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News Release Information

17-1593-CHI
Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Consumer Price Index, Cleveland-Akron —November 2017

Local prices up 1.6 percent over the year

The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 0.2 percent from September to November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that food prices increased 0.8 percent and energy costs were up 1.6 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.6 percent over the past two months. Within this last category, costs were lower for apparel, new and used motor vehicles, and shelter. (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 1.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index advanced 15.3 percent over the year primarily due to increases in the gasoline and electricity indexes. The all items less food and energy index was 0.4 percent higher over the past 12 months. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.8 percent from September to November. Between the food index’s two components, prices for food at home (groceries) and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, over the past two months.

From November 2016 to November 2017 overall food prices rose 2.1 percent. The index for food at home was up 2.4 percent, whereas the food away from home index increased 1.7 percent compared to November a year ago.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.6 percent from September to November. A 4.3-percent increase in gasoline prices more than offset a 1.0-percent drop in the electricity index and 0.6- percent drop in the utility (piped) gas service index.

Over the year, the energy index increased 15.3 percent. Gasoline prices rose 22.7 percent and the electricity index rose 15.2 percent. In contrast, the utility (piped) gas service index declined 1.0 percent compared to the previous November.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was down 0.6 percent from September to November. Among the index’s components, prices were lower for apparel (-11.1 percent), new and used motor vehicles, and shelter (-0.3 percent) over the two-month period.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy was up 0.4 percent. An annual increase in the shelter index (2.1 percent) was the major contributing factor 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 0.6 1.8

November

-0.7 1.0 -0.6 1.5 -0.5 -0.4 -0.1 0.8 -0.2 1.6
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.  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 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-
Sep.
2017
Oct.
2017
Nov.
2017
Nov.
2016
Sep.
2017
Oct.
2017

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

224.879 - 224.390 1.6 -0.2 -

All items (1967=100)

720.619 - 719.051 - - -

Food and beverages

250.121 - 252.024 2.2 0.8 -

Food

254.365 - 256.409 2.1 0.8 -

Food at home

240.299 242.788 242.572 2.4 0.9 -0.1

Food away from home

279.830 - 281.509 1.7 0.6 -

Alcoholic beverages

200.707 - 201.240 3.4 0.3 -

Housing

211.652 - 210.799 2.6 -0.4 -

Shelter

246.770 246.714 246.095 2.1 -0.3 -0.3

Rent of primary residence(1)

245.513 248.590 249.614 4.0 1.7 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

241.101 243.134 243.637 3.0 1.1 0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

241.101 243.134 243.637 3.0 1.1 0.2

Fuels and utilities

199.971 - 199.074 8.7 -0.4 -

Household energy

162.796 163.346 161.573 9.4 -0.8 -1.1

Energy services(1)

160.998 161.500 159.602 9.1 -0.9 -1.2

Electricity(1)

180.344 181.405 178.568 15.2 -1.0 -1.6

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

118.457 118.180 117.701 -1.0 -0.6 -0.4

Household furnishings and operations

116.516 - 115.048 -1.2 -1.3 -

Apparel

139.541 - 123.996 -5.8 -11.1 -

Transportation

194.106 - 195.262 3.2 0.6 -

Private transportation

194.703 - 195.045 3.0 0.2 -

Motor fuel

254.295 238.888 265.185 22.7 4.3 11.0

Gasoline (all types)

251.603 236.303 262.391 22.7 4.3 11.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

236.996 222.630 247.713 23.1 4.5 11.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

269.702 251.833 277.485 21.0 2.9 10.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

274.197 258.014 280.703 18.9 2.4 8.8

Medical care

441.056 - 441.481 -0.2 0.1 -

Recreation(5)

120.431 - 120.785 0.7 0.3 -

Education and communication(5)

123.893 - 125.073 -1.2 1.0 -

Other goods and services

414.182 - 414.581 0.7 0.1 -
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All items

224.879 - 224.390 1.6 -0.2 -

Commodities

188.761 - 187.503 0.7 -0.7 -

Commodities less food & beverages

157.917 - 155.124 -0.5 -1.8 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

210.355 - 206.518 2.6 -1.8 -

Durables

103.913 - 102.161 -4.7 -1.7 -

Services

261.346 - 261.572 2.3 0.1 -
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

214.957 - 214.425 1.8 -0.2 -

All items less shelter

218.364 - 217.938 1.5 -0.2 -

Commodities less food

159.621 - 156.986 -0.3 -1.7 -

Nondurables

230.093 - 229.258 2.4 -0.4 -

Nondurables less food

209.125 - 205.721 2.7 -1.6 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

282.513 - 283.710 2.5 0.4 -

Services less medical care services

248.515 - 248.773 2.6 0.1 -

Energy

197.881 192.712 200.986 15.3 1.6 4.3

All items less energy

229.678 - 228.851 0.7 -0.4 -

All items less food and energy

225.589 - 224.221 0.4 -0.6 -

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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2017