Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.7 percent for the two months ending in June 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the June increase was mainly influenced by higher prices for electricity. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the all items CPI-U crept up 0.2 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.5 percent over the year. Food prices rose 0.8 percent. Energy prices dropped 12.6 percent, led by decreases in prices for gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.9 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home increased 1.7 percent and prices for food at home advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 0.8 percent. Prices for food at home increased 7.3 percent since a year ago, while prices for food away from home decreased 6.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index jumped 13.9 percent for the two months ending in June. A seasonal hike of 32.1 percent in electricity prices led the increase. Prices for gasoline also rose, up 4.7 percent, while prices for natural gas service decreased 1.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices dropped 12.6 percent over the year, led by a 26.0-percent decrease in prices for gasoline. Prices paid for natural gas service decreased 3.8 percent, and prices for electricity decreased 1.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (0.9 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (21.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.8 percent) and education and communication (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (1.3 percent) and recreation (5.9 percent). Price decreases for apparel (-10.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-2.5 percent) partly offset the increases.

The August 2020 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 11, 2020.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 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 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 (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 St. Louis, MO-IL, area covered in this release includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois; and Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties and St. Louis City in Missouri.

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,
St. Louis, MO-IL (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Apr. 2020	May 2020	Jun. 2020	Jun. 2019	Apr. 2020	May 2020
All items	229.592	-	233.518	0.2	1.7	-
All items (1967 = 100)	681.925	-	693.586
Food and beverages	264.441	-	266.637	1.5	0.8	-
Food	262.473	-	264.905	0.8	0.9	-
Food at home	247.438	248.251	248.362	7.3	0.4	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	222.120	-	225.792	4.7	1.7	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	261.249	-	275.916	12.0	5.6	-
Dairy and related products	176.989	-	162.693	3.1	-8.1	-
Fruits and vegetables	391.707	-	387.362	8.1	-1.1	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	174.294	-	176.045	3.2	1.0	-
Other food at home	241.424	-	239.519	6.2	-0.8	-
Food away from home	287.825	-	292.707	-6.6	1.7	-
Alcoholic beverages	256.318	-	255.861	10.1	-0.2	-
Housing	225.619	-	231.795	1.5	2.7	-
Shelter	268.293	268.182	270.586	1.3	0.9	0.9
Rent of primary residence	250.669	251.318	253.340	4.1	1.1	0.8
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	284.974	284.415	285.596	2.8	0.2	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	284.974	284.415	285.596	2.8	0.2	0.4
Fuels and utilities	208.530	-	239.319	0.0	14.8	-
Household energy	176.061	175.724	213.260	-1.5	21.1	21.4
Energy services	177.774	177.462	216.019	-1.6	21.5	21.7
Electricity	176.863	176.914	233.631	-1.3	32.1	32.1
Utility (piped) gas service	147.405	146.505	145.905	-3.8	-1.0	-0.4
Household furnishings and operations	121.305	-	124.462	5.7	2.6	-
Apparel	123.294	-	123.052	-10.0	-0.2	-
Transportation	176.382	-	180.441	-7.1	2.3	-
Private transportation	179.177	-	183.322	-6.1	2.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	91.069	-	91.295	-2.5	0.2	-
New vehicles(1)	205.777	-	205.445	-0.8	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	299.633	-	294.161	-3.3	-1.8	-
Motor fuel	172.780	163.049	180.472	-25.9	4.5	10.7
Gasoline (all types)	169.365	159.786	177.308	-26.0	4.7	11.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	161.538	152.285	169.408	-26.4	4.9	11.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	212.506	199.273	219.200	-23.3	3.2	10.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	187.281	179.313	193.930	-22.7	3.6	8.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	493.801	-	599.540	3.6	21.4	-
Medical care	471.090	-	472.085	1.6	0.2	-
Recreation(3)	120.785	-	121.015	5.9	0.2	-
Education and communication(3)	141.713	-	141.340	3.7	-0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,259.675	-	1,257.733	3.0	-0.2	-
Other goods and services	335.859	-	342.779	1.9	2.1	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	182.983	-	184.521	-2.1	0.8	-
Commodities less food and beverages	144.309	-	145.531	-4.4	0.8	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	189.765	-	192.594	-8.6	1.5	-
Durables	100.573	-	100.812	0.8	0.2	-
Services	277.324	-	283.496	1.6	2.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	218.064	-	222.646	-0.2	2.1	-
All items less medical care	217.520	-	221.568	0.0	1.9	-
Commodities less food	148.742	-	149.922	-3.7	0.8	-
Nondurables	227.032	-	229.568	-3.2	1.1	-
Nondurables less food	195.692	-	198.276	-7.1	1.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	294.159	-	304.639	2.1	3.6	-
Services less medical care services	259.374	-	265.800	1.4	2.5	-
Energy	175.794	171.288	200.155	-12.6	13.9	16.9
All items less energy	237.658	-	239.826	1.4	0.9	-
All items less food and energy	233.609	-	235.734	1.5	0.9	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on an March 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Index on a December 1993=100.
- Data not available.