Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until
 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, May 15, 2012       USDL-12-0953
 
 Technical information: (202) 691-7000  Reed.Steve@bls.gov www.bls.gov/cpi
 Media Contact:         (202) 691-5902  PressOffice@bls.gov
 
                   Consumer Price Index - April 2012
 
 The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was
 unchanged in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of
 Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all
 items index increased 2.3 percent before seasonal adjustment.
 
 The energy index, which had risen in each of the three previous
 months, declined in April on a seasonally adjusted basis and offset
 increases in the other major indexes. The gasoline index fell 2.6
 percent in April and accounted for most of the decline in energy,
 though the indexes for natural gas and fuel oil decreased as well.
 The food index rose in April as five of the six major grocery store
 food group indexes increased.
 
 The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in
 April, the same increase as in March. Increases in the indexes for
 shelter, used cars and trucks, medical care, airline fares, new
 vehicles, and apparel all contributed significantly to the April
 increase.
 
 The 12-month change in the index for all items was 2.3 percent in
 April, the lowest figure since February 2011. The index for all items
 less food and energy also increased 2.3 percent over the last 12
 months. This is the first time since October 2009 that the 12-month
 all items change has not exceeded the 12-month change for all items
 less food and energy. The food index has risen 3.1 percent over the
 last 12 months, and the energy index has risen 0.9 percent.
 

 Table A. Percent changes in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city
 average
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                  Seasonally adjusted changes from             
                                          preceding month                      
                                                                          Un-  
                                                                       adjusted
                                                                        12-mos.
                              Oct.  Nov.  Dec.  Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  Apr.   ended 
                              2011  2011  2011  2012  2012  2012  2012   Apr.  
                                                                         2012  
                                                                                                                                                              
 All items..................    .0    .1    .0    .2    .4    .3    .0      2.3
  Food......................    .2    .1    .2    .2    .0    .2    .2      3.1
   Food at home.............    .2    .0    .2    .0    .0    .1    .2      3.3
   Food away from home (1)..    .2    .3    .2    .4    .1    .2    .3      2.9
  Energy....................  -1.8   -.5  -1.3    .2   3.2    .9  -1.7       .9
   Energy commodities.......  -2.6   -.6  -2.0    .9   5.7   1.7  -2.6      3.1
    Gasoline (all types)....  -2.8   -.9  -2.1    .9   6.0   1.7  -2.6      3.2
    Fuel oil (1)............   -.5   2.7  -1.0   1.4   2.8   2.7  -1.1       .9
   Energy services..........   -.4   -.4   -.2   -.8   -.8   -.4   -.2     -2.4
    Electricity.............    .2    .2   -.1    .0    .0   -.8    .2       .6
    Utility (piped) gas                                                        
       service..............  -2.6  -2.6   -.6  -2.9  -3.4    .9  -1.8    -11.6
  All items less food and                                                      
     energy.................    .2    .2    .1    .2    .1    .2    .2      2.3
   Commodities less food and                                                   
      energy commodities....    .0    .1   -.1    .2    .1    .2    .2      2.0
    New vehicles............   -.2   -.2   -.2    .0    .6    .2    .4      2.2
    Used cars and trucks....   -.4   -.4   -.7  -1.0   -.2   1.3   1.5      3.5
    Apparel.................    .4    .5   -.1    .9   -.9    .5    .4      5.1
    Medical care commodities                                                   
       (1)..................    .3    .2    .2    .6    .8    .4    .0      2.7
   Services less energy                                                        
      services..............    .2    .2    .2    .2    .1    .2    .3      2.4
    Shelter.................    .2    .2    .2    .2    .2    .2    .2      2.2
    Transportation services     .2    .0    .1    .0   -.2    .3    .5      1.7
    Medical care services...    .5    .4    .4    .2    .0    .3    .4      3.7

   1 Not seasonally adjusted.



 Consumer Price Index Data for April 2012
 
 Food
 
 The food index rose 0.2 percent in April, the same increase as in
 March. The index for food at home, up 0.1 percent in March, increased
 0.2 percent in April. Five of the six major grocery store food group
 indexes rose in April. The index for fruits and vegetables posted the
 largest increase, rising 1.0 percent in April after a series of
 declines. The index for cereals and bakery products rose 0.4 percent
 in April after declining in March. The index for nonalcoholic
 beverages rose 0.2 percent, and the indexes for meats, poultry, fish,
 and eggs and for other food at home both rose 0.1 percent. In
 contrast, the index for dairy and related products fell 1.0 percent
 in April, its third consecutive decline. Over the last 12 months, the
 food at home index has increased 3.3 percent. Five of the six food
 groups have risen over that time; despite the April increase the
 fruits and vegetables group is the only one to decline over the last
 12 months, falling 1.7 percent. The index for food away from home
 rose 0.3 percent in April and has increased 2.9 percent over the last
 12 months.
 
