The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson increased 1.8 percent from February to April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the recent bi-monthly increase was mostly due to a rise in the all items less food and energy index, up 1.6 percent. The energy index and the food index also rose since February, up 6.1 and 0.8 percent, respectively. (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 2.9 percent. The over-the-year rise was due to increases in the all items less food and energy index (2.5 percent) and the energy index (16.8 percent). (See chart 1.) The food index inched down 0.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose from February to April, up 0.8 percent. Prices increased for food away from home, up 1.4 percent since February, and for food at home, up 0.1 percent. Within the food at home component, prices were higher for eggs and breakfast cereal, as well as other dairy and related products.

Over the year, the food index decreased 0.2 percent. Prices declined for food at home (-1.6 percent), while they were higher for food away from home (1.2 percent).

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, increased 6.1 percent since February, due to higher prices for gasoline (10.2 percent). Prices for electricity and utility (piped) gas service also rose over the past two months, up 1.7 and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Over the year, the energy index increased 16.8 percent, led by higher prices for gasoline (44.8 percent). Prices were also higher for utility (piped) gas service (5.9 percent), while they were lower for electricity (-6.7 percent) since April 2020.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent from February to April. Prices were higher for new and used motor vehicles (9.0 percent) and shelter (0.9 percent), particularly those for lodging away from home (28.6 percent), while they were lower for medical care (-1.3 percent), among others.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.5 percent since April 2020, led by higher prices for shelter (2.3 percent), Prices were lower for medical care (-2.0 percent) over the year.

The Consumer Price Index for June 2021 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 8:30 am (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is published bi-monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000. Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s counties, as well as Baltimore City, in Maryland.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	Apr. 2020	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021
All items		261.917		266.534	2.9	1.8
Food and beverages		273.430		275.406	0.1	0.7
Food		272.363		274.460	-0.2	0.8
Food at home		242.895	239.805	243.176	-1.6	0.1	1.4
Cereals and bakery products		291.251		295.617	-1.2	1.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		241.859		240.238	-5.1	-0.7
Dairy and related products		241.471		241.826	2.8	0.1
Fruits and vegetables		297.256		299.471	-2.1	0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		177.625		170.542	-1.7	-4.0
Other food at home		216.808		220.171	0.8	1.6
Food away from home		315.755		320.328	1.2	1.4
Alcoholic beverages		286.261		286.392	5.5	0.0
Housing(1)		265.897		268.757	2.0	1.1
Shelter		316.234	317.226	319.163	2.3	0.9	0.6
Rent of primary residence		365.863	367.261	368.527	-0.1	0.7	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		335.687	336.342	336.926	2.6	0.4	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		335.687	336.342	336.926	2.6	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities		220.586		224.256	-3.1	1.7
Household energy		190.276	195.294	193.889	-4.0	1.9	-0.7
Energy services		203.396	208.199	207.157	-4.8	1.8	-0.5
Electricity		187.882	192.458	191.015	-6.7	1.7	-0.7
Utility (piped) gas service		195.143	199.019	200.540	5.9	2.8	0.8
Household furnishings and operations		122.315		124.667	3.8	1.9
Apparel		124.580		125.921	3.8	1.1
Transportation		199.528		213.986	11.4	7.2
Private transportation		203.366		215.606	12.9	6.0
New and used motor vehicles(3)		97.727		106.495	9.2	9.0
New vehicles(1)		190.674		204.543	3.0	7.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		259.844		291.590	20.7	12.2
Motor fuel		220.834	244.844	243.230	44.4	10.1	-0.7
Gasoline (all types)		216.027	239.784	238.162	44.8	10.2	-0.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		217.550	242.439	240.210	46.7	10.4	-0.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		242.653	259.851	260.853	30.1	7.5	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		228.292	246.728	249.700	32.3	9.4	1.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)		749.862		736.892	-8.8	-1.7
Medical care		480.759		474.622	-2.0	-1.3
Recreation		126.244		126.180	0.0	-0.1
Education and communication(3)		154.626		158.015	3.3	2.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,268.218		1,270.658	1.9	0.2
Other goods and services		451.857		454.865		0.7
Commodity and service group
Commodities		187.151		194.569	6.5	4.0
Commodities less food and beverages		148.297		157.209	10.8	6.0
Nondurables less food and beverages		193.128		202.024	14.2	4.6
Durables		102.798		110.292	7.9	7.3
Services		334.793		336.628	1.0	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		241.496		246.885	3.3	2.2
All items less medical care		250.974		256.159	3.4	2.1
Commodities less food		152.328		161.124	10.6	5.8
Nondurables		230.226		235.738	5.9	2.4
Nondurables less food		198.306		206.723	13.5	4.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)		368.172		368.439	-0.7	0.1
Services less medical care services		320.463		323.362	1.5	0.9
Energy(1)		209.539	223.892	222.353	16.8	6.1	-0.7
All items less energy		267.845		271.828	2.1	1.5
All items less food and energy		267.022		271.297	2.5	1.6
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a March 1978=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.