The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria edged down 0.2 percent from September to November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent decrease was due almost entirely to a 0.2-percent drop in the all items less food and energy index. The energy index also decreased since September, down 0.6 percent, while the food index increased 0.4 percent. (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 advanced 1.5 percent, reflecting a 1.4-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index. (See chart 1 and table A.) Since November 2018, the food index and energy index also advanced, up 2.4 and 0.9 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

Following a 0.3-percent decline from July to September, the food index increased 0.4 percent over the last two months. Prices for food away from home increased 1.1 percent, while those for food at home inched down 0.1 percent. Within the food at home component, prices were lower for carbonated drinks, while prices were higher for frozen and freeze dried prepared foods, among others.

Food prices increased 2.4 percent over the year. Prices were higher for both food at home and food away from home; each increased 2.4 percent since November 2018.

Energy

Since September, the energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, declined 0.6 percent, due to lower prices for electricity (-4.0 percent). Prices were higher for utility (piped) gas service (6.1 percent) and gasoline (0.2 percent) over the past two months.

Energy prices increased 0.9 percent since November 2018, due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (14.9 percent) and electricity (3.4 percent). Over the year, gasoline prices declined 3.5 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent since September. The decline was led by lower prices for apparel (-3.3 percent), shelter (-0.1 percent), and education and communication (-0.4 percent) over the last two months. Increased prices for medical care (0.8 percent), among others, moderated the drop in the all items less food and energy index from September to November.

Since November 2018, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.4 percent. Prices were higher for shelter (1.8 percent) and medical care (3.0 percent), among others. Apparel prices decreased 2.8 percent since November 2018.

Table A. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	-1.1	-0.2	-0.2	1.5	0.2	1.5	0.9	2.2	0.5	0.8
March	1.2	0.2	0.8	1.1	0.4	1.1	-0.1	1.8	0.7	1.6
May	0.7	0.6	0.8	1.2	0.0	0.3	0.7	2.5	0.6	1.6
July	-0.3	0.3	-0.2	1.3	0.0	0.5	0.1	2.5	-0.3	1.2
September	0.6	0.7	-0.3	0.5	0.9	1.7	0.4	2.0	0.1	0.9
November	-0.4	0.5	0.2	1.1	0.0	1.5	-0.7	1.3	-0.2	1.5

The Consumer Price Index for January 2020 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 13, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 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 94 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MA-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of 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-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Nov. 2018	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019
All items		265.500		265.026	1.5	-0.2
Food and beverages		252.494		253.404	2.1	0.4
Food		257.869		258.986	2.4	0.4
Food at home		245.972	246.053	245.617	2.4	-0.1	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products		322.678		315.444	-0.5	-2.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		268.230		273.106	6.9	1.8
Dairy and related products		242.622		238.615	2.3	-1.7
Fruits and vegetables		272.254		265.779	1.0	-2.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		214.494		211.466	3.6	-1.4
Other food at home		195.551		199.914	0.4	2.2
Food away from home		273.881		276.898	2.4	1.1
Alcoholic beverages		200.435		199.279	-1.4	-0.6
Housing		279.485		278.349	2.3	-0.4
Shelter		336.338	335.266	336.001	1.8	-0.1	0.2
Rent of primary residence		368.766	369.559	370.738	2.6	0.5	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		341.865	342.696	343.792	1.8	0.6	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		341.865	342.696	343.792	1.8	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities		240.200		237.468	6.0	-1.1
Household energy		187.063	186.916	184.283	6.1	-1.5	-1.4
Energy services		191.631	191.491	188.486	6.1	-1.6	-1.6
Electricity		222.309	218.610	213.401	3.4	-4.0	-2.4
Utility (piped) gas service		124.332	130.739	131.956	14.9	6.1	0.9
Household furnishings and operations		109.225		106.801	3.5	-2.2
Apparel		166.761		161.295	-2.8	-3.3
Transportation		215.337		215.692	-0.5	0.2
Private transportation		212.642		214.574	0.1	0.9
New and used motor vehicles(3)		92.906		92.831	-1.2	-0.1
New vehicles(1)		191.948		192.149	-2.3	0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)		296.799		294.518	0.0	-0.8
Motor fuel		234.972	237.768	235.383	-3.6	0.2	-1.0
Gasoline (all types)		232.292	235.061	232.743	-3.5	0.2	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		226.066	228.826	226.563	-3.7	0.2	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		236.649	238.628	235.965	-3.1	-0.3	-1.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		252.671	255.243	252.876	-2.0	0.1	-0.9
Motor vehicle insurance(1)		859.819		893.216	3.6	3.9
Medical care		459.966		463.621	3.0	0.8
Recreation(3)		116.345		116.956	1.1	0.5
Education and communication(3)		152.548		151.891	1.2	-0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,408.443		1,409.296	3.7	0.1
Other goods and services		416.673		415.482	0.9	-0.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities		180.187		179.358	0.1	-0.5
Commodities less food and beverages		143.615		142.120	-1.3	-1.0
Nondurables less food and beverages		191.276		190.076	-1.9	-0.6
Durables		99.904		98.318	-0.4	-1.6
Services		343.147		343.063	2.3	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		237.022		236.498	1.4	-0.2
All items less medical care		256.317		255.640	1.4	-0.3
Commodities less food		146.257		144.767	-1.3	-1.0
Nondurables		220.974		220.798	0.3	-0.1
Nondurables less food		191.894		190.698	-1.9	-0.6
Services less rent of shelter(2)		362.421		362.662	2.9	0.1
Services less medical care services		331.383		331.016	2.0	-0.1
Energy		211.896	213.083	210.520	0.9	-0.6	-1.2
All items less energy		273.009		272.603	1.5	-0.1
All items less food and energy		277.016		276.332	1.4	-0.2
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.