The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria increased 0.9 percent for the 2 months ending in January 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the change was largely due to a rise in the all items less food and energy index, up 0.8 percent, led by a series-record 6.8 percent increase in household furnishings and operations prices which accounted for nearly half of the overall increase. The food index increased 2.1 percent while the energy index decreased 1.1 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 6.0 percent, the largest over-the-year increase since November 1990. The rise was due mostly to a 4.8-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index, the largest since May of 1991, partially due to a 41.6 increase in the used cars and trucks index. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index increased 24.7 percent over the year which continues the trend of over-the-year increases exceeding 20 percent since May 2021 although it was below the peak of 30.8 percent in November. The food index increased 6.7 percent over the year, representing the highest 12-month rise since May 2004. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index advanced 2.1 percent over the last 2 months. Prices for food at home increased 2.7 percent and those for food away from home rose 1.6 percent. Within the food at home component, prices were higher for the other food at home index (led by increases in candy and gum prices) and fruits and vegetables, dominated by higher priced citrus fruits and canned fruits and vegetables. Prices decreased for cheese and related products, uncooked beef steaks, and breakfast cereal.

Food prices advanced 6.7 percent over the year. Prices were higher for both food at home (7.3 percent) and for food away from home (6.2 percent) since January 2021. The food at home rise was the highest since an identical increase in November 2011; higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, up 9.5 percent, led the general rise in grocery prices though it was a more moderate over-the-year increase than the 10.6 percent posted in November.

Energy

Since November, the energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, decreased 1.1 percent, reflecting lower prices for utility (piped) gas service (-6.5 percent) over the past 2 months. Gasoline prices also decreased, down 1.6 percent, reversing the trend of gasoline prices increasing every month in 2021, ranging from 0.3 to 17.5 percent. Prices were higher for electricity, up 2.4 percent since November, the largest 2-month percent change for January since the series started in 1998.

Energy prices rose 24.7 percent since January 2021, the twelfth over-the-year increase in a row moderated after a 30.8 percent rise in November 2021. The rise was due almost entirely to higher gasoline prices, up 38.8 percent, well below November’s peak of 52.3 percent. Over the year, prices also increased for utility (piped) gas service and fuel oil, up 25.9 and 37.1 percent, respectively. Electricity also contributed to the increase with an over-the-year 4.7 percent increase.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent since November. The advance was led by higher prices for household furnishings and operations (6.8 percent).The index for used cars and trucks was up 5.2 percent, the same as in November. The apparel index rose 4.1 percent over the month following a 3.3 percent decline in November. The index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences was up 0.3 percent, the smallest of consecutive increases since July 2021. Not all categories increased, however; prices for new vehicles decreased 2.3 percent which reversed the trend of increasing prices since May 2021 and medical care prices edged down 0.4 percent since November.

Since January 2021, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent, the largest increase since May 1991. Prices were higher over the year for new and used motor vehicles (22.5 percent), due mostly to a large increase for used cars and trucks (41.6 percent). Prices also increased for shelter (2.1 percent), driven by increases in household furnishings and operations (9.3 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent of residences (2.4 percent). Prices for recreation also increased 5.9 percent over the year.

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	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.9	2.2	0.5	0.8	0.5	1.6	0.7	1.5	0.9	6.0
March	-0.1	1.8	0.7	1.6	-0.4	0.4	0.7	2.6
May	0.7	2.5	0.6	1.6	0.1	-0.1	1.3	3.8
July	0.1	2.5	-0.3	1.2	0.6	0.8	1.2	4.4
September	0.4	2.0	0.1	0.9	0.6	1.2	0.7	4.5
November	-0.7	1.3	-0.2	1.5	0.0	1.4	1.2	5.8

The Consumer Price Index for February 2022 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

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 6,000 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 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 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, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022	Jan. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021
All items		284.240		286.678	6.0	0.9
Food and beverages		276.452		282.275	6.6	2.1
Food		284.238		290.255	6.7	2.1
Food at home		264.444	268.283	271.611	7.3	2.7	1.2
Cereals and bakery products		346.026		359.876	10.4	4.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		303.472		303.997	9.5	0.2
Dairy and related products		246.307		254.355	5.1	3.3
Fruits and vegetables		276.159		283.943	7.6	2.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		221.858		230.734	4.0	4.0
Other food at home		218.070		225.278	5.6	3.3
Food away from home		309.505		314.454	6.2	1.6
Alcoholic beverages		203.997		208.484	5.5	2.2
Housing		292.657		295.623	3.5	1.0
Shelter		350.199	350.752	351.198	2.1	0.3	0.1
Rent of primary residence		379.127	379.854	380.423	0.5	0.3	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		359.230	359.642	360.425	2.4	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		359.230	359.642	360.425	2.4	0.3	0.2
Fuels and utilities		257.061		252.309	8.1	-1.8
Household energy		199.144	193.444	197.741	11.1	-0.7	2.2
Energy services		202.901	196.852	201.239	10.6	-0.8	2.2
Electricity		208.146	210.718	213.040	4.7	2.4	1.1
Utility (piped) gas service		177.627	158.120	166.116	25.9	-6.5	5.1
Household furnishings and operations		117.490		125.456	9.3	6.8
Apparel		151.232		157.368	6.6	4.1
Transportation		245.416		243.693	15.4	-0.7
Private transportation		256.105		255.595	19.5	-0.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		118.939		118.604	22.5	-0.3
New vehicles(1)		222.566		217.455	11.4	-2.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		431.853		454.443	41.6	5.2
Motor fuel		317.374	313.014	312.219	38.7	-1.6	-0.3
Gasoline (all types)		313.932	309.567	308.777	38.8	-1.6	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		307.616	303.089	302.229	39.9	-1.8	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		317.009	314.400	314.128	32.7	-0.9	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		327.385	324.572	324.478	32.6	-0.9	0.0
Motor vehicle insurance(1)		842.784
Medical care		506.325		504.305	1.1	-0.4
Recreation(3)		121.199		121.605	5.9	0.3
Education and communication(3)		161.431		161.400	3.3	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,504.949		1,505.849	4.7	0.1
Other goods and services		459.942		473.848	8.0	3.0
Commodity and service group
Commodities		200.013		204.875	11.4	2.4
Commodities less food and beverages		161.416		165.596	15.5	2.6
Nondurables less food and beverages		206.388		211.817	13.0	2.6
Durables		117.395		120.516	18.4	2.7
Services		359.253		359.010	2.8	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		257.078		260.065	7.9	1.2
All items less medical care		273.745		276.410	6.4	1.0
Commodities less food		163.285		167.475	14.8	2.6
Nondurables		240.387		246.151	9.1	2.4
Nondurables less food		205.593		210.977	12.2	2.6
Services less rent of shelter(2)		381.394		379.550	3.5	-0.5
Services less medical care services		344.338		344.237	3.1	0.0
Energy		255.017	249.781	252.248	24.7	-1.1	1.0
All items less energy		290.433		293.252	5.1	1.0
All items less food and energy		292.693		294.946	4.8	0.8
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.