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Retail prices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area were up 0.6 percent in the second half of 2007 compared with their levels in the first half of 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The second half 2007 Minneapolis-St. Paul all items Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was 201.867 (1982-84=100). The increase in retail prices in the second half of 2007 was less than the 1.1 percent average gain experienced, for this period, over the past four years. On an annual average basis, Minneapolis-St. Paul area consumers paid 2.6 percent more for goods and services in 2007 than in 2006. Increases in the components for housing and medical care were responsible for about one-half of the 2.6 percent increase in 2007, commented Jay A. Mousa, regional commissioner for the Bureau in Chicago. Most of the remainder of the gain was attributed to increases in the components for food and beverages and transportation. Gains in the components for education and communication, recreation, apparel, and other goods and services also contributed, but to lesser extent. The housing component rose 1.9 percent in 2007 following a 0.2 percent decline in 2006. The indexes for electricity (4.7 percent), shelter (2.7 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (0.5 percent) were all higher in 2007 compared to 2006. Household furnishing and operations costs were down, falling 1.2 percent in 2007. The medical care component which includes nonprescription drugs and medical supplies, increased 7.4 percent in 2007. The food and beverages component posted an annual average gain of 3.6 percent, compared to the 1.9 percent gain in 2006. Grocery food costs (food at home index) rose 4.2 percent in 2007 compared to increases of 2.4 and 1.3 percent in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending machine purchases) increased 3.3 percent in 2007. This was below the 3.7 percent average annual increase recorded over the previous two years. Alcoholic beverage prices rose 2.7 percent in 2007 following a 3.7 percent increase in 2006. Transportation costs were 2.0 percent higher in 2007 compared with 2006. This increase follows gains of 4.4 and 3.8 percent in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Gasoline prices rose 9.9 percent in 2007 and were responsible for almost all of the increase in transportation costs in 2007. In the previous four years (2003-06) gasoline prices rose an average 17.1 percent per year. The education and communication component posted a 2.8 percent annual average increase for 2007, matching the 2.8 percent average annual gain posted over the previous four years. The recreation component gained 2.6 percent during 2007 following an increase of 1.9 percent in 2005 and a 0.7 percent increase in 2006. Apparel prices posted a 3.2 percent increase in 2007 following a gain of 0.2 percent in 2005 and 1.2 percent in 2006. In the previous seven annual periods (1998-2004) apparel prices fell an average 2.3 percent per year. The other goods and services component, which includes tobacco and smoking products and personal care items, gained 0.5 percent for the year. This was notably below the 4.0 percent average annual gain in 2006.
Scheduled release date for the 1st Half of 2008 CPI: Thursday, August 14, 2008 CPI HOTLINE SERVICE PROVIDES LATEST INDEXES 24 HOURS A DAY The all items CPI-U and CPI-W for the U. S. City Average and for the Minneapolis area are available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the Bureau's CPI Hotline service. This recorded message also provides percent changes from the prior period and from a year earlier as well as the schedule release date for the next CPI issuance. The Hotline number in Minneapolis is (612) 725-3580. BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CPI 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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 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. Prices are collected in 87 urban areas across the country from about 50,000 housing units and approximately 23,000 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. Prices of food, fuels, and a few other items are obtained every month in all 87 locations. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the three largest geographic areas and every other month in other areas. Prices of most goods and services are obtained by personal visits of the Bureau's trained representatives. 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. Separate indexes are also published by size of city, by region of the country, for cross-classifications of regions and population-size classes, and for 27 local areas. Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices among cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period. 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.
Last Modified Date: February 20, 2008 |
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