Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.8 percent for the two months ending in January 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.1 percent in December and January, largely due to price increases for shelter. The food index rose 0.6 percent, while the energy index fell 2.5 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 7.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 7.2 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 11.6 percent during the same period. Energy prices rose 5.4 percent, mainly the result of an increase in the price of electricity. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.6 percent for the two months ending in January. Prices for food away from home increased, while prices for food at home decreased 0.2 percent for the same period. The decline in the food at home index was mainly due to a fall in the price of meats, poultry, fish and eggs (-1.0 percent) and fruits and vegetables (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, food prices rose 11.6 percent. Prices for food at home (groceries) increased 11.2 percent since a year ago, with all six major grocery store food group indexes contributing to the rise. The category for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 12.1 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index fell 2.5 percent in December and January. The decrease within this index was led by lower prices for gasoline (-2.0 percent), followed by electricity (-3.2 percent). Partially offsetting the decline, prices for natural gas service advanced 3.4 percent during the same period.

From January 2022 to January 2023, energy prices increased 5.4 percent. Higher prices for electricity (+10.3 percent), and natural gas service (+20.6 percent) both contributed to the rise. The index for gasoline fell 1.3 percent during the past year, after falling 1.5 percent in the previous 12-month period.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period, after rising 1.0 percent in the previous period. Among the components contributing most to the increase were owners' equivalent rent of residences (+1.8 percent), medical care (+2.1 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+2.9 percent). These increases were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.8 percent) and education and communication (-1.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 7.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+10.8 percent), medical care (+4.6 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+8.1 percent). An 11.0 percent decline in the index for used cars and trucks, the largest since the category debuted in November 2018, slightly offset these increases, along with a decline in the index for education and communication (-4.0 percent).

The March 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals 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,
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, January 2023 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Jan. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022
All items	279.000	-	281.117	7.5	0.8	-
All items (1967 = 100)	875.209	-	881.850
Food and beverages	315.722	-	317.450	11.2	0.5	-
Food	310.771	-	312.713	11.6	0.6	-
Food at home	265.351	264.094	264.772	11.2	-0.2	0.3
Cereals and bakery products	302.510	-	304.263	9.2	0.6	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	315.680	-	312.658	6.1	-1.0	-
Dairy and related products	229.661	-	229.853	12.1	0.1	-
Fruits and vegetables	234.163	-	231.747	13.0	-1.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	224.053	-	228.817	15.2	2.1	-
Other food at home	258.681	-	258.083	13.9	-0.2	-
Food away from home	-	-	384.749	12.1	-	-
Alcoholic beverages	375.890	-	374.239	5.3	-0.4	-
Housing	280.344	-	284.645	10.5	1.5	-
Shelter	310.510	314.161	316.180	10.8	1.8	0.6
Rent of primary residence	338.266	341.333	341.588	11.7	1.0	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	332.235	335.598	338.258	9.8	1.8	0.8
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	332.235	335.598	338.258	9.8	1.8	0.8
Fuels and utilities	327.988	-	323.505	10.2	-1.4	-
Household energy	310.256	311.458	303.096	11.8	-2.3	-2.7
Energy services	305.354	306.956	299.055	12.0	-2.1	-2.6
Electricity	286.947	286.709	277.856	10.3	-3.2	-3.1
Utility (piped) gas service	319.474	331.145	330.461	20.6	3.4	-0.2
Household furnishings and operations	138.687	-	142.656	8.1	2.9	-
Apparel	116.620	-	115.327	2.7	-1.1	-
Transportation	252.238	-	249.546	5.5	-1.1	-
Private transportation	258.008	-	255.086	4.3	-1.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	134.237	-	131.770	1.4	-1.8	-
New vehicles(1)	224.626	-	225.895	7.7	0.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	454.102	-	436.991	-11.0	-3.8	-
Motor fuel	286.555	257.969	279.797	-0.7	-2.4	8.5
Gasoline (all types)	282.233	254.493	276.462	-1.3	-2.0	8.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	271.551	244.303	265.906	-1.4	-2.1	8.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	299.457	272.580	293.613	-1.0	-2.0	7.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	300.588	276.073	295.732	-0.2	-1.6	7.1
Medical care	499.063	-	509.552	4.6	2.1	-
Recreation(3)	126.780	-	127.388	3.7	0.5	-
Education and communication(3)	133.205	-	131.135	-4.0	-1.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,324.928	-	1,331.980	2.9	0.5	-
Other goods and services	484.898	-	494.955	1.2	2.1	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	206.267	-	204.962	4.6	-0.6	-
Commodities less food and beverages	159.933	-	157.851	1.1	-1.3	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	198.597	-	197.426	3.4	-0.6	-
Durables	127.082	-	125.303	-0.7	-1.4	-
Services	349.585	-	354.614	9.0	1.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	264.898	-	265.242	5.6	0.1	-
All items less medical care	268.235	-	269.983	7.8	0.7	-
Commodities less food	165.219	-	163.111	1.2	-1.3	-
Nondurables	251.014	-	250.810	7.3	-0.1	-
Nondurables less food	206.526	-	205.201	3.5	-0.6	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	399.004	-	402.813	6.7	1.0	-
Services less medical care services	332.361	-	336.964	9.5	1.4	-
Energy	299.967	286.577	292.577	5.4	-2.5	2.1
All items less energy	282.445	-	285.488	7.7	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	278.198	-	281.368	7.2	1.1	-
(1) Indexes on a February 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 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.