The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City area decreased 0.9 percent from October to December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent decline was due to decreases in the energy and all items less food and energy indexes, down 4.5 and 0.5 percent, respectively. The food index was nearly unchanged since October, inching up 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, two-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 1.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Similarly, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.8 percent since December 2011. The food index and the energy index also increased over the year, up 2.2 and 1.3 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices inched up 0.1 percent over the last two months as higher prices for food away from home (0.5 percent) were nearly offset by lower prices for food at home (-0.2 percent). Within the food at home component, higher prices for various items such as other fresh vegetables and chicken were moderated by price decreases for pork and citrus fruits, among others.

Over the year, the food index advanced 2.2 percent. Both components of the food index had price increases since December 2011—prices for food at home rose 2.8 percent and those for food away from home, 1.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, fell 4.5 percent from October to December. The recent decrease was due almost entirely to lower prices for gasoline, which dropped 9.2 percent over the last two months. Electricity prices also declined since October, edging down 0.2 percent. Moderating the two-month decline in the energy index were higher prices for utility (piped) gas service, up 1.8 percent.

The energy index rose 1.3 percent since last December due to a 5.6-percent advance in gasoline prices. Prices for electricity fell over the year, down 2.0 percent. The utility (piped) gas service component—which has recorded uninterrupted 12-month declines for nearly four years—also posted lower prices over the last 12 months, down 3.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.5 percent from October to December. The two-month decrease was led by a slightly larger-than-usual seasonal decline in apparel prices (-11.9 percent). Prices were also lower for shelter (-0.1 percent), particularly lodging away from home, since October. Partially offsetting these two-month decreases were higher prices for recreation (0.3 percent) and alcoholic beverages (1.1 percent).

Since last December, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.8 percent, due largely to higher prices for shelter (1.9 percent), particularly those for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (1.8 percent). Price increases were widespread among the other components of the all items less food and energy group including other goods and services (4.7 percent), education and communication (2.2 percent), and medical care (2.4 percent). A 1.8-percent decline in recreation prices and a 1.4-percent decrease in household furnishings and operations prices moderated the advance in the all items less food and energy index since December 2011.

The February 2013 Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City is scheduled to be released March 15, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

 

Table A. Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.7	2.0	0.9	3.7	1.0	-0.3	0.8	2.8	1.3	1.9	0.7	2.2
April	1.0	1.7	1.2	3.9	0.6	-0.9	0.4	2.6	1.0	2.5	0.8	2.0
June	0.9	1.6	2.1	5.1	1.0	-2.0	0.3	1.9	0.6	2.8	-0.2	1.3
August	0.7	1.1	0.0	4.4	1.0	-1.0	0.2	1.1	0.7	3.4	0.9	1.4
October	0.1	3.5	-1.4	2.8	-0.6	-0.1	0.0	1.7	-0.3	3.0	0.4	2.2
December	0.0	3.5	-3.1	-0.4	0.0	3.0	-0.2	1.4	-0.5	2.8	-0.9	1.8

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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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 Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md., Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA), includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Information in 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 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2012	Nov. 2012	Dec. 2012	Dec. 2011	Oct. 2012	Nov. 2012
All items	240.537	-	238.492	1.8	-0.9	-
Food and beverages	223.003	-	223.306	2.2	0.1	-
Food	222.853	-	223.009	2.2	0.1	-
Food at home	236.866	236.946	236.344	2.8	-0.2	-0.3
Food away from home	198.746	-	199.783	1.2	0.5	-
Alcoholic beverages	222.177	-	224.614	2.2	1.1	-
Housing	242.880	-	242.528	1.1	-0.1	-
Shelter	292.228	291.684	291.868	1.9	-0.1	0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	271.854	272.088	272.586	2.0	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	300.618	300.928	301.180	1.8	0.2	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	300.618	300.928	301.180	1.8	0.2	0.1
Fuels and utilities	217.967	-	218.536	-1.6	0.3	-
Household energy	190.373	189.783	190.687	-2.3	0.2	0.5
Energy services (1)	196.278	196.143	197.033	-2.6	0.4	0.5
Electricity (1)	203.297	202.867	202.940	-2.0	-0.2	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	174.449	174.962	177.605	-3.9	1.8	1.5
Household furnishings and operations	122.720	-	121.351	-1.4	-1.1	-
Apparel	119.287	-	105.061	3.0	-11.9	-
Transportation	223.280	-	217.900	3.4	-2.4	-
Private transportation	222.309	-	216.283	3.7	-2.7	-
Motor fuel	332.691	316.587	302.541	5.5	-9.1	-4.4
Gasoline (all types)	328.345	312.169	298.083	5.6	-9.2	-4.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	328.654	312.202	298.002	5.5	-9.3	-4.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	321.275	306.270	292.537	5.8	-8.9	-4.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	308.689	294.808	282.381	6.3	-8.5	-4.2
Medical care	451.946	-	451.271	2.4	-0.1	-
Recreation (5)	123.282	-	123.653	-1.8	0.3	-
Education and communication (5)	127.586	-	127.188	2.2	-0.3	-
Other goods and services	461.368	-	461.554	4.7	0.0	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	186.834	-	181.400	1.3	-2.9	-
Commodities less food and beverages	164.508	-	156.849	0.9	-4.7	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	209.755	-	197.169	2.4	-6.0	-
Durables	113.229	-	111.529	-2.5	-1.5	-
Services	297.061	-	297.792	2.0	0.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	231.527	-	229.451	1.7	-0.9	-
All items less shelter	224.979	-	222.162	1.7	-1.3	-
Commodities less food	166.788	-	159.364	0.9	-4.5	-
Nondurables	219.110	-	212.015	2.3	-3.2	-
Nondurables less food	210.663	-	198.770	2.4	-5.6	-
Services less rent of shelter (2)	309.200	-	311.241	2.2	0.7	-
Services less medical care services	284.571	-	285.329	1.9	0.3	-
Energy	242.790	236.477	231.866	1.3	-4.5	-1.9
All items less energy	242.004	-	240.990	1.8	-0.4	-
All items less food and energy	247.794	-	246.571	1.8	-0.5	-
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) Indexes 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.