The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent from May to July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that food prices were unchanged and energy costs were up 1.8 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent over the past two months. Within this last category, costs were higher for shelter and medical care, but lower for household furnishings and operations and education and communication. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the past 12 months the Cleveland area all items CPI-U rose 0.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index advanced 6.3 percent over the year primarily due to increases in the indexes for electricity and utility (piped) gas service. The all items less food and energy index was 0.4 percent higher over the past 12 months. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged from May to July. Between the food index’s two components, prices for food at home (groceries) were up 0.2 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were down 0.3 percent over the recent two-month period.

From July 2016 to July 2017 overall food prices edged down 0.1 percent. The index for food at home was down 0.9 percent, while the food away from home index rose 1.1 percent compared to last July.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.8 percent from May to July. A 13.0-percent increase in the electricity index more than offset a 5.7-percent drop in gasoline prices and 0.2 percent drop in the utility (piped) gas service index.

Over the year, the energy index increased 6.3 percent. Annual increases of 12.1 percent in the electricity index and 19.3 percent in the utility (piped) gas service index more than offset a 3.3-percent decline in gasoline prices.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent from May to July. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter (1.4 percent) and for medical care (0.2 percent), but lower for household furnishings and operations (-2.0 percent) and education and communication (-0.9 percent) over the two-month period.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for medical care (5.1 percent) and shelter (1.1 percent) were major contributing factors. In contrast, the education and communication index was down 3.3 percent over the past 12 months.

Table A. Cleveland CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.2	1.5	0.3	1.1	-0.7	0.5	-0.1	0.1	0.7	1.6
March	0.9	1.0	1.6	1.9	0.9	-0.2	0.5	-0.2	0.3	1.3
May	0.4	1.5	0.2	1.7	0.4	-0.1	0.9	0.3	0.1	0.5
July	0.7	2.2	0.5	1.4	0.9	0.4	0.0	-0.6	0.2	0.7
September	-0.4	0.7	-0.5	1.3	-1.4	-0.4	-0.5	0.3
November	-0.7	1.0	-0.6	1.5	-0.5	-0.4	-0.1	0.8

The September 2017 Consumer Price Index for Cleveland is scheduled to be released on Friday, October 13, 2017.

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 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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 Cleveland-Akron, Ohio consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties in Ohio.

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 and percent changes for selected periods
Cleveland-Akron, OH (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2017	Jun. 2017	Jul. 2017	Jul. 2016	May 2017	Jun. 2017
Expenditure category
All items	223.089	-	223.529	0.7	0.2	-
All items (1967=100)	714.883	-	716.291	-	-	-
Food and beverages	250.232	-	250.098	0.1	-0.1	-
Food	254.531	-	254.521	-0.1	0.0	-
Food at home	240.975	240.717	241.394	-0.9	0.2	0.3
Food away from home	279.145	-	278.421	1.1	-0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	200.318	-	199.057	2.2	-0.6	-
Housing	208.846	-	212.245	2.4	1.6	-
Shelter	243.725	245.881	247.211	1.1	1.4	0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)	242.055	243.506	244.226	2.9	0.9	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	239.392	240.259	240.443	2.7	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	239.392	240.259	240.443	2.7	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities	192.311	-	203.366	12.0	5.7	-
Household energy	154.721	166.909	167.113	14.4	8.0	0.1
Energy services(1)	152.899	165.265	165.462	14.4	8.2	0.1
Electricity(1)	164.274	184.913	185.683	12.1	13.0	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	121.516	121.867	121.303	19.3	-0.2	-0.5
Household furnishings and operations	117.919	-	115.588	0.0	-2.0	-
Apparel	133.131	-	131.874	-0.1	-0.9	-
Transportation	193.097	-	188.780	-2.5	-2.2	-
Private transportation	192.417	-	188.864	-2.8	-1.8	-
Motor fuel	233.066	228.489	219.895	-3.2	-5.7	-3.8
Gasoline (all types)	230.575	226.041	217.510	-3.3	-5.7	-3.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	217.274	213.041	204.789	-3.4	-5.7	-3.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	246.294	238.762	231.526	-4.5	-6.0	-3.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	250.703	247.365	239.781	-2.4	-4.4	-3.1
Medical care	443.292	-	444.357	5.1	0.2	-
Recreation(5)	118.516	-	118.496	-1.1	0.0	-
Education and communication(5)	124.180	-	123.079	-3.3	-0.9	-
Other goods and services	412.654	-	414.440	1.1	0.4	-
Commodity and service group
All items	223.089	-	223.529	0.7	0.2	-
Commodities	188.087	-	186.140	-0.5	-1.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages	156.863	-	154.042	-1.0	-1.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	204.922	-	200.816	1.1	-2.0	-
Durables	106.125	-	104.521	-3.7	-1.5	-
Services	258.489	-	261.171	1.5	1.0	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	212.978	-	213.388	0.3	0.2	-
All items less shelter	217.017	-	216.355	0.5	-0.3	-
Commodities less food	158.599	-	155.856	-0.8	-1.7	-
Nondurables	227.568	-	225.546	0.5	-0.9	-
Nondurables less food	204.194	-	200.373	1.2	-1.9	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	279.892	-	281.732	1.8	0.7	-
Services less medical care services	245.594	-	248.304	1.5	1.1	-
Energy	184.973	191.315	188.365	6.3	1.8	-1.5
All items less energy	228.898	-	229.069	0.3	0.1	-
All items less food and energy	224.629	-	224.834	0.4	0.1	-
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is 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.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.