The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Pittsburgh area advanced 1.9 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent advance was mainly due to a 1.5-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. (See chart 1.) The energy index and food index also increased since the second half of 2016, up 9.2 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

Food

Food prices increased 1.0 percent since the second half of 2016, with increases in prices for both food away from home (1.6 percent) and those for food at home (0.6 percent).

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, rose 9.2 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, due mainly to a 12.6-percent increase in gasoline prices. Prices for utility (piped) gas service and electricity also rose over the year, up 13.7 and 4.0 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent. The increase was led by higher prices for medical care, up 10.8 percent. Prices were also higher for several other categories including shelter (1.4 percent) and other goods and services (4.3 percent), among others.

The Consumer Price Index for Pittsburgh will be discontinued after this release.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Pittsburgh, Pa. metropolitan statistical area covered in this release is comprised of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania.

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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods, Pittsburgh, PA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	2nd Half 2016	1st Half 2017	2nd Half 2017	2nd Half 2016	1st Half 2017
All items		246.118	249.284	250.816	1.9	0.6
Food and beverages		255.191	254.302	257.853	1.0	1.4
Food		254.791	253.965	257.417	1.0	1.4
Food at home		247.271	248.920	248.857	0.6	0.0
Food away from home		267.783	263.067	272.054	1.6	3.4
Alcoholic beverages		261.312	259.527	264.485	1.2	1.9
Housing		248.010	252.293	252.718	1.9	0.2
Shelter		282.229	286.322	286.256	1.4	0.0
Rent of primary residence(1)		240.441	244.335	245.488	2.1	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)(2)		281.849	285.131	285.983	1.5	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)(2)		281.849	285.131	285.983	1.5	0.3
Fuels and utilities		245.032	255.688	261.864	6.9	2.4
Household energy		215.799	225.471	230.690	6.9	2.3
Energy services(1)		213.895	223.209	228.190	6.7	2.2
Electricity(1)		193.968	198.632	201.747	4.0	1.6
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		191.719	209.894	218.003	13.7	3.9
Household furnishings and operations		146.495	147.679	146.163	-0.2	-1.0
Apparel		177.586	171.673	174.873	-1.5	1.9
Transportation		181.111	184.879	183.661	1.4	-0.7
Private transportation		177.381	180.530	180.238	1.6	-0.2
Motor fuel		215.703	232.209	242.964	12.6	4.6
Gasoline (all types)		218.025	234.658	245.494	12.6	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)		212.438	228.585	239.173	12.6	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)		241.883	259.806	271.707	12.3	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)		224.040	242.663	253.603	13.2	4.5
Medical care		477.752	510.483	529.128	10.8	3.7
Recreation(5)		123.636	121.697	121.719	-1.6	0.0
Education and communication(5)		149.734	148.935	148.764	-0.6	-0.1
Other goods and services		466.271	473.931	486.297	4.3	2.6
Commodity and service group
Commodities		202.088	204.301	206.371	2.1	1.0
Commodities less food and beverages		173.250	176.759	178.122	2.8	0.8
Nondurables less food and beverages		223.682	232.061	237.913	6.4	2.5
Durables		120.291	119.819	117.674	-2.2	-1.8
Services		291.193	295.252	296.408	1.8	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		234.919	236.892	237.737	1.2	0.4
All items less shelter		234.895	237.731	239.923	2.1	0.9
Commodities less food		176.565	179.942	181.413	2.7	0.8
Nondurables		239.813	243.649	248.383	3.6	1.9
Nondurables less food		226.392	234.181	239.991	6.0	2.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)		307.132	311.378	314.150	2.3	0.9
Services less medical care services		276.828	280.642	281.036	1.5	0.1
Energy		222.225	235.066	242.775	9.2	3.3
All items less energy		249.792	252.213	253.267	1.4	0.4
All items less food and energy		249.813	252.765	253.437	1.5	0.3
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series converted to a geometric means estimator in January 1999. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a 6-month period as a whole, not to any specific date.