 Energy
 
 The energy index, which rose 0.9 percent in March, declined 1.7
 percent in April. The gasoline index fell 2.6 percent in April after
 rising sharply over the first three months of the year. (Before
 seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices increased 1.8 percent in April.)
 The fuel oil index also declined in April, falling 1.1 percent. The
 energy services index declined slightly in April, falling 0.2
 percent. The index for electricity rose 0.2 percent after falling in
 March, but the index for natural gas declined 1.8 percent, its sixth
 decline in seven months. Over the last 12 months, the gasoline index
 has risen 3.2 percent, the fuel oil index has increased 0.9 percent
 and the index for electricity has advanced 0.6 percent. In contrast,
 the index for natural gas has declined 11.6 percent.


 All items less food and energy
 
 The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in
 April after a 0.1 percent increase in February and a 0.2 percent
 increase in March. The index for shelter increased 0.2 percent for
 the seventh month in a row, with rent and owners' equivalent rent
 both rising 0.2 percent. The index for medical care increased 0.3
 percent, with the index for hospital services rising 0.6 percent. The
 index for used cars and trucks increased sharply for the second
 straight month, rising 1.5 percent in April after a 1.3 percent
 increase in March. The index for airline fares also rose
 significantly in April, advancing 2.1 percent. The new vehicles index
 rose 0.4 percent, as did the index for apparel. The indexes for
 tobacco, alcoholic beverages, and personal care each increased
 slightly. The index for household furnishings and operations was
 unchanged in April, while the index for recreation fell 0.1 percent
 as the indexes for video and audio products and for toys both
 declined notably.
 
 The index for all items less food and energy has risen 2.3 percent
 over the last 12 months, the same figure as last month and the sixth
 month in a row it has been either 2.2 or 2.3 percent. The index for
 shelter has risen 2.2 percent over the period, as has the index for
 new vehicles. The apparel index has risen 5.1 percent, the largest 12-
 month increase since January 1991, while the index for medical care
 has risen 3.4 percent.



 Not seasonally adjusted CPI measures
 
 The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased
 2.3 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 230.085
 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.3 percent prior
 to seasonal adjustment.
 
 The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
 (CPI-W) increased 2.4 percent over the last 12 months to an index
 level of 227.012  (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased
 0.3 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.
 
 The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
 increased 2.1 percent over the last 12 months. For the month, the
 index increased 0.3 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis.
 Please note that the indexes for the post-2010 period are subject to
 revision.
 
 
 The Consumer Price Index for May 2012 is scheduled to be released on
 Thursday, June 14, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).




 Redesigning the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Press Release Tables

 The format of the tables contained in the CPI news release changed
 beginning with the CPI news release for March, 2012. News release
 tables are part of the news release pdf and html files, and are
 available independently in html format. The new tables are also
 available in XLS format.  In addition, the BLS has begun issuing
 monthly companion XLS files, which will contain additional index level
 and CPI-W information.

 These tables were made available for public comment during October
 2011. In response to the public comments, the BLS will issue XLS files
 each month, as companions to the news release. There will be CPI-U and
 CPI-W files, and in addition to the data contained in the news release
 tables, the Excel files will contain index values.
 
 In August 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) restructured the
 text of the CPI news release to focus on the price movements of three
 broad expenditure categories, namely Food, Energy, and All items less
 food and energy. Table A within the CPI news release text was also
 updated in August 2009 to reflect this new structure.  Before August
 2009, the text of the CPI news release had focused on eight CPI `major
 groups' (Food and beverages; Housing; Apparel; Transportation; Medical
 care; Recreation; Education and communication; and Other goods and
 services).

 While the text of the CPI news release was restructured in 2009, seven
 additional CPI news release tables continued to be published using the
 eight major groups. BLS has redesigned these news release tables, to
 reflect the focus on Food, Energy, and All items less food and energy.
 Within these three broad categories, CPI item series are further
 divided into commodities and services.

 Beyond the redesign in the structure of the CPI news release tables,
 several other improvements to these tables have been made.

 The new Table 1 gives a summary of the index series which typically
 contribute to changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
 Consumers (CPI-U).

 The new Table 2 shows the full publication stub using the new
 structure for the CPI-U, including 11 new items series that were
 created to augment the redesign in the publication structure. Table 3
 shows aggregate item series (e.g., Transportation) that do not fall
 under the Food, Energy, and All items less food and energy structure.

 Table 4 shows the All items indexes at the local, regional, and city-
 size class levels.

 Table 5 shows the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers
 (C-CPI-U), and presents a history of annual percentage changes in the
 C-CPI-U compared to the CPI-U.

