jul. 2014	Aug. 2014
All items		255.296		255.878	1.6	0.2
All items (1967 = 100)		742.023		743.715
Food and beverages		250.075		251.453	1.5	0.6
Food		250.544		251.716	1.5	0.5
Food at home		241.302	243.265	242.474	1.6	0.5	-0.3
Food away from home		265.821		266.983	1.3	0.4
Alcoholic beverages		248.587		252.108	1.6	1.4
Housing		250.057		251.356	3.0	0.5
Shelter		292.914	293.269	295.662	3.3	0.9	0.8
Rent of primary residence (1)		302.414	303.097	304.672	2.9	0.7	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2) (3)		311.023	311.630	312.866	3.1	0.6	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2) (3)		311.023	311.630	312.866	3.1	0.6	0.4
Fuels and utilities		249.286		245.160	2.2	-1.7
Household energy		210.010	209.047	205.945	2.5	-1.9	-1.5
Energy services (1)		195.396	194.183	190.950	4.3	-2.3	-1.7
Electricity (1)		208.661	208.661	208.654	8.0	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)		165.653	162.261	153.232	-5.3	-7.5	-5.6
Household furnishings and operations		127.790		127.244	0.3	-0.4
Apparel		139.704		150.798	-1.6	7.9
Transportation		212.118		206.609	-0.9	-2.6
Private transportation		210.806		205.957	-0.6	-2.3
Motor fuel		313.759	300.821	294.746	-4.8	-6.1	-2.0
Gasoline (all types)		310.086	297.281	291.266	-4.8	-6.1	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)		308.348	294.428	288.169	-5.1	-6.5	-2.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)		315.197	305.288	299.454	-4.1	-5.0	-1.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)		300.288	291.263	286.700	-4.0	-4.5	-1.6
Medical care		589.062		588.820	0.3	0.0
Recreation (6)		114.703		114.602	2.7	-0.1
Education and communication (6)		148.373		149.764	0.5	0.9
Other goods and services		440.549		439.841	2.0	-0.2
Commodity and service group
Commodities		196.533		196.455	0.4	0.0
Commodities less food and beverages		167.882		167.083	-0.3	-0.5
Nondurables less food and beverages		224.731		223.759	-0.7	-0.4
Durables		112.710		112.084	0.1	-0.6
Services		307.589		308.801	2.3	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		243.164		242.892	0.7	-0.1
All items less medical care		242.237		242.839	1.7	0.2
Commodities less food		171.037		170.420	-0.3	-0.4
Nondurables		236.058		236.275	0.4	0.1
Nondurables less food		224.835		224.241	-0.6	-0.3
Services less rent of shelter (2)		340.834		340.084	1.3	-0.2
Services less medical care services		288.423		289.764	2.7	0.5
Energy		253.636	247.471	243.098	-1.2	-4.2	-1.8
All items less energy		259.134		260.785	1.8	0.6
All items less food and energy		261.340		263.091	1.9	0.7
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) This index series underwent a change in composition in January 2010. The expenditure class now includes weight from secondary residences, and has been re-titled "Owners' equivalent rent of residences." The item stratum "Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence" excludes secondary residences. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.