Gasoline prices averaged $2.341 a gallon in the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City area in May 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that area gasoline prices were down 14.5 percent from last May when they averaged $2.739 per gallon. Philadelphia area households paid an average of 15.5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in May 2016, nearly unchanged from the price in May 2015. The average cost of utility (piped) gas at $0.991 per therm in May was 11.4 percent below its price of $1.118 per therm a year earlier. (Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)

At $2.341 a gallon, the price for gasoline in the Philadelphia area was close to the national average of $2.324 a gallon in May 2016. A year earlier, the price for a gallon of gasoline in the Philadelphia area was 3.3 percent lower than the national average. From 2012 to 2014, local prices for a gallon of gasoline in May differed from the national average by less than 5 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

The 15.5 cents per kWh that Philadelphia households paid for electricity in May 2016 was 16.5 percent higher than the nationwide average cost of 13.3 cents per kWh. Last May, electricity prices in Philadelphia were 13.9 percent higher than the nation. From 2012 to 2014, prices paid by Philadelphia area consumers for electricity in May exceeded the U.S. average by more than 14 percent. (See chart 2.)

The price paid by Philadelphia-area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, was $1.003 per therm in March 2016, 13.5 percent above the national average of $0.884 per therm. Utility (piped) gas prices in the Philadelphia area were also above the national average in March for the previous four years, ranging from 5.6 percent to 23.1 percent higher. (See chart 3.)

The Consumer Price Index for June 2016 is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 15, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

Average prices are estimated from Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for selected commodity series to support the research and analytic needs of CPI data users. Average prices for electricity, utility (piped) gas, and gasoline are published monthly for the U.S. city average, the 4 regions, the 3 population size classes, 10 region/size-class cross-classifications, and the 14 largest local index areas. For electricity, average prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh) are published. For utility (piped) gas, average prices per therm are published. For gasoline, the average price per gallon is published. Average prices for commonly available grades of gasoline are published as well as the average price across all grades.

All eligible prices are converted to a price per normalized quantity. These prices are then used to estimate a price for a defined fixed quantity. The average price per kilowatt-hour represents the total bill divided by the kilowatt-hour usage. The total bill is the sum of all items applicable to all consumers appearing on an electricity bill including, but not limited to, variable rates per kWh, fixed costs, taxes, surcharges, and credits. This calculation also applies to the average price per therm for utility (piped) gas.

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

The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Table 1. Average prices for gasoline, electricity, and utility (piped) gas, United States and the Philadelphia area, May 2015-May 2016, not seasonally adjusted

Year and Month	Gasoline per gallon		Electricity per kWh		Utility (piped) gas per therm
	Philadelphia	United States	Philadelphia	United States	Philadelphia	United States
2015
May	$2.739	$2.832	$0.156	$0.137	$1.118	$0.930
June	2.736	2.889	0.160	0.143	1.039	0.942
July	2.754	2.893	0.159	0.142	1.038	0.933
August	2.530	2.745	0.159	0.142	1.042	0.932
September	2.298	2.463	0.158	0.141	1.026	0.921
October	2.187	2.357	0.155	0.136	0.999	0.909
November	2.210	2.249	0.155	0.134	0.999	0.903
December	2.146	2.125	0.155	0.133	0.954	0.892
2016
January	2.000	2.034	0.160	0.134	0.954	0.898
February	1.845	1.833	0.159	0.134	0.955	0.895
March	1.911	2.021	0.157	0.134	1.003	0.884
April	2.175	2.196	0.156	0.134	0.997	0.879
May	2.341	2.324	0.155	0.133	0.991	0.877