Prices in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.3 percent for the two months ending in November 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the energy index declined 9.5 percent, almost entirely due to falling gasoline prices. The food index decreased 0.6 percent over the past two months. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.3 percent, largely due to higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 4.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.8 percent, while food prices rose 4.0 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 2.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO, November 2020–November 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Nov 2020	0.3	0.6
Jan 2021	0.4	0.4
Mar 2021	1.6	0.7
May 2021	3.2	1.8
Jul 2021	3.5	2.4
Sep 2021	4.5	3.1
Nov 2021	6.5	5.2
Jan 2022	7.9	7.0
Mar 2022	9.1	8.0
May 2022	8.3	7.1
Jul 2022	8.2	6.6
Sep 2022	7.7	7.2
Nov 2022	6.9	6.7
Jan 2023	6.4	5.9
Mar 2023	5.7	5.6
May 2023	5.1	5.6
Jul 2023	4.7	5.8
Sep 2023	5.4	5.4
Nov 2023	4.5	4.8

Food prices were down 0.6 percent for the two months ending in November. Prices for food at home (grocery store prices) fell 1.4 percent, while prices paid for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 0.6 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-6.7 percent) led the declines. Decreases in the index were partially offset by increases in prices for fruits and vegetables (+1.6 percent) and dairy and related products (+1.3 percent).

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.0 percent, mainly driven by prices for food away from home, which increased 7.6 percent. Prices for food at home were up 1.8 percent, with the index for fruits and vegetables (+6.1 percent) contributing most to that rise for the same period.

The energy index fell 9.5 percent for the two months ending in November. The decrease was almost entirely driven by lower prices for gasoline (-20.0 percent), but lower prices for electricity also contributed (-0.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased over the two-month period.

From November 2022 to November 2023, energy prices rose 2.0 percent. The increase was driven by a rise in the index for natural gas service. Price declines for gasoline and electricity partially offset the rise, falling 6.0 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Among the components contributing most to the rise were owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+1.0 percent), public transportation, and medical care. Lower prices for education and communication (-2.3 percent), new and used motor vehicles (-1.1 percent), and recreation (-1.4 percent) partially offset the increases.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+7.1 percent), medical care (+6.5 percent), and rent of primary residence (+4.3 percent). Declines in the index occurred in the categories for used cars and trucks (-4.9 percent) and public transportation.

The January 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures 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, 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 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 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO, Core Based Statistical Area is comprised of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park counties in Colorado.

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