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News Release Information

18-87-PHI
Friday, January 12, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Pittsburgh – Second Half 2017

Local prices up 1.9 percent over the year

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.

Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision for 2018

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As part of the new sample, the index for this area will be discontinued. The first indexes using the new structure will be published in February 2018. Additional information on the geographic revision is available at: www.bls.gov/cpi/additional-resources/geographic-revision-2018.htm.


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

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SA0
246.118 249.284 250.816 1.9 0.6
 

Food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAF
255.191 254.302 257.853 1.0 1.4

Food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAF1
254.791 253.965 257.417 1.0 1.4

Food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAF11
247.271 248.920 248.857 0.6 0.0

Food away from home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEFV
267.783 263.067 272.054 1.6 3.4

Alcoholic beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAF116
261.312 259.527 264.485 1.2 1.9
 

Housing

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAH
248.010 252.293 252.718 1.9 0.2

Shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAH1
282.229 286.322 286.256 1.4 0.0

Rent of primary residence(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEHA
240.441 244.335 245.488 2.1 0.5

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEHC
281.849 285.131 285.983 1.5 0.3

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEHC01
281.849 285.131 285.983 1.5 0.3

Fuels and utilities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAH2
245.032 255.688 261.864 6.9 2.4

Household energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAH21
215.799 225.471 230.690 6.9 2.3

Energy services(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEHF
213.895 223.209 228.190 6.7 2.2

Electricity(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEHF01
193.968 198.632 201.747 4.0 1.6

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SEHF02
191.719 209.894 218.003 13.7 3.9

Household furnishings and operations

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAH3
146.495 147.679 146.163 -0.2 -1.0
 

Apparel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAA
177.586 171.673 174.873 -1.5 1.9
 

Transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAT
181.111 184.879 183.661 1.4 -0.7

Private transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAT1
177.381 180.530 180.238 1.6 -0.2

Motor fuel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SETB
215.703 232.209 242.964 12.6 4.6

Gasoline (all types)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SETB01
218.025 234.658 245.494 12.6 4.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SS47014
212.438 228.585 239.173 12.6 4.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SS47015
241.883 259.806 271.707 12.3 4.6

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SS47016
224.040 242.663 253.603 13.2 4.5
 

Medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAM
477.752 510.483 529.128 10.8 3.7
 

Recreation(5)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAR
123.636 121.697 121.719 -1.6 0.0
 

Education and communication(5)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAE
149.734 148.935 148.764 -0.6 -0.1
 

Other goods and services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAG
466.271 473.931 486.297 4.3 2.6
 

Commodity and service group

 

Commodities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAC
202.088 204.301 206.371 2.1 1.0

Commodities less food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SACL11
173.250 176.759 178.122 2.8 0.8

Nondurables less food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SANL11
223.682 232.061 237.913 6.4 2.5

Durables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAD
120.291 119.819 117.674 -2.2 -1.8

Services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAS
291.193 295.252 296.408 1.8 0.4
 

Special aggregate indexes

 

All items less medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SA0L5
234.919 236.892 237.737 1.2 0.4

All items less shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SA0L2
234.895 237.731 239.923 2.1 0.9

Commodities less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SACL1
176.565 179.942 181.413 2.7 0.8

Nondurables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SAN
239.813 243.649 248.383 3.6 1.9

Nondurables less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SANL1
226.392 234.181 239.991 6.0 2.5

Services less rent of shelter(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SASL2RS
307.132 311.378 314.150 2.3 0.9

Services less medical care services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SASL5
276.828 280.642 281.036 1.5 0.1

Energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SA0E
222.225 235.066 242.775 9.2 3.3

All items less energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SA0LE
249.792 252.213 253.267 1.4 0.4

All items less food and energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUUSA104SA0L1E
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.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, January 12, 2018