Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent for the two months ending in October 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the energy index decreased 10.9 percent in September and October. The all items less food and energy index advanced 0.9 percent, mainly due to higher costs for owners’ equivalent rent of residences and recreation. The food index increased 2.0 percent over the past two months. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 7.0 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.0 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 14.7 percent, while food prices increased 14.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 2.0 percent for the two months ending in October. Prices for food away from home increased 3.5 percent, and prices for food at home rose 1.0 percent for the same period. The increase in the index for food at home was primarily due to an increase in the price of other food at home (+2.6 percent) and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+3.0 percent). The increase in the index was partially offset by a decline in prices for cereals and related products (-2.6 percent), and meats, poultry, fish and eggs (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, food prices advanced 14.3 percent. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 18.4 percent since a year ago. Prices for food at home (groceries) rose 11.8 percent, with other food at home (+17.2 percent) contributing most to the increase.

Energy

The energy index declined 10.9 percent for the two months ending in October, following an 11.1 percent decline in the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-21.0 percent), but gasoline (-9.1 percent) also declined.

From October 2021 to October 2022, energy prices rose 14.7 percent, with all energy components contributing.  Increases were led by higher prices for gasoline (+10.4 percent), followed by natural gas service (+26.8 percent) and electricity (+15.8 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 September and October, after rising 1.3 percent in July and August. Higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+1.2 percent), recreation (+3.3 percent), motor vehicle maintenance and repair, and education and communication (+1.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-6.1 percent), lodging away from home, and apparel (-2.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.3 percent), medical care (+5.7 percent), recreation (+9.7 percent), and new vehicles (+12.4 percent). Partially offsetting these increases was a decline in the prices paid for lodging away from home during the past year.

The December 2022 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, January 12, 2023.

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

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Aug. 2022	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2021	Aug. 2022	Sep. 2022
All items	268.979	-	269.134	7.0	0.1	-
All items (1967 = 100)	798.913	-	799.374
Food and beverages	315.791	-	322.037	13.6	2.0	-
Food	315.583	-	321.881	14.3	2.0	-
Food at home	282.492	284.075	285.300	11.8	1.0	0.4
Cereals and bakery products	250.345	-	243.823	8.4	-2.6	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	298.613	-	294.366	1.1	-1.4	-
Dairy and related products	181.253	-	185.765	19.6	2.5	-
Fruits and vegetables	404.686	-	408.622	8.9	1.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	211.162	-	217.594	19.6	3.0	-
Other food at home	293.527	-	301.297	17.2	2.6	-
Food away from home	372.177	-	385.244	18.4	3.5	-
Alcoholic beverages	282.914	-	287.886	6.4	1.8	-
Housing	258.537	-	257.031	4.9	-0.6	-
Shelter	298.896	299.901	301.191	3.5	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence	271.743	273.447	275.379	3.3	1.3	0.7
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	312.859	314.871	316.594	6.3	1.2	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	312.859	314.871	316.594	6.3	1.2	0.5
Fuels and utilities	286.030	-	258.866	14.0	-9.5	-
Household energy	261.880	264.076	228.294	18.9	-12.8	-13.5
Energy services	265.201	267.429	230.259	19.2	-13.2	-13.9
Electricity	274.308	277.411	216.809	15.8	-21.0	-21.8
Utility (piped) gas service	210.433	211.033	213.933	26.8	1.7	1.4
Household furnishings and operations	135.903	-	138.331	4.8	1.8	-
Apparel	141.952	-	138.640	4.6	-2.3	-
Transportation	241.221	-	237.371	7.0	-1.6	-
Private transportation	246.835	-	242.476	6.5	-1.8	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	122.463	-	120.529	7.9	-1.6	-
New vehicles(1)	255.895	-	257.572	12.4	0.7	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	458.442	-	430.352	2.4	-6.1	-
Motor fuel	355.840	326.215	324.216	11.2	-8.9	-0.6
Gasoline (all types)	348.614	319.199	316.935	10.4	-9.1	-0.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	335.668	307.087	305.110	10.3	-9.1	-0.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	416.663	383.118	377.537	11.6	-9.4	-1.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	355.640	328.828	324.227	11.9	-8.8	-1.4
Medical care	519.890	-	520.050	5.7	0.0	-
Recreation(3)	127.323	-	131.531	9.7	3.3	-
Education and communication(3)	151.187	-	153.564	2.6	1.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,331.589	-	1,359.705	5.0	2.1	-
Other goods and services	360.820	-	366.134	9.5	1.5	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	227.192	-	226.779	9.3	-0.2	-
Commodities less food and beverages	183.532	-	180.851	6.8	-1.5	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	250.394	-	244.207	8.2	-2.5	-
Durables	122.944	-	122.521	5.3	-0.3	-
Services	313.035	-	313.740	5.4	0.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	260.825	-	260.260	8.4	-0.2	-
All items less medical care	256.365	-	256.521	7.1	0.1	-
Commodities less food	187.872	-	185.380	6.8	-1.3	-
Nondurables	283.491	-	283.171	11.1	-0.1	-
Nondurables less food	254.055	-	248.601	8.1	-2.1	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	334.917	-	334.050	7.1	-0.3	-
Services less medical care services	292.770	-	293.757	5.4	0.3	-
Energy	305.781	294.754	272.405	14.7	-10.9	-7.6
All items less energy	269.967	-	272.819	6.4	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	262.703	-	265.027	5.0	0.9	-
(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.