Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until
 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, October 30, 2013  USDL-13-2076
 
 Technical information: (202) 691-7000    Reed.Steve@bls.gov   www.bls.gov/cpi
 Media Contact:         (202) 691-5902    PressOffice@bls.gov
 
                 Consumer Price Index - September 2013

 The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2
 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau
 of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all
 items index increased 1.2 percent before seasonal adjustment.

 The energy index rose 0.8 percent in September and accounted for about
 half of the seasonally adjusted all items increase. All the major
 energy component indexes rose in September. The food index was
 unchanged, with declines in the indexes for fruits and vegetables and
 for nonalcoholic beverages offsetting increases in other indexes.

 The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in
 September, the same increase as in August. The shelter and medical
 care indexes also advanced and accounted for most of this increase.
 The indexes for new vehicles and for airline fares rose as well, while
 the apparel and recreation indexes declined.

 The all items index increased 1.2 percent over the last 12 months;
 this was the smallest 12-month increase since April. The index for all
 items less food and energy has risen 1.7 percent over the last year
 with the shelter and medical care indexes both up 2.4 percent. The
 food index has risen 1.4 percent, while the energy index has declined
 3.1 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.
                              Mar.  Apr.  May   June  July  Aug.  Sep.   ended 
                              2013  2013  2013  2013  2013  2013  2013   Sep.  
                                                                         2013  
                                                                               
                                                                               
 All items..................   -.2   -.4    .1    .5    .2    .1    .2      1.2
  Food......................    .0    .2   -.1    .2    .1    .1    .0      1.4
   Food at home.............   -.1    .1   -.3    .2    .1    .1    .0      1.0
   Food away from home (1)..    .2    .3    .2    .2    .2    .2    .1      1.9
  Energy....................  -2.6  -4.3    .4   3.4    .2   -.3    .8     -3.1
   Energy commodities.......  -4.1  -7.9   -.1   5.7   1.0    .0    .9     -7.0
    Gasoline (all types)....  -4.4  -8.1    .0   6.3   1.0   -.1    .8     -7.5
    Fuel oil (1)............  -2.1  -4.4  -2.9   -.5   1.1   1.2    .9     -3.1
   Energy services..........   -.2   1.4   1.2    .1  -1.0   -.7    .8      3.7
    Electricity.............   -.6    .5    .8    .2   -.3   -.1    .5      3.2
    Utility (piped) gas                                                        
       service..............   1.0   4.4   2.4   -.4  -2.8  -2.3   1.8      5.3
  All items less food and                                                      
     energy.................    .1    .1    .2    .2    .2    .1    .1      1.7
   Commodities less food and                                                   
      energy commodities....   -.1    .0    .0    .2    .0    .0   -.1      -.1
    New vehicles............    .1    .3    .0    .3    .1    .0    .2      1.2
    Used cars and trucks....   1.2    .6   -.1   -.4   -.4   -.1    .0       .4
    Apparel.................  -1.0   -.3    .2    .9    .6    .1   -.5       .8
    Medical care commodities    .1    .1   -.5    .5    .4    .4    .1       .2
   Services less energy                                                        
      services..............    .2    .1    .2    .2    .2    .2    .2      2.4
    Shelter.................    .2    .2    .3    .2    .2    .2    .2      2.4
    Transportation services     .2   -.2    .4   -.1    .4   -.5    .3      2.4
    Medical care services...    .3   -.1    .0    .4    .1    .7    .3      3.1

   1 Not seasonally adjusted.









 Consumer Price Index Data for September 2013
 
 Food
 
 The food index was unchanged in September after rising in each of the
 three previous months. The index for food at home was unchanged, as
 declines in the indexes for fruits and vegetables and nonalcoholic
 beverages offset advances in the other major grocery store food group
 indexes. The fruits and vegetables index fell 0.9 percent in
 September after rising in July and August, as the fresh vegetables
 index fell 1.4 percent. The index for nonalcoholic beverages declined
 for the third month in a row, falling 0.2 percent. In contrast to
 these declines, the index for other food at home rose 0.4 percent in
 September after declining in August. The cereals and bakery products
 index rose 0.2 percent, while the indexes for meats, poultry, fish,
 and eggs and for dairy and related products both increased 0.1
 percent. The food at home index has increased 1.0 percent over the
 last 12 months. The fruits and vegetables index rose 3.0 percent, but
 the indexes for nonalcoholic beverages and for other food at home
 both declined over the span. The index for food away from home rose
 0.1 percent in September, its smallest increase since February, and
 has risen 1.9 percent over the past 12 months.


