The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Baltimore edged down 0.2 percent over the last two months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted the decline was led by a 0.5-percent decrease in the all items less food and energy index. The food index also decreased 0.5 percent, while the energy index rose 4.2 percent since May. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U edged up 0.2 percent, due almost entirely to a 1.6-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. (See chart 1 and table A.) Since July 2014, the food index rose 0.5 percent, while the energy index dropped 14.4 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

After increasing 0.4 percent in May, the food index decreased 0.5 percent over the last two months. Prices for food at home declined 0.9 percent as prices were lower for various items including other fresh fruits and ham. Prices for food away from home inched up 0.1 percent.

Food prices rose 0.5 percent over the year due to higher prices for food away from home (2.3 percent). Conversely, prices for food at home declined 1.0 percent since last July.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, rose 4.2 percent since May, led by a 9.2-percent increase in electricity prices. Gasoline prices also increased over the last two months, up 4.3 percent, while utility (piped) gas service prices were lower, down 11.6 percent.

Energy prices fell 14.4 percent over the year, led by a 24.1-percent drop in gasoline prices. Utility (piped) gas service prices also declined since July 2014, down 15.6 percent, while electricity prices rose 2.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.5 percent since May. The decline was led by a larger-than-usual seasonal decrease in apparel prices, down 10.7 percent—the index’s largest two-month decline since its inception in 1996. Moderating the decline in the all items less food and energy index were higher prices for shelter (0.5 percent) and education and communication (0.8 percent) over the last two months.

Since July 2014, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent. The increase was due largely to an over-the-year rise in shelter prices (3.2 percent), as the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index was up 3.4 percent. Lower prices for apparel (-6.9 percent) moderated the increase in the all items less food and energy index since last July.

Table A. Washington, D.C. CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	1.0	2.3	0.4	2.7	0.1	1.8	0.4	1.9	-1.0	-0.2
March	1.2	3.0	1.3	2.8	0.9	1.4	0.6	1.6	1.0	0.2
May	1.0	3.9	0.1	1.8	-0.2	1.2	0.4	2.2	0.6	0.4
July	0.1	4.1	-0.2	1.4	0.5	1.9	0.0	1.7	-0.2	0.2
September	-0.1	3.4	1.3	2.8	0.6	1.2	0.2	1.3
November	-0.1	3.3	-0.7	2.1	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.2

The Consumer Price Index for September 2015 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 15, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Washington-Baltimore is published bi-monthly. 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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 28 percent of the total 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 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.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. 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 see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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 Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; Baltimore City and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and Washington in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson in West Virginia.

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