 Table 6 focuses on 1-month seasonally adjusted changes in the CPI-U,
 while table 7 focuses on 12-month not seasonally adjusted changes.
 Tables 6 and 7 present three additional pieces of data to help users
 better interpret index changes. First, these tables show the `effect'
 each item has on the price change for All items. For example, if the
 effect of food is 0.4, and the index for All items increased 1.2
 percent, it can be said that increases in food prices accounted for
 0.4 / 1.2, or 33.3 percent, of the increase in overall prices for that
 period. Said another way, had food prices been unchanged, the All
 items index only would have increased 0.8 percent (or 1.2 percent for
 All items, minus the 0.4 effect for Food).  Effects can be negative as
 well. For example, if the effect of food was a negative 0.1, and the
 All items index rose 0.5 percent, the All items index actually would
 have been 0.1 percent higher (or 0.6 percent) had food prices been
 unchanged.

 Second, standard errors for percent changes are shown on tables 6 and
 7.  Confidence intervals for statistics can be created using standard
 errors; e.g., roughly 95 percent confidence intervals can be
 constructed using two standard errors. For example, if an item
 increased 3.7 percent, and its standard error was 0.6 percent, the 95
 percent confidence interval for that price change can be said to be
 3.7 percent plus or minus two standard errors, or 3.7 percent plus or
 minus 1.2 percent.

 Finally, each item series in tables 6 and 7 show the last time that
 item had a price change as large (or as small) as the percent change
 published that period. For example, if bananas rose 3.7 percent, and
 that was its largest increase since November 2007, that would be noted
 in the new tables.

 In addition, most of the previous tables showed the `relative
 importance', or weight, of each item category as of the previous
 December. The relative importance columns in the new tables are
 improved in that they are updated monthly to reflect the change in
 relative prices over time.

 Finally, there are no longer any news release tables that focus on the
 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-
 W). That said, the CPI-W All items index level and percent changes
 will still be noted in the text of the news release, and a companion
 XLS file with CPI-W information will be available.


 Facilities for Sensory Impaired

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



 Brief Explanation of the CPI
     
 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in
 prices over time of goods and services purchased by households.  The
 Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups:
 (1) the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which
 covers households of wage earners and clerical workers that comprise
 approximately 29 percent of the total population and (2) the CPI for
 All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Chained CPI for All Urban
 Consumers (C-CPI-U), which cover approximately 88 percent of the total
 population and include in addition to wage earners and clerical worker
 households, 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 CPIs are based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels,
 transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services,
 drugs, and other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day
 living.  Prices are collected each month 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.  Prices of 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 or
 telephone calls of the Bureau's trained representatives.
     
 In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each
 location are averaged together with weights, which represent their
 importance in the spending of the appropriate population group.  Local
 data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average.  For the CPI-U
 and CPI-W 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.  For the C-CPI-U data are issued only at the national level.
 It is important to note that the CPI-U and CPI-W are considered final
 when released, but the C-CPI-U is issued in preliminary form and
 subject to two annual revisions.
     
 The index measures price change from a designed reference date.  For
 the CPI-U and the CPI-W the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100.  The
 reference base for the C-CPI-U is December 1999 equals 100.  An
 increase of 16.5 percent from the reference base, for example, is
 shown as 116.500.  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 visit the CPI home page on the Internet at
 http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ or contact our CPI Information and Analysis
 Section on (202) 691-7000.

 Note on Sampling Error in the Consumer Price Index
                                   
 The CPI is a statistical estimate that is subject to sampling error
 because it is based upon a sample of retail prices and not the
 complete universe of all prices.  BLS calculates and publishes
 estimates of the 1-month, 2-month, 6-month and 12-month percent change
 standard errors annually, for the CPI-U.  These standard error
 estimates can be used to construct confidence intervals for hypothesis
 testing.  For example, the estimated standard error of the 1 month
 percent change is 0.03 percent for the U.S. All Items Consumer Price
 Index.  This means that if we repeatedly sample from the universe of
 all retail prices using the same methodology, and estimate a
 percentage change for each sample, then 95% of these estimates would
 be within 0.06 percent of the 1 month percentage change based on all
 retail prices.  For example, for a 1-month change of 0.2 percent in
 the All Items CPI for All Urban Consumers, we are 95 percent confident
 that the actual percent change based on all retail prices would fall
 between 0.14 and 0.26 percent.  For the latest data, including
 information on how to use the estimates of standard error, see
 "Variance Estimates for Price Changes in the Consumer Price Index,
 January-December 2011".  These data are available on the CPI home page
 (http://www.bls.gov/cpi), or by using the following link
 http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpivar2011.pdf

 Calculating Index Changes

 Movements of the indexes from one month to another are usually
 expressed as percent changes rather than changes in index points,
 because index point changes are affected by the level of the index in
 relation to its base period while percent changes are not.  The
 example below illustrates the computation of index point and percent
 changes.
     
