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It is particularly important that gasoline price changes be measured accurately and reliably. Fortunately, gasoline is one of the few consumer goods for which there are many sources of price data.
The Beyond the Numbers article, “Measures of gasoline price change”, examines three measures of gasoline prices: the BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) U.S. city average for all types of gasoline, the BLS CPI average price series for all types of gasoline, and the Energy Information Administration Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices for all grades of gasoline.
Major gasoline price measures, December 2002 to December 2012
Date
U.S. city average price for all types of gasoline
EIA monthly average price
Average price for all types of gasoline
Dec 2002
100.00
100.00
100.00
Jan 2003
105.42
104.97
105.54
Feb 2003
114.15
115.82
117.30
Mar 2003
121.26
121.34
123.76
Apr 2003
115.37
114.28
117.46
May 2003
107.45
107.70
109.66
Jun 2003
105.48
107.28
108.73
Jul 2003
106.09
108.75
109.15
Aug 2003
113.13
116.24
116.20
Sep 2003
119.91
120.43
123.01
Oct 2003
111.44
112.39
114.19
Nov 2003
106.84
108.82
109.66
Dec 2003
104.13
106.51
106.80
Jan 2004
110.70
112.95
114.27
Feb 2004
116.11
118.26
119.65
Mar 2004
122.48
124.42
125.78
Apr 2004
126.95
128.69
130.39
May 2004
138.79
141.57
142.57
Jun 2004
141.03
140.87
145.00
Jul 2004
134.19
136.74
138.12
Aug 2004
131.42
134.36
135.35
Sep 2004
130.94
133.80
134.76
Oct 2004
140.28
142.90
144.58
Nov 2004
139.00
141.57
143.58
Dec 2004
130.40
132.05
134.68
Jan 2005
126.34
131.21
130.65
Feb 2005
132.70
136.67
137.20
Mar 2005
142.65
148.36
146.94
Apr 2005
157.41
159.90
161.96
May 2005
152.81
154.30
157.26
Jun 2005
150.17
153.81
155.00
Jul 2005
159.58
163.26
164.99
Aug 2005
172.51
176.98
177.75
Sep 2005
201.02
206.51
208.65
Oct 2005
191.60
193.49
198.07
Nov 2005
161.61
161.16
166.75
Dec 2005
150.98
155.98
156.34
Jan 2006
159.72
165.15
166.41
Feb 2006
159.38
162.77
165.41
Mar 2006
165.47
172.71
171.87
Apr 2006
189.64
195.03
196.81
May 2006
202.64
206.65
209.74
Jun 2006
200.61
205.04
207.64
Jul 2006
206.23
211.69
213.77
Aug 2006
205.35
209.87
212.59
Sep 2006
178.54
182.37
183.88
Oct 2006
157.01
160.46
161.80
Nov 2006
154.84
159.20
159.78
Dec 2006
161.14
165.08
166.33
Jan 2007
157.14
160.18
161.89
Feb 2007
157.96
162.56
163.13
Mar 2007
178.67
182.58
184.28
Apr 2007
196.95
202.31
203.10
May 2007
215.03
223.02
222.36
Jun 2007
209.88
217.07
218.04
Jul 2007
203.99
210.71
211.49
Aug 2007
191.81
198.32
199.08
Sep 2007
192.21
199.37
199.83
Oct 2007
192.48
199.65
199.68
Nov 2007
211.10
218.89
219.10
Dec 2007
207.79
214.84
215.61
Jan 2008
209.61
216.59
217.75
Feb 2008
208.73
215.40
216.49
Mar 2008
223.90
230.44
232.16
Apr 2008
236.36
245.42
245.10
May 2008
258.16
266.97
268.50
Jun 2008
278.61
287.26
289.66
Jul 2008
280.43
287.89
291.65
Aug 2008
259.85
268.23
269.95
Sep 2008
253.83
262.84
263.25
Oct 2008
218.35
217.77
223.66
Nov 2008
149.49
154.51
154.69
Dec 2008
117.94
122.11
122.67
Jan 2009
124.44
128.76
129.71
Feb 2009
133.99
138.21
139.48
Mar 2009
135.41
140.73
140.91
Apr 2009
142.65
147.10
148.37
May 2009
156.67
162.07
162.66
Jun 2009
181.52
187.61
189.36
Jul 2009
175.63
180.69
182.99
Aug 2009
181.25
186.84
189.07
Sep 2009
177.79
182.58
185.17
Oct 2009
176.91
182.30
183.61
Nov 2009
183.41
189.36
191.15
Dec 2009
180.84
186.35
188.30
Jan 2010
188.15
193.77
196.24
Feb 2010
183.41
188.87
190.76
Mar 2010
191.54
197.62
199.29
Apr 2010
196.75
202.94
205.16
May 2010
197.36
202.24
206.62
Jun 2010
188.42
194.89
196.65
Jul 2010
188.42
194.68
196.55
Aug 2010
189.23
194.75
197.41
Sep 2010
186.46
192.93
194.64
Oct 2010
192.48
199.65
201.11
Nov 2010
196.28
203.85
205.16
Dec 2010
205.21
213.30
214.37
Jan 2011
212.53
220.29
222.48
Feb 2011
217.67
228.41
227.39
Mar 2011
243.33
252.97
254.05
Apr 2011
261.54
269.56
273.12
May 2011
269.60
277.12
282.95
Jun 2011
254.10
261.37
266.62
Jul 2011
250.71
259.27
262.60
Aug 2011
249.15
258.64
261.35
Sep 2011
248.07
256.61
259.46
Oct 2011
238.39
245.35
248.43
Nov 2011
235.27
240.94
245.58
Dec 2011
225.39
232.75
235.70
Jan 2012
233.38
240.73
244.13
Feb 2012
245.23
254.72
256.15
Mar 2012
265.27
273.41
276.89
Apr 2012
269.19
276.98
281.90
May 2012
259.92
265.29
271.71
Jun 2012
243.87
251.64
255.04
Jul 2012
237.10
244.79
248.11
Aug 2012
254.50
264.52
266.04
Sep 2012
264.59
273.62
276.99
Oct 2012
259.92
266.76
271.15
Nov 2012
239.81
246.40
250.32
Dec 2012
229.25
236.60
239.80
For all three measures discussed in the report, the price being sought is the pump price paid by the consumer, including all taxes. In addition, the definition of gasoline includes different grades, but excludes diesel and alternative fuels. So, to a large degree, the series being examined are all attempting to measure the same thing. A look at the chart reveals that the measures tell similar stories of gasoline price movement over the past 10 years.
The three curves displayed are normalized so that each series starts at the same place. Even so, the chart does obscure some slight differences, which are discussed in more detail in the article.
These data are from the Consumer Price Indexes program. To learn more, see “Measures of gasoline price change” (HTML) (PDF), by Malik Crawford and Stephen B. Reed, Beyond the Numbers, September 2013.
United States Department of Labor
