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News Release Information

24-519-PHI
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington – February 2024

Area prices were up 1.6 percent over the past 2 months, up 3.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.6 percent for the 2 months ending in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A). Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that February’s rise was mainly due to an increase in the all items less food and energy index (1.7 percent), influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. The food index and energy index were up 0.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 3.4 percent, led by the index for all items less food and energy, up 4.2 percent largely due to rising shelter prices. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices also rose, up 2.3 percent. The energy index continued to decline, with a 3.5-percent decrease. (See table 1). 

Food

In the two months ending in February, the food index advanced 0.7 percent with increases in the food away from home index (up 0.9 percent). The food at home index rose 0.6 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (up 3.5 percent); and dairy and related products (up 3.7 percent)— both seeing the largest increases since August 2022. Most of the grocery categories saw increases, however declines in the nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-2.1 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-0.4 percent) indexes tempered the advance.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.3 percent. For the same period, prices for food away from home increased 4.2 percent and prices for food at home were up 1.2 percent. A majority of the grocery categories saw higher prices as well. Leading the increase was the nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials index (up 5.2 percent—well below December’s peak 17.4-percent high) as well as the cereal and bakery products index, up 4.4 percent. Declining for the fifth consecutive published month, prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs were down 2.9 percent over-the-year. Also reporting lower prices was the other food at home index, down 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.9 percent for the 2 months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity, up 5.5 percent, after three consecutive published months of bi-monthly declines. Prices paid for natural gas service rose 1.1 percent, while prices paid for gasoline decreased 1.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices were down 3.5 percent over the year, largely due to a lower natural gas service index. Prices for natural gas service were down 16.7 percent, which was the largest decline since November 2009. The gasoline index was down 3.6 percent, making it nearly a year of bi-monthly over-the-year declines. The electricity index increased 2.0 percent, the smallest rise since August 2021.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.7 percent in the latest 2-month period. The rise was led by higher prices for apparel (12.8 percent—the largest bi-monthly rise since February 2009) and shelter (1.8 percent). Within the shelter index, prices for lodging away from home rose; owners’ equivalent rent of residences was up 0.8 percent; and rent of primary residence increased 1.1 percent. The index for education and communication rose 1.8 percent, the largest bi-monthly advance since August 2013. Other major categories in the all items less food and energy index also increased, whereas prices for medical care remained unchanged. Slightly offsetting the rises were lower prices for new and used motor vehicles, down 0.8 percent, led by used cars and trucks (-3.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.2 percent, mainly driven by a 6.5-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, the indexes owners’ equivalent rent of residences advanced 6.4 percent, rent of primary residence rose 6.7 percent and lodging away from home increased. Other categories also had increases such as recreation up 4.4 percent, prices for apparel advanced 1.7 percent, and prices for education and communication rose 1.8 percent. Within the education and communication index, prices for tuition, other school fees, and childcare continued to advance at 4.5 percent over-the-year for the third consecutive publishing month.  Partially tempering the overall increase was the decrease in the medical care index, down 1.8 percent, and a decline in prices for public transportation.

Table A. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

February

1.0 2.6 0.8 1.0 1.5 7.3 2.0 6.9 1.6 3.4

April

-1.3 -0.1 1.2 3.5 2.2 8.4 0.1 4.7

June

0.6 0.1 1.9 4.9 2.3 8.8 0.7 3.1

August

0.8 0.4 0.6 4.6 0.0 8.1 0.8 3.9

October

0.0 0.8 1.0 5.6 0.6 7.8 0.2 3.5

December

0.0 1.1 0.9 6.6 -0.4 6.4 0.0 3.9

The April 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is scheduled to be released on May 15, 2024.


Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 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, 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)
Expenditure category Indexes Percent change from
Historical
data
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024
Feb.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

All items

306.386   311.227 3.4 1.6  

All items (1967 = 100)

885.133   899.117      

Food and beverages

297.129   299.224 2.3 0.7  

Food

299.842   301.941 2.3 0.7  

Food at home

305.691 307.361 307.428 1.2 0.6 0.0

Cereals and bakery products

409.270 407.432 423.500 4.4 3.5 3.9

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

331.090 338.615 329.907 -2.9 -0.4 -2.6

Dairy and related products

235.968 239.013 244.772 3.7 3.7 2.4

Fruits and vegetables

308.844 322.207 309.358 0.9 0.2 -4.0

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

219.832 210.230 215.273 5.2 -2.1 2.4

Other food at home

291.448 288.436 292.541 -0.2 0.4 1.4

Food away from home

283.337   285.902 4.2 0.9  

Alcoholic beverages

255.743   257.737 1.4 0.8  

Housing

326.394   332.272 4.9 1.8  

Shelter

404.011 407.205 411.157 6.5 1.8 1.0

Rent of primary residence

380.329 381.974 384.693 6.7 1.1 0.7

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

417.246 418.055 420.585 6.4 0.8 0.6

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

417.246 418.055 420.585 6.4 0.8 0.6

Fuels and utilities

262.231   270.348 -2.6 3.1  

Household energy

214.554 221.815 223.270 -3.2 4.1 0.7

Energy services

221.904 231.177 231.664 -3.8 4.4 0.2

Electricity

223.302 235.150 235.682 2.0 5.5 0.2

Utility (piped) gas service

202.255 204.065 204.396 -16.7 1.1 0.2

Household furnishings and operations

144.493   145.796 0.9 0.9  

Apparel

103.515   116.760 1.7 12.8  

Transportation

268.086   267.752 3.2 -0.1  

Private transportation

279.668   280.386 4.5 0.3  

New and used motor vehicles(3)

134.562   133.543 1.4 -0.8  

New vehicles(1)

238.372   239.207 1.3 0.4  

Used cars and trucks(1)

349.301   338.359 -1.2 -3.1  

Motor fuel

307.964 298.761 304.734 -3.6 -1.0 2.0

Gasoline (all types)

303.929 294.871 300.759 -3.6 -1.0 2.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

297.994 289.004 295.166 -3.8 -0.9 2.1

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

322.393 312.822 317.325 -2.8 -1.6 1.4

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

320.831 311.894 316.025 -2.2 -1.5 1.3

Medical care

590.775   590.637 -1.8 0.0  

Recreation(3)

137.882   139.497 4.4 1.2  

Education and communication(3)

136.416   138.809 1.8 1.8  

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,158.191   1,158.191 4.5 0.0  

Other goods and services

686.615   701.676 1.3 2.2  

Commodity and service group

Commodities

219.042   222.901 0.6 1.8  

Commodities less food and beverages

177.500   182.307 -0.4 2.7  

Nondurables less food and beverages

217.796   226.961 0.7 4.2  

Durables

129.835   130.612 -2.0 0.6  

Services

392.907   398.727 4.8 1.5  

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

272.956   276.974 1.6 1.5  

All items less medical care

294.269   299.310 3.9 1.7  

Commodities less food

180.669   185.379 -0.3 2.6  

Nondurables

258.323   263.717 1.4 2.1  

Nondurables less food

220.233   228.846 0.7 3.9  

Services less rent of shelter(2)

388.261   392.568 2.7 1.1  

Services less medical care services

377.437   383.699 5.5 1.7  

Energy

250.376 252.039 255.086 -3.5 1.9 1.2

All items less energy

315.111   320.033 3.9 1.6  

All items less food and energy

320.832   326.390 4.2 1.7  

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base
(2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024