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News Release Information

24-1916-DAL
Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (972) 850-4800

Consumer Price Index, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area – August 2024

Area prices rose 0.6 percent in July and August, up 1.7 percent over the year

Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in August 2024, 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 rose 0.7 percent, largely driven by advances in the indexes for shelter and medical care. The food index was up 1.1 percent in July and August, while the energy index was down 2.2 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 1.7 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.2 percent over the year, while food prices increased 2.6 percent. Energy prices declined 6.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 1.1 percent for the two months ending in August. Prices for food at home (grocery store prices) rose 1.3 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were up 0.8 percent for the same period. The rise in the index for food at home was led by increases in the indexes for cereals and bakery products (+5.0 percent) and other food at home (+1.4 percent).

Over the year, food prices rose 2.6 percent, led by the food away from home index (+3.5 percent). Prices for food at home advanced 1.4 percent, with the index for fruits and vegetables (+7.7 percent) contributing most to the over-the-year increase.

Energy

The energy index was down 2.2 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-5.1 percent), but declining prices for gasoline (-0.5 percent) and natural gas service also contributed.

From August 2023 to August 2024, the energy index declined 6.8 percent, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-11.8 percent) and electricity (-3.8 percent). Natural gas service prices rose 3.4 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (+0.8 percent), medical care (+1.2 percent), and public transportation were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.2 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included shelter (+3.5 percent), education and communication (+2.4 percent), and apparel (+3.1 percent). Price decreases in the indexes for used cars and trucks (-11.4 percent) and motor vehicle maintenance and repair partly offset these increases.

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.


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 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.

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,
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, August 2024 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group Indexes Percent change from -
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Aug.
2023
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024

All items

274.100 - 275.644 1.7 0.6 -

All items (1967 = 100)

879.138 - 884.090      

Food and beverages

298.757 - 302.390 2.7 1.2 -

Food

301.596 - 304.801 2.6 1.1 -

Food at home

286.664 290.115 290.331 1.4 1.3 0.1

Cereals and bakery products

325.474 343.266 341.830 -1.7 5.0 -0.4

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

311.450 312.961 313.327 1.9 0.6 0.1

Dairy and related products

228.282 225.798 229.700 -0.6 0.6 1.7

Fruits and vegetables

367.708 372.658 369.217 7.7 0.4 -0.9

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

356.738 360.549 361.189 1.7 1.2 0.2

Other food at home

245.007 247.233 248.379 -2.5 1.4 0.5

Food away from home

312.554 - 315.204 3.5 0.8 -

Alcoholic beverages

241.971 - 249.281 4.8 3.0 -

Housing

270.705 - 271.829 2.7 0.4 -

Shelter

327.831 327.801 330.377 3.5 0.8 0.8

Rent of primary residence

325.660 325.475 326.435 3.4 0.2 0.3

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

307.009 306.238 308.752 3.2 0.6 0.8

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

307.009 306.238 308.752 3.2 0.6 0.8

Fuels and utilities

199.998 - 193.169 -1.4 -3.4 -

Household energy

170.350 169.640 162.666 -2.3 -4.5 -4.1

Energy services

167.170 166.459 159.481 -2.4 -4.6 -4.2

Electricity

159.803 159.279 151.709 -3.8 -5.1 -4.8

Utility (piped) gas service

- 182.298 179.899 3.4 - -1.3

Household furnishings and operations

154.082 - 155.355 0.4 0.8 -

Apparel

186.243 - 188.950 3.1 1.5 -

Transportation

239.999 - 240.748 -0.6 0.3 -

Private transportation

244.136 - 243.982 -0.7 -0.1 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

101.992 - 100.806 -5.7 -1.2 -

New vehicles(1)

195.697 - 194.700 -1.7 -0.5 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

296.539 - 290.712 -11.4 -2.0 -

Motor fuel

268.171 274.404 266.629 -11.4 -0.6 -2.8

Gasoline (all types)

268.308 274.667 266.992 -11.8 -0.5 -2.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

269.825 276.567 268.493 -12.2 -0.5 -2.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

303.002 307.484 300.458 -10.0 -0.8 -2.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

309.054 314.207 307.729 -7.9 -0.4 -2.1

Medical care

537.423 - 544.032 0.1 1.2 -

Recreation(3)

130.178 - 130.228 1.2 0.0 -

Education and communication(3)

122.172 - 123.280 2.4 0.9 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,350.010 - 1,355.997 2.4 0.4 -

Other goods and services

482.211 - 479.156 -0.9 -0.6 -

Commodity and service group

Commodities

207.364 - 208.142 -1.2 0.4 -

Commodities less food and beverages

165.985 - 165.783 -3.0 -0.1 -

Nondurables less food and beverages

224.281 - 225.354 -2.7 0.5 -

Durables

112.802 - 111.931 -4.3 -0.8 -

Services

341.793 - 344.058 3.3 0.7 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

253.288 - 254.390 0.6 0.4 -

All items less medical care

260.780 - 262.113 1.8 0.5 -

Commodities less food

168.606 - 168.635 -2.8 0.0 -

Nondurables

261.613 - 263.892 0.0 0.9 -

Nondurables less food

224.781 - 226.323 -2.5 0.7 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

352.081 - 353.842 3.1 0.5 -

Services less medical care services

318.563 - 320.786 3.7 0.7 -

Energy

214.632 217.217 209.947 -6.8 -2.2 -3.3

All items less energy

283.734 - 285.967 2.2 0.8 -

All items less food and energy

280.534 - 282.628 2.2 0.7 -

(1) Indexes on an April 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024