 Percent changes for 3-month and 6-month periods are expressed as
 annual rates and are computed according to the standard formula for
 compound growth rates.  These data indicate what the percent change
 would be if the current rate were maintained for a 12-month period.

 Index Point Change

 CPI
 202.416
 Less previous index
 201.800
 Equals index point change
 .616



 Percent Change

 Index point difference
 .616
 Divided by the previous index
 201.800
 Equals
 0.003
 Results multiplied by one hundred
 0.003x100
 Equals percent change
 0.3




 Regions Defined

 The states in the four regions are listed below.

 The Northeast--Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
 York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
 The Midwest--Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,
 Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
 The South--Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
 Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South
 Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District
 of Columbia.
 The West--Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,
 Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.


 A Note on Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Data

 Because price data are used for different purposes by different
 groups, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes seasonally adjusted
 as well as unadjusted changes each month.

 For analyzing general price trends in the economy, seasonally adjusted
 changes are usually preferred since they eliminate the effect of
 changes that normally occur at the same time and in about the same
 magnitude every year--such as price movements resulting from changing
 climatic conditions, production cycles, model changeovers, holidays,
 and sales.

 The unadjusted data are of primary interest to consumers concerned
 about the prices they actually pay.  Unadjusted data also are used
 extensively for escalation purposes.  Many collective bargaining
 contract agreements and pension plans, for example, tie compensation
 changes to the Consumer Price Index before adjustment for seasonal
 variation.

 Seasonal factors used in computing the seasonally adjusted indexes are
 derived by the X-12-ARIMA Seasonal Adjustment Method.  Seasonally
 adjusted indexes and seasonal factors are computed annually.  Each
 year, the last 5 years of seasonally adjusted data are revised.  Data
 from January 2007 through December 2011 were replaced in January 2012.
 Exceptions to the usual revision schedule were: the updated seasonal
 data at the end of 1977 replaced data from 1967 through 1977; and, in
 January 2002, dependently seasonally adjusted series were revised for
 January 1987-December 2001 as a result of a change in the aggregation
 weights for dependently adjusted series. For further information,
 please see "Aggregation of Dependently Adjusted Seasonally Adjusted
 Series," in the October 2001 issue of the CPI Detailed Report.

 Effective with the publication of data from January 2006 through
 December 2010 in January 2011, the Video and audio series and the
 Information technology, hardware and services series were changed from
 independently adjusted to dependently adjusted.  This resulted in an
 increase in the number of seasonal components used in deriving
 seasonal movement of the All items and 54 other lower level
 aggregations, from 73 for the publication of January 1998 through
 December 2005 data to 82 for the publication of seasonally adjusted
 data for January 2006 and later.  Each year the seasonal status of
 every series is reevaluated based upon certain statistical criteria.
 If any of the 82 components change their seasonal adjustment status
 from seasonally adjusted to not seasonally adjusted, not seasonally
 adjusted data will be used in the aggregation of the dependent series
 for the last 5 years, but the seasonally adjusted indexes before that
 period will not be changed.  Note: 38 of the 82 components are not
 seasonally adjusted for 2012.

 Seasonally adjusted data, including the all items index levels, are
 subject to revision for up to five years after their original release.
 For this reason, BLS advises against the use of these data in
 escalation agreements.

 Effective with the calculation of the seasonal factors for 1990, the
 Bureau of Labor Statistics has used an enhanced seasonal adjustment
 procedure called Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment for some
 CPI series.  Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment allows for
 better estimates of seasonally adjusted data.  Extreme values and/or
 sharp movements which might distort the seasonal pattern are estimated
 and removed from the data prior to calculation of seasonal factors.
 Beginning with the calculation of seasonal factors for 1996, X-12-
 ARIMA software was used for Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment.

 For the seasonal factors introduced in January 2012, BLS adjusted 31
 series using Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment, including
 selected food and beverage items, motor fuels, electricity and
 vehicles.  For example, this procedure was used for the Motor fuel
 series to offset the effects of events such as damage to oil
 refineries from Hurricane Katrina.

 For a complete list of Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment
 series and explanations, please refer to the article "Intervention
 Analysis Seasonal Adjustment", located on our website at
 http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpisapage.htm.

 For additional information on seasonal adjustment in the CPI, please
 write to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Division of Consumer Prices
 and Price Indexes, Washington, DC 20212 or contact David Levin at
 (202) 691-6968, or by e-mail at Levin.David@bls.gov.  If you have
 general questions about the CPI, please call our information staff at
 (202) 691-7000.