The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Pittsburgh area advanced 2.6 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent advance was due to a 2.5-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. (See chart 1.) The energy index increased 10.2 percent since the first half of 2016, while the food index declined 0.4 percent.

Food

Food prices decreased 0.4 percent since the first half of 2016. Food at home prices declined 0.5 percent, and those for food away from home inched down 0.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, rose 10.2 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, due mainly to a 16.7-percent increase in gasoline prices. Prices for utility (piped) gas service and electricity also rose over the year, up 15.8 and 1.9 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.5 percent. The increase was led by higher prices for shelter, up 3.0 percent. Prices were also higher for several other categories including medical care (8.2 percent), and other goods and services (6.2 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for the second half of 2017 is scheduled to be released in January 2018.

Technical Note

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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Pittsburgh, Pa. metropolitan statistical area covered in this release is comprised of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania.

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

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods, Pittsburgh, PA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	1st Half 2016	2nd Half 2016	1st Half 2017	1st Half 2016	2nd Half 2016
All items		243.000	246.118	249.284	2.6	1.3
Food and beverages		255.160	255.191	254.302	-0.3	-0.3
Food		254.871	254.791	253.965	-0.4	-0.3
Food at home		250.246	247.271	248.920	-0.5	0.7
Food away from home		263.318	267.783	263.067	-0.1	-1.8
Alcoholic beverages		259.706	261.312	259.527	-0.1	-0.7
Housing		244.927	248.010	252.293	3.0	1.7
Shelter		277.851	282.229	286.322	3.0	1.5
Rent of primary residence(1)		237.223	240.441	244.335	3.0	1.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)(2)		277.946	281.849	285.131	2.6	1.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)(2)		277.946	281.849	285.131	2.6	1.2
Fuels and utilities		240.785	245.032	255.688	6.2	4.3
Household energy		212.755	215.799	225.471	6.0	4.5
Energy services(1)		211.488	213.895	223.209	5.5	4.4
Electricity(1)		194.960	193.968	198.632	1.9	2.4
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		181.312	191.719	209.894	15.8	9.5
Household furnishings and operations		148.720	146.495	147.679	-0.7	0.8
Apparel		172.414	177.586	171.673	-0.4	-3.3
Transportation		178.814	181.111	184.879	3.4	2.1
Private transportation		174.178	177.381	180.530	3.6	1.8
Motor fuel		198.927	215.703	232.209	16.7	7.7
Gasoline (all types)		201.055	218.025	234.658	16.7	7.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)		195.387	212.438	228.585	17.0	7.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)		225.258	241.883	259.806	15.3	7.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)		207.408	224.040	242.663	17.0	8.3
Medical care		471.654	477.752	510.483	8.2	6.9
Recreation(5)		121.731	123.636	121.697	0.0	-1.6
Education and communication(5)		148.032	149.734	148.935	0.6	-0.5
Other goods and services		446.185	466.271	473.931	6.2	1.6
Commodity and service group
Commodities		199.964	202.088	204.301	2.2	1.1
Commodities less food and beverages		170.271	173.250	176.759	3.8	2.0
Nondurables less food and beverages		214.436	223.682	232.061	8.2	3.7
Durables		122.302	120.291	119.819	-2.0	-0.4
Services		287.150	291.193	295.252	2.8	1.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		231.945	234.919	236.892	2.1	0.8
All items less shelter		232.240	234.895	237.731	2.4	1.2
Commodities less food		173.610	176.565	179.942	3.6	1.9
Nondurables		235.082	239.813	243.649	3.6	1.6
Nondurables less food		217.583	226.392	234.181	7.6	3.4
Services less rent of shelter(2)		303.461	307.132	311.378	2.6	1.4
Services less medical care services		272.957	276.828	280.642	2.8	1.4
Energy		213.303	222.225	235.066	10.2	5.8
All items less energy		247.112	249.792	252.213	2.1	1.0
All items less food and energy		246.681	249.813	252.765	2.5	1.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series converted to a geometric means estimator in January 1999. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a 6-month period as a whole, not to any specific date.