The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Baltimore was unchanged from May to July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that while the all items less food and energy index was unchanged, the energy index (-0.2 percent) and the food index (-0.1 percent) both decreased 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 increased 0.7 percent, due mostly to a 0.6-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index. (See chart 1 and table A.) Since July 2016, the energy index and the food index both increased, up 2.7 and 0.7 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

After increasing 0.9 percent from March to May, the food index inched down 0.1 percent over the last two months. Prices for food at home decreased 0.1 percent, while those for food away from home were unchanged. Within the food at home component, lower prices for various items including lettuce were moderated by higher prices for fresh fish and seafood and eggs, among others.

Food prices increased 0.7 percent over the year. Higher prices for food away from home, up 2.0 percent, were moderated by lower prices for food at home, down 0.4 percent, since last July.

Energy

Since May, the energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, edged down 0.2 percent, due mainly to lower prices for gasoline, down 4.1 percent. Higher prices for electricity (3.3 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (2.2 percent) moderated the decrease since May.

Energy prices rose 2.7 percent over the year. The advance was led by a 12.6-percent increase in utility (piped) gas service prices. Prices also increased over the year for gasoline (1.6 percent) and electricity (1.1 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged since May. Lower prices for a number of items, including apparel (-4.7 percent), were moderated by price increases for recreation (1.4 percent) and education and communication (0.7 percent), among others. 

Since July 2016, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent. Higher prices for shelter (1.0 percent) and medical care (2.9 percent) contributed to the rise. Prices declined over the year for recreation (-3.2 percent) and education and communication (-1.2 percent), among others.

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

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.1	1.8	0.4	1.9	-1.0	-0.2	-0.2	1.4	0.2	1.7
March	0.9	1.4	0.6	1.6	1.0	0.2	0.6	1.0	0.3	1.3
May	-0.2	1.2	0.4	2.2	0.6	0.4	0.8	1.2	0.2	0.7
July	0.5	1.9	0.0	1.7	-0.2	0.2	-0.1	1.4	0.0	0.7
September	0.6	1.2	0.2	1.3	0.5	0.5	-0.1	0.8
November	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.2	-0.3	0.6	0.1	1.2

The Consumer Price Index for September 2017 is scheduled to be released on Friday, October 13, 2017, 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/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 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.

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 and percent changes for selected periods, Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., (December 1997=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	May 2017	Jun. 2017	Jul. 2017	Jul. 2016	May 2017	Jun. 2017
All items(1)		158.844		158.850	0.7	0.0
Food and beverages(1)		158.211		158.139	0.8	0.0
Food(1)		159.651		159.571	0.7	-0.1
Food at home		146.769	146.808	146.597	-0.4	-0.1	-0.1
Food away from home(2)		173.529		173.574	2.0	0.0
Alcoholic beverages(2)		138.040		138.077	1.2	0.0
Housing(1)		172.744		173.451	1.1	0.4
Shelter		184.672	185.909	184.947	1.0	0.1	-0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)(3)		206.961	207.412	207.559	2.7	0.3	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(3)(4)		184.518	184.826	185.146	1.4	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(3)(4)		184.513	184.821	185.141	1.4	0.3	0.2
Fuels and utilities		198.383		203.299	3.1	2.5
Household energy		187.515	191.034	192.932	3.5	2.9	1.0
Gas (piped) and electricity(3)		180.504	184.049	186.034	3.4	3.1	1.1
Electricity(3)		187.207	190.390	193.373	1.1	3.3	1.6
Utility (piped) gas service(3)		142.247	146.404	145.413	12.6	2.2	-0.7
Household furnishings and operations		86.527		86.921	-0.3	0.5
Apparel(1)		103.849		98.921	-1.1	-4.7
Transportation(1)		142.448		141.143	1.4	-0.9
Private transportation		140.258		138.848	1.1	-1.0
Motor fuel		205.119	202.133	196.693	1.6	-4.1	-2.7
Gasoline (all types)		205.015	202.033	196.573	1.6	-4.1	-2.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)		203.113	199.985	194.285	1.6	-4.3	-2.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)		217.758	215.073	211.628	2.2	-2.8	-1.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)		223.974	222.423	218.726	1.8	-2.3	-1.7
Medical care(1)		189.005		189.072	2.9	0.0
Recreation		113.853		115.431	-3.2	1.4
Education and communication		149.019		150.130	-1.2	0.7
Other goods and services(1)		178.381		178.177	0.0	-0.1
Commodity and service group
Commodities		126.205		124.796	-0.5	-1.1
Commodities less food and beverages		108.705		106.739	-1.4	-1.8
Nondurables less food and beverages		140.065		136.610	0.0	-2.5
Durables		77.536		76.683	-2.8	-1.1
Services		180.866		181.875	1.4	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		146.075		145.962	0.6	-0.1
All items less medical care(1)		156.903		156.905	0.6	0.0
Commodities less food		110.073		108.157	-1.3	-1.7
Nondurables		148.763		147.091	0.4	-1.1
Nondurables less food		140.085		136.871	0.1	-2.3
Services less rent of shelter		177.311		179.088	1.8	1.0
Services less medical care services		179.985		181.104	1.3	0.6
Energy(1)		194.505	195.310	194.149	2.7	-0.2	-0.6
All items less energy		155.358		155.384	0.6	0.0
All items less food and energy(1)		155.649		155.690	0.6	0.0
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1996=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 1997=100 base. (3) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (4) This index series underwent a change in composition in January 2010. The expenditure class now includes weight from secondary residences, and has been re-titled "Owners' equivalent rent of residences." The item stratum "Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence" excludes secondary residences. (5) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.