Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.7 percent for the 2 months ending in October 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted this increase reflected increases in a range of categories including electricity, food at home, and shelter, although declines in other indexes, such as gasoline, medical care, and used cars and trucks, held down the overall increase.  The all items less food and energy index increased 0.6 percent and the food index increased 2.2 percent. The energy index continued to decrease, down 0.8 percent in October after dropping 9.8 percent in August. (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 8.4 percent – the smallest increase of 2022. It was mostly due to a 7.0 percent increase in the all items less food and energy index, which moderated following a record 8.8 percent rise in August. Higher prices for shelter and new and used motor vehicles contributed to the increase. The energy index rose 16.4 percent – the smallest over-the-year increase in over a year and a half -- and the food index set a series high, advancing 12.9 percent in October. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 2.2 percent for the 2 months ending in October as both grocery prices (up 2.5 percent) and food away from home prices (up 1.6 percent) rose. Within the food at home index, nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials advanced 8.4 percent in October – marking a series high since the index started in 2018. The other food at home index increased 3.2 percent, the smallest increase so far in 2022. Fruits and vegetables and dairy and related products prices increased 3.0 and 2.7 percent, respectively, while those for cereals and bakery products decreased 1.0 percent – marking the first decrease since December 2020. The food away from home index advanced 1.6 percent, up from its advance of 0.7 percent in August.

Over the year, the food index rose 12.9 percent, the largest increase since the index started in 1999. This increase was driven by the food at home index advancing 13.8 percent and food away from home prices increasing 9.6 percent. The food at home increase was led by the other food at home and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials indexes, up 18.1 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively; each were the largest increases since these indexes began in 2018. The other grocery categories also increased. 

Energy

The energy index decreased 0.8 percent for the 2 months ending in October (see table 1.) The decrease was mainly due to lower gasoline prices, down 5.7 percent following a 20.5 percent drop in August, and a decline in the utility (piped) gas service index, down 16.1 percent (the largest decrease since April 2015). Nearly offsetting those declines were higher electricity prices, up 8.8 percent – the largest bi-monthly increase since April 2010.

Energy prices increased 16.4 percent over the year, much lower than the recent peak of 40.7 percent in June 2022. The increase was largely due to higher prices for electricity (20.5 percent – the largest increase in over 11 years), gasoline (12.5 percent – well below the June 2022 peak of 64.6 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (4.7 percent which moderated following a 36.1 percent increase in August 2022).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in the latest 2-month period due in part to higher prices for shelter (0.5 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.8 percent) and higher public transportation prices. The shelter index increased primarily due to owners' equivalent rent of residences advancing 0.6 percent as well as a rise in the lodging away from home index. The 1.8 percent increase in the household furnishings and operations index moderated after a 5.2 percent increase in August. These increases were partially offset by medical care prices falling 1.8 percent since August, driven by lower medical care service prices. A decline in the index for new and used motor vehicles (-0.2 percent) was due to used cars and truck prices falling 6.5 percent which also tempered the overall increase of the all items less food and energy index.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 7.0 percent as shelter prices were up 6.3 percent due in part to the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index advancing 5.8 percent and rent of primary residence increasing 6.0 percent; lodging away from home prices also were higher. The household furnishings and operations index rose 11.8 percent over the year, the largest over the year increase since this index started in 1999. The new and used motor vehicle index experienced its smallest increase since April 2021, advancing just 10.7 percent as prices continued to moderate after the peak of 37.9 percent in February; the October 12-month increase was largely due to higher prices for new vehicles, up 12.4 percent.

The December 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on January 12, 2023.

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	Aug. 2022	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2021	Aug. 2022	Sep. 2022
All items		298.641		300.628	8.4	0.7
Food and beverages		312.501		319.370	12.6	2.2
Food		313.060		319.832	12.9	2.2
Food at home		281.769	281.015	288.751	13.8	2.5	2.8
Cereals and bakery products		357.978		354.299	14.9	-1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		294.712		296.416	8.0	0.6
Dairy and related products		271.347		278.610	12.9	2.7
Fruits and vegetables		314.088		323.501	10.9	3.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		199.787		216.666	21.4	8.4
Other food at home		254.689		262.879	18.1	3.2
Food away from home		352.564		358.063	9.6	1.6
Alcoholic beverages		300.355		308.615	7.8	2.8
Housing(1)		293.871		296.649	7.9	0.9
Shelter		343.499	342.597	345.205	6.3	0.5	0.8
Rent of primary residence		395.609	395.235	394.480	6.0	-0.3	-0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		360.722	361.637	362.902	5.8	0.6	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		360.722	361.637	362.902	5.8	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities		277.836		287.923	17.2	3.6
Household energy		246.048	243.657	255.626	19.4	3.9	4.9
Energy services		258.998	256.253	268.811	17.7	3.8	4.9
Electricity		230.125	228.300	250.273	20.5	8.8	9.6
Utility (piped) gas service		295.670	289.368	247.996	4.7	-16.1	-14.3
Household furnishings and operations		139.110		141.590	11.8	1.8
Apparel		128.192		132.784	3.6	3.6
Transportation		278.062		277.763	13.0	-0.1
Private transportation		286.467		284.104	12.7	-0.8
New and used motor vehicles(3)		140.132		139.806	10.7	-0.2
New vehicles(1)		273.656		276.618	12.4	1.1
Used cars and trucks(1)		372.332		347.996	2.1	-6.5
Motor fuel		340.258	305.237	321.917	13.3	-5.4	5.5
Gasoline (all types)		332.157	297.462	313.183	12.5	-5.7	5.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		336.705	300.774	317.209	12.3	-5.8	5.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		356.674	324.109	335.861	13.9	-5.8	3.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		335.574	306.525	318.754	13.9	-5.0	4.0
Medical care		503.740		494.790	5.1	-1.8
Recreation		138.208		139.495	6.2	0.9
Education and communication(3)		159.823		160.247	0.4	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,312.857		1,316.034	-0.3	0.2
Other goods and services		494.423		497.576	7.9	0.6
Commodity and service group
Commodities		229.672		230.515	11.0	0.4
Commodities less food and beverages		189.835		188.908	10.3	-0.5
Nondurables less food and beverages		236.269		235.640	11.6	-0.3
Durables		137.057		136.141	9.4	-0.7
Services		365.737		368.791	6.8	0.8
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		282.656		284.793	9.5	0.8
All items less medical care		288.477		291.021	8.7	0.9
Commodities less food		193.632		192.858	10.2	-0.4
Nondurables		271.591		274.287	12.2	1.0
Nondurables less food		240.016		239.805	11.3	-0.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)		404.823		409.812	7.3	1.2
Services less medical care services		351.902		356.091	7.0	1.2
Energy(1)		297.056	280.045	294.553	16.4	-0.8	5.2
All items less energy		300.552		302.939	7.7	0.8
All items less food and energy		298.563		300.389	7.0	0.6
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.