Prices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.3 percent for the two months ending in May 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the energy index increased 2.1 percent and the food index increased 0.7 percent from March to May.  The all items less food and energy index increased 0.1 percent over the past two months. Within the all items less food and energy category, indexes were higher over the two-month period for shelter, airline fares, and other goods and services. Indexes for recreation and apparel were lower. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 2.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent over the year. Food prices rose 1.7 percent. Energy prices fell 2.0 percent, 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, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, May 2021–May 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2021	4.6	3.6
Jul 2021	6.5	5.6
Sep 2021	5.4	3.7
Nov 2021	6.9	5.0
Jan 2022	7.2	5.7
Mar 2022	8.2	6.6
May 2022	8.7	5.8
Jul 2022	8.2	5.0
Sep 2022	7.4	5.3
Nov 2022	5.3	3.7
Jan 2023	5.1	3.8
Mar 2023	3.4	3.0
May 2023	1.8	2.4
Jul 2023	1.0	2.4
Sep 2023	2.2	3.2
Nov 2023	2.8	3.7
Jan 2024	2.6	3.5
Mar 2024	2.7	3.2
May 2024	2.6	3.0

Food prices rose 0.7 percent for the two months ending in May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) increased 0.9 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 1.7 percent. Prices for food at home declined 0.4 percent since a year ago. Three of the six major grocery store food group indexes were lower over the year. The index for fruits and vegetables was down 2.1 percent, the index for dairy and related products fell 3.4 percent, and the index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) decreased 0.5 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 5.1 percent.

The energy index advanced 2.1 percent for the two months ending in May. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (+8.3 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 2.5 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 0.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 2.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 2.6 percent, and prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 0.4 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Increases in the categories for shelter (+1.3 percent), airline fares, and other goods and services (+1.5 percent) were partially offset by declines in the indexes for recreation (-5.5 percent), apparel (-4.5 percent), and household furnishings and operations (-1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+5.6 percent) and other goods and services (+3.9 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were declines in the indexes for new and used motor vehicles, including leased cars and trucks (-4.8 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.5 percent).

The July 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area is scheduled to be released on August 14, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index for Minneapolis 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 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 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Core Based Statistical Area consists of Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Le Sueur, Mille Lacs, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Washington, and Wright Counties in Minnesota; and Pierce and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.

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