Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.6 percent for the 2 months ending in June 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that this was the largest such increase in almost 15 years and was largely due to a 1.7 percent increase in the all items less food and energy index. The energy index rose 13.5 percent since April, while the food index increased 1.8 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 increased 10.6 percent, the largest over-the-year increase since January 1981.  It was mostly due to a series-high 7.9-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index due in part to significantly higher prices for shelter. The energy index and the food index also rose over the year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.8 percent for the 2 months ending in June. The food at home index was up 2.0 percent, the largest such increase in the more than 24-year history of that series. Among the rising grocery prices was a 5.9 percent increase for other food at home and 6.1 percent for cereal and bakery products. The food at home price increase was tempered by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-1.8 percent) as well as fruits and vegetables (-1.9 percent). The food away from home index increased 1.6 percent in June 2022 following declines in February and April.

Over the year, the food index rose 12.3 percent as prices were up for both food at home (13.6 percent), and food away from home (8.8 percent); this was the largest 12-month increase in the history of the series which began in 1999. The food at home index was led by a 15.2 percent rise in prices for other food at home - the highest since that series began publication in 2018. Other than the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, each of the major grocery categories increased more than at any time since they began in 2018.

Energy

The energy index advanced 13.5 percent for the 2 months ending in June (see table 1.) The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (25.7 percent). Prices for electricity decreased 5.3 percent, the first decline in nearly a year, while prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 16.3 percent for the same period, the highest rise in nearly 6 years.

Energy prices jumped 40.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (64.6 percent – the largest 12-month rise since the series began in 1999). Prices paid for electricity were up 8.7 percent, although that was the smallest such increase in 2022. The utility (piped) gas service index was up 30.2 percent during the past year, the largest increase in over 5 years.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent in the latest 2-month period. Higher prices for shelter (2.3 percent) contributed to the increase as the indexes for owners’ equivalent rent of residences and rent of primary residence both rose, up 2.2 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. The new and used motor vehicle index rose 3.4 percent, the first increase this calendar year; higher prices for new vehicles (up 2.4 percent) contributed to the increase. Small declines were noted in the indexes for recreation, other goods and services, and household furnishings and operations.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 7.9 percent and accounted for over 60 percent of the increase in the all items index. Components contributing to the rise included shelter (6.9 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (21.8 percent). The 12-month increase in shelter prices is the largest over-the-year increase for the shelter index since January 2007 while the new and used motor vehicles rise was the smallest since August. An increase in the medical care index (6.8 percent) also contributed to the general rise although several of the other categories posted more moderate increases compared with their trends of the past year

The August 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2022.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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	Apr. 2022	May 2022	Jun. 2022	Jun. 2021	Apr. 2022	May 2022
All items		290.688		298.273	10.6	2.6
Food and beverages		304.719		310.322	11.7	1.8
Food		305.462		311.073	12.3	1.8
Food at home		274.684	281.455	280.058	13.6	2.0	-0.5
Cereals and bakery products		330.254		350.501	17.2	6.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		290.066		284.705	11.3	-1.8
Dairy and related products		262.871		268.543	11.7	2.2
Fruits and vegetables		330.492		324.195	11.7	-1.9
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		193.023		197.600	14.2	2.4
Other food at home		241.348		255.508	15.2	5.9
Food away from home		344.597		350.140	8.8	1.6
Alcoholic beverages		289.919		295.340	3.1	1.9
Housing(1)		285.464		290.591	7.5	1.8
Shelter		334.945	338.293	342.698	6.9	2.3	1.3
Rent of primary residence		380.335	382.789	391.062	7.6	2.8	2.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		350.827	352.487	358.689	6.0	2.2	1.8
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		350.827	352.487	358.689	6.0	2.2	1.8
Fuels and utilities		265.371		266.149	14.8	0.3
Household energy		234.265	244.098	235.059	16.7	0.3	-3.7
Energy services		246.008	252.190	241.636	12.3	-1.8	-4.2
Electricity		228.261	231.215	216.079	8.7	-5.3	-6.5
Utility (piped) gas service		230.983	251.120	268.735	30.2	16.3	7.0
Household furnishings and operations		133.354		132.243	6.4	-0.8
Apparel		122.238		126.871	0.6	3.8
Transportation		271.552		292.493	26.5	7.7
Private transportation		275.965		298.396	30.4	8.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)		134.702		139.319		3.4
New vehicles(1)		264.693		270.982		2.4
Used cars and trucks(1)		360.365		371.851	8.0	3.2
Motor fuel		340.330	391.144	427.544	65.0	25.6	9.3
Gasoline (all types)		332.226	381.451	417.659	64.6	25.7	9.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		337.465	388.862	425.581	66.0	26.1	9.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		351.702	394.960	434.622	57.7	23.6	10.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		330.431	368.943	405.244	54.6	22.6	9.8
Motor vehicle insurance(1)
Medical care		474.977		481.527	6.8	1.4
Recreation		136.484		135.416	6.4	-0.8
Education and communication(3)		159.343		160.151	3.0	0.5
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,300.471		1,304.247	2.5	0.3
Other goods and services		489.310		483.135	5.7	-1.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities		223.430		233.452	17.6	4.5
Commodities less food and beverages		184.474		195.038	20.8	5.7
Nondurables less food and beverages		231.343		255.778	25.1	10.6
Durables		132.367		134.693	17.3	1.8
Services		356.112		361.609	6.7	1.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		274.867		282.475	12.7	2.8
All items less medical care		281.574		289.218	11.0	2.7
Commodities less food		188.129		198.705	20.2	5.6
Nondurables		265.366		281.595	18.3	6.1
Nondurables less food		234.814		258.427	23.7	10.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)		393.427		395.938	6.5	0.6
Services less medical care services		344.143		349.489	6.6	1.6
Energy(1)		290.118	318.564	329.428	40.7	13.5	3.4
All items less energy		292.464		297.356	8.4	1.7
All items less food and energy		290.424		295.218	7.9	1.7
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.