Consumer Price Index, Boston-Cambridge-Newton — November 2021

Area prices were up 1.7 percent over the past two months, up 5.3 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Boston area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.7 percent for the two months ending in November 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Giancarlo Parenti noted that the November increase was influenced by higher prices for energy. (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 5.3 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.3 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 34.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices advanced 5.6 percent. (See table 1.)

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, November 2018–November 2021

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, November 2018–November 2021
Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Nov 2018	3.2	3.1
Jan 2019	2.5	2.9
Mar 2019	2.1	2.5
May 2019	2.3	2.5
Jul 2019	2.0	2.7
Sep 2019	1.1	1.9
Nov 2019	2.1	2.8
Jan 2020	2.2	2.4
Mar 2020	1.8	2.3
May 2020	0.6	1.1
Jul 2020	0.8	0.8
Sep 2020	0.6	0.5
Nov 2020	0.4	0.4
Jan 2021	0.5	0.2
Mar 2021	1.3	0.4
May 2021	3.2	2.3
Jul 2021	4.3	3.3
Sep 2021	4.0	2.7
Nov 2021	5.3	3.3

Food

Food prices increased 1.2 percent for the two months ending in November. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.9 percent, and prices for food away from home crept up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 5.6 percent. Prices for food at home rose 2.7 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home advanced 9.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index jumped 14.2 percent for the two months ending in November. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas service (43.9 percent) as suppliers switched to winter rate schedules. Prices for gasoline jumped 10.2 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 7.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 34.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (62.3 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 17.9 percent, and prices for electricity increased 12.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (6.6), shelter (0.3 percent), and household furnishings and operations (1.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-2.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (2.5 percent), new and used motor vehicles (20.4 percent), and household furnishings and operations (6.6 percent). Within new and used motor vehicles and shelter, higher prices for used cars and trucks and owners’ equivalent rent of residences, up 35.0 and 2.7 percent, respectively, led the increases.

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Boston area is scheduled to be released on February 10, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on November 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in November was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H. Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts; Rockingham, Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.

Information from this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table A. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
Month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	1.2	3.0	1.1	2.8	0.5	2.5	0.6	2.2	0.7	0.5
March	0.1	2.5	0.9	3.6	0.5	2.1	0.1	1.8	0.9	1.3
May	0.4	2.1	0.0	3.2	0.2	2.3	-1.0	0.6	0.8	3.2
July	0.1	2.2	0.3	3.4	0.0	2.0	0.2	0.8	1.2	4.3
September	1.2	2.7	1.2	3.3	0.2	1.1	0.1	0.6	-0.1	4.0
November	-0.2	2.9	-0.4	3.2	0.7	2.1	0.4	0.4	1.7	5.3

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Ma.-N.H. (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)
Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
Expenditure category	Historical data	Sep. 2021	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021	Nov. 2020	Sep. 2021	Oct. 2021
All items		294.784		299.723	5.3	1.7
All items (1967 = 100)		856.798		871.152

Food and beverages		293.080		296.279	5.2	1.1
Food		295.902		299.367	5.6	1.2
Food at home		265.694	265.552	270.693	2.7	1.9	1.9
Cereal and bakery products		315.229		326.540	4.1	3.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		290.701		296.777	5.6	2.1
Dairy and related products		292.393		296.859	-1.2	1.5
Fruits and vegetables		348.637		351.027	3.5	0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		153.896		160.323	-6.1	4.2
Other food at home		207.020		208.698	4.7	0.8
Food away from home		349.016		349.756	9.8	0.2
Alcoholic beverages		266.659		267.106	0.8	0.2

Housing		308.126		313.236	4.1	1.7
Shelter		366.527	369.605	367.731	2.5	0.3	-0.5
Rent of primary residence(2)		379.339	380.134	379.851	1.1	0.1	-0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)(3)(4)		393.473	395.130	395.614	2.7	0.5	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)(3)(4)		393.473	395.130	395.614	2.7	0.5	0.1
Fuels and utilities		296.749		341.583	16.4	15.1
Household energy		246.512	255.807	289.413	19.0	17.4	13.1
Energy services(2)		259.035	266.018	306.939	14.4	18.5	15.4
Electricity(2)		307.267	307.451	329.685	12.4	7.3	7.2
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		174.637	189.775	251.242	17.9	43.9	32.4
Household furnishings and operations		137.056		138.726	6.6	1.2

Apparel		130.189		127.601	6.9	-2.0

Transportation		208.309		220.436	18.6	5.8
Private transportation		217.117		230.899	23.2	6.3
New and used motor vehicles(5)		123.094		131.202	20.4	6.6
New Vehicles(1)		205.640		231.917	6.7	12.8
Used cars and trucks(1)		443.423		468.133	35.0	5.6
Motor fuel		268.814	282.358	296.170	61.9	10.2	4.9
Gasoline (all types)		266.082	279.498	293.163	62.3	10.2	4.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(6)		258.365	271.742	285.224	64.9	10.4	5.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(6)(7)		285.168	297.504	311.498	50.9	9.2	4.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(6)		277.308	289.095	301.931	47.1	8.9	4.4
Motor vehicle insurance(1)

Medical care		700.889		704.062	1.6	0.5

Recreation(5)		115.026		115.947	1.0	0.8

Education and communication(5)		175.585		175.610	1.4	0.0
Tuition, other fees, and child care(1)		1,433.804		1,433.804	0.6	0.0

Other goods and services		532.796		538.772	3.7	1.1

Commodity and service group
Commodities		207.145		212.686	11.5	2.7
Commodities less food and beverages		162.809		169.054	16.5	3.8
Nondurables less food and beverages		205.838		211.733	18.9	2.9
Durables		120.164		126.226	13.7	5.0
Services		373.876		378.319	2.5	1.2

Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		268.736		275.433	7.0	2.5
All items less medical care		279.290		284.263	5.6	1.8
Commodities less food		166.996		173.065	15.6	3.6
Nondurables		248.276		252.881	10.7	1.9
Nondurables less food		209.272		214.730	17.0	2.6
Services less rent of shelter(3)		398.608		407.640	2.4	2.3
Services less medical care services		350.404		354.771	2.7	1.2
Energy		253.829	264.842	289.779	34.4	14.2	9.4
All items less energy		302.873		305.472	3.6	0.9
All items less food and energy		305.112		307.581	3.3	0.8
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a January 1978=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (4) This index series underwent a change in composition in January 2010. The expenditure class now includes weight from secondary residences, and has been re-titled "Owners' equivalent rent of residences." The item stratum "Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence" excludes secondary residences. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (6) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (7) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

Last Modified Date: Friday, December 10, 2021

Northeast Information Office

Consumer Price Index, Boston-Cambridge-Newton — November 2021