Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent for the 2 months ending in August 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted this increase was the smallest since an identical rise in February 2021. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.1 percent in August and was largely responsible for the increase, nearly offset by the change in the energy index, down 9.8 percent since June, the largest such decrease since December 2018. The food index increased 0.6 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 index increased 10.2 percent, down slightly from 10.6 percent in June. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted it was mostly due to a series-high 8.8-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index, marking 2 consecutive months of record movements for that index. Broad-based increases throughout the categories under the all items less food and energy index contributed considerably to the overall all items index increase. The energy index and the food index also rose, up 24.9 and 11.2 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.6 percent for the 2 months ending in August. The food at home index increased 0.6 percent, the smallest increase since October 2021. Within the food at home index, prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 3.5 percent as prices were higher for chicken as well as fresh fish and seafood.  Cereal and bakery product prices increased by 2.1 percent. Decreasing prices for fruits and vegetables (-3.1 percent), including citrus fruits, helped temper the overall rise for food at home prices. The food away from home index increased 0.7 percent in August 2022 after advancing 1.6 percent in June.

Over the year, the food index rose 11.2 percent as prices increased for both food at home (11.6 percent), and food away from home (8.7 percent). The food at home index was led by a 11.7 percent rise in the other food at home category. Also contributing to the increase in grocery prices was a 19.1 percent advance in cereals and bakery products – the largest increase since the series began in 2018. Higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (9.8 percent) also contributed to the increase of the food at home index although it was the smallest such rise in just over a year.

Energy

The energy index decreased 9.8 percent for the 2 months ending in August (see table 1.) representing the largest energy index decrease since December 2018. The drop was mainly due to lower gasoline prices, down 20.5 percent, the largest 2-month decrease in over 7 years. The index for electricity increased 6.5 percent after a 5.3 percent decline in June. Prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 10.0 percent for the same period, following a 16.3 percent rise in June.

Energy prices increased 24.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (27.9 percent – the smallest 12-month rise in over a year. From April 2021 to June 2022, over-the-year gasoline price increases ranged from 34.1 to 64.6 percent. The electricity index was up 15.8 percent. The utility (piped) gas service index was up 36.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.1 percent in the latest 2-month period due in part to higher prices for medical care; household furnishings and operations; and recreation. The increase in the all items less food and energy index was tempered by declines in public transportation prices as well as the education and communication index. Medical care prices increased 4.6 percent (the largest increase since April 2020) largely due to increased prices for medical care services. The household furnishing and operations index increased 5.2 percent in August, well above the 2-month rates of the previous year. Recreation prices increased 2.1 percent after a decrease of 0.8 percent in June. The shelter index advanced 0.2 percent due in part to the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index increasing 0.6 percent, while the rent of primary residence index moderated, up 1.2 percent in August after a 2.8 percent peak in June, and prices for lodging away from home decreased.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 8.8 percent. Shelter prices over the year increased 6.8 percent, about the same as in June, as owners’ equivalent rent of residences advanced 6.1 percent and rent of primary residence was up 7.6 percent. New and used motor vehicle prices increased 23.9 percent as new vehicle prices were up 32.6 percent over the year.

The October 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on November 10, 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	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Aug. 2022	Aug. 2021	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022
All items		298.273		298.641	10.2	0.1
Food and beverages		310.322		312.501	10.8	0.7
Food		311.073		313.060	11.2	0.6
Food at home		280.058	285.938	281.769	11.6	0.6	-1.5
Cereals and bakery products		350.501		357.978	19.1	2.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		284.705		294.712	9.8	3.5
Dairy and related products		268.543		271.347	9.0	1.0
Fruits and vegetables		324.195		314.088	6.6	-3.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		197.600		199.787	17.3	1.1
Other food at home		255.508		254.689	11.7	-0.3
Food away from home		350.140		352.564	8.7	0.7
Alcoholic beverages		295.340		300.355	4.0	1.7
Housing(1)		290.591		293.871	8.3	1.1
Shelter		342.698	344.268	343.499	6.8	0.2	-0.2
Rent of primary residence		391.062	394.915	395.609	7.6	1.2	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		358.689	360.391	360.722	6.1	0.6	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		358.689	360.391	360.722	6.1	0.6	0.1
Fuels and utilities		266.149		277.836	18.7	4.4
Household energy		235.059	244.808	246.048	21.3	4.7	0.5
Energy services		241.636	256.489	258.998	19.4	7.2	1.0
Electricity		216.079	228.449	230.125	15.8	6.5	0.7
Utility (piped) gas service		268.735	289.956	295.670	36.1	10.0	2.0
Household furnishings and operations		132.243		139.110	11.7	5.2
Apparel		126.871		128.192	3.2	1.0
Transportation		292.493		278.062	23.0	-4.9
Private transportation		298.396		286.467	25.2	-4.0
New and used motor vehicles(3)		139.319		140.132	23.9	0.6
New vehicles(1)		270.982		273.656	32.6	1.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		371.851		372.332	8.5	0.1
Motor fuel		427.544	388.784	340.258	28.3	-20.4	-12.5
Gasoline (all types)		417.659	379.752	332.157	27.9	-20.5	-12.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		425.581	386.057	336.705	28.2	-20.9	-12.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		434.622	400.283	356.674	27.2	-17.9	-10.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		405.244	375.258	335.574	25.8	-17.2	-10.6
Medical care		481.527		503.740	7.2	4.6
Recreation		135.416		138.208	7.2	2.1
Education and communication(3)		160.151		159.823	0.5	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,304.247		1,312.857	0.0	0.7
Other goods and services		483.135		494.423	8.1	2.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities		233.452		229.672	15.1	-1.6
Commodities less food and beverages		195.038		189.835	17.6	-2.7
Nondurables less food and beverages		255.778		236.269	15.3	-7.6
Durables		134.693		137.057	19.8	1.8
Services		361.609		365.737	7.4	1.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		282.475		282.656	12.0	0.1
All items less medical care		289.218		288.477	10.4	-0.3
Commodities less food		198.705		193.632	17.1	-2.6
Nondurables		281.595		271.591	12.9	-3.6
Nondurables less food		258.427		240.016	14.5	-7.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)		395.938		404.823	8.0	2.2
Services less medical care services		349.489		351.902	7.3	0.7
Energy(1)		329.428	317.933	297.056	24.9	-9.8	-6.6
All items less energy		297.356		300.552	9.1	1.1
All items less food and energy		295.218		298.563	8.8	1.1
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.