The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria increased 1.1 percent for the 2 months ending in July 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that this continued a moderating pace of increase after the recent peak of 1.9 percent in March. The most recent rise was largely due to increases in shelter and new and used motor vehicle prices. Energy prices had the smallest 2-month increase since February, 5.4 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U was up 7.5 percent, the same as in May. The rise was due mostly to a 5.6-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index, which moderated slightly after posting a 6.0 percent rise in March. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index was up 31.4 percent over the year due mainly to a 47.9-percent advance in gasoline prices. Food prices increased 8.9 percent, representing the highest 12-month increase since the series started in January 1999. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index advanced 1.9 percent over the last 2 months. Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent, while those for food away from home increased 2.0 percent, the most in almost 2 years. Within the food at home component, most of the increase was due to the other food at home index, which set a series high since it started in 2018, up 4.9 percent, reflecting, among other increases, higher prices for spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces as well as snacks. The dairy and related products index was up 7.5 percent, while cereal and bakery products prices were 3.9 percent higher. Food index gains were tempered by the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index decreasing 2.2 percent – the first decline in over a year, due to lower priced chicken and uncooked ground beef – and fruits and vegetables prices fell 0.7 percent, as citrus fruit prices dropped.  

Over-the-year, food prices increased 8.9 percent and have consistently accelerated since July 2021. The food index rise reflects higher prices for both food at home (12.4 percent – a series record) and food away from home (4.8 percent). Other food at home, up 15.6 percent; meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, up 8.5 percent but the smallest increase in a year; and cereals and bakery products, up 15.4 percent, contributed to the general rise in grocery prices.

Energy

In July, the energy index increased 5.4 percent, a more moderate advance than those posted since March. The electricity index led the general rise, up 10.7 percent; that index has consistently increased in July over its 25-year history, although this was below the historic average, it was the largest since July 2015. Both the 8.8 percent increase in utility (piped) gas service and the 1.7 percent advance in gasoline were below the increases posted earlier in 2022.

Energy prices rose 31.4 percent since July 2021, continuing a trend of double-digit increases since March 2021. Higher gasoline prices (up 47.9 percent) accounted for over seventy percent of the 12-month increase in the energy index, although that was down from a series high of 61.3 percent. Over the year, electricity prices were up 11.0 percent, the largest increase since May 2009. Utility (piped) gas service prices advanced 22.0 percent and fuel oil prices were also up.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent since May due to increasing prices for shelter (0.8 percent), new and used motor vehicles (2.4 percent), and medical care (1.4 percent). The increase in the shelter index was predominantly due to the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences advancing 1.1 percent, the most since 2014. Partly offsetting the all items less food and energy index gains were lower apparel prices, down 2.1 percent; they have dropped every July in the 25-year history of the series, but the average of those declines is more than twice as much as this year’s.

Since July 2021, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.6 percent over the year, down from the 6.0 rate in March and 5.7 percent in May. Shelter prices grew by 4.4 percent, the largest 12-month rise since 2007, as the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index advanced 4.0 percent and household furnishings and operations prices were up 9.8 percent. New and used motor vehicles prices moderated to a 10.8-percent increase, down from a series high 25.9 percent in March. Prices for new vehicles increased by 8.8 percent over-the-year which was the lowest annual increase since July 2021. Used cars and trucks increased 7.1 percent, the smallest price increase of the last 2 years. Medical care prices advanced 8.8 percent since July 2021, the highest 12-month increase in over 14 years.

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	1.9	7.3
May	0.7	2.5	0.6	1.6	0.1	-0.1	1.3	3.8	1.5	7.5
July	0.1	2.5	-0.3	1.2	0.6	0.8	1.2	4.4	1.1	7.5
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 September 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2022.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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	May 2022	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Jul. 2021	May 2022	Jun. 2022
All items		296.559		299.937	7.5	1.1
Food and beverages		287.290		292.743	8.7	1.9
Food		295.510		301.239	8.9	1.9
Food at home		282.316	284.086	287.692	12.4	1.9	1.3
Cereals and bakery products		369.378		383.911	15.4	3.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		319.150		312.273	8.5	-2.2
Dairy and related products		268.838		288.916	18.8	7.5
Fruits and