 Energy
 
 The energy index rose 0.8 percent in September after declining in
 August. All the major energy component indexes increased in
 September. The gasoline index, which declined slightly in August,
 rose 0.8 percent. (Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices fell
 1.3 percent in September.) The fuel oil index rose 0.9 percent after
 increasing 1.2 percent in August. The index for natural gas turned up
 in September, rising 1.8 percent after falling 2.3 percent in August.
 Similarly, the electricity index increased 0.5 percent after falling
 0.1 percent in August. Despite the September increase, the energy
 index has declined 3.1 percent over the past 12 months, with the
 gasoline index declining 7.5 percent but the electricity and natural
 gas indexes both increasing.


 All items less food and energy
 
 The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in
 September, the same increase as in August. The shelter index rose 0.2
 percent for the fourth month in a row. The indexes for rent and
 owners' equivalent rent both rose 0.2 percent while the index for
 lodging away from home fell 0.4 percent. The medical care index
 increased 0.3 percent in September after rising 0.6 percent in
 August. Within medical care, the hospital services index rose 0.7
 percent, while the index for prescription drugs increased 0.2
 percent. The new vehicles index rose 0.2 percent in September after
 being unchanged in August, while the index for airline fares
 increased 0.5 percent after declining in each of the three previous
 months. The index for tobacco rose slightly in September, while the
 indexes for used cars and trucks, for household furnishings and
 operations, and for personal care were all unchanged. The apparel
 index, which had risen four months in a row, fell 0.5 percent in
 September and the recreation index fell 0.1 percent.
 
 The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent
 for the 12 months ending September, a slightly smaller increase than
 the 1.8 percent figure for the 12 months ending August. Several
 components have exhibited very modest increases over the past 12
 months, including apparel (0.8 percent), airline fares (0.8 percent),
 used cars and trucks (0.4 percent), and recreation (0.2 percent).

 
 Not seasonally adjusted CPI measures
 
 The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased
 1.2 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 234.149
 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.1 percent prior
 to seasonal adjustment.
 
 The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
 (CPI-W) increased 1.0 percent over the last 12 months to an index
 level of 230.537  (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased
 0.1 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.
 
 The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
 increased 1.2 percent over the last 12 months. For the month, the
 index increased 0.1 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis.
 Please note that the indexes for the post-2011 period are subject to
 revision.
 
 The Consumer Price Index for October 2013 is scheduled to be released
 on Wednesday, November 20, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (EST). The release was
 originally scheduled for Friday, November 15 but was rescheduled
 because of the recent partial government shutdown.



 Federal Government Shutdown

 The release of these data occurs about 2 weeks later than originally
 scheduled because of the recent partial Federal government shutdown. 
 Data collection for the estimates in this release had been completed 
 prior to the shutdown in accordance with our normal schedule. However, 
 the processing of estimates and the production of the Consumer Price 
 Index news release were delayed due to the shutdown.         















 Discontinuation of Department Store Inventory Indexes
 
 The Bureau of Labor Statistics will discontinue publication of its
 Department Store Inventory indexes after the release of the December
 2013 CPI in mid-January 2014, and these values will no longer be
 uploaded to the Labstat database. For further information please
 contact Sharon Gibson at 202-691-6968 or gibson.sharon@bls.gov.
 
 Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) Annual
 Average Indexes Discontinued
 
 The final revisions of the C-CPI-U indexes for 2012 will be available
 in February 2014.  Annual average indexes for C-CPI-U series will not
 be published for time periods after 2012. (Monthly C-CPI-U indexes
 will continue to be published.)   In February 2014, the annual
 average indexes for the final estimates for 2012 C-CPI-U series will
 be published in the public CPI database.  Table 1CA will not be
 published.
 
 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 0.04 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 0.08 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 0.12 and 0.28 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 2012".  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/cpivar2012.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



 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 2008 through December 2012 were replaced in January
 2013.  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: 37 of the 82 components are not
 seasonally adjusted for 2013.
 
 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 2013, 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 Chris Graci at
 (202) 691-5826, or by e-mail at graci.christopher@bls.gov or contact
 Carlyle Jackson at (202) 691-6984, or by e-mail at
 jackson.carlyle@bls.gov .  If you have general questions about the
 CPI, please call our information staff at (202) 691-7000.