Consumer prices increase 3.9 percent in 12 months

Over the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 3.9 percent before seasonal adjustment.

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The energy index has risen 19.3 percent over the last year, while the food index has increased 4.7 percent.

The food at home index has now risen 6.3 percent over the past 12 months with the dairy index up 10.2 percent over that period.

Over the past year, the household energy index has increased 3.7 percent. The electricity index has risen 2.7 percent and the index for natural gas has increased 0.2 percent, while the fuel oil index has risen sharply, increasing 33.4 percent.

After increasing steadily through most of the year, the 12-month change in the index for all items less food and energy remained at 2.0 percent for the second month in a row. The shelter index has increased 1.7 percent over the last 12 months. The index for medical care has risen 2.8 percent while the apparel index has increased 3.5 percent. The new vehicles index has increased 3.6 percent and the index for used cars and trucks has increased 5.1 percent.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index — September 2011" (HTML) (PDF), USDL-11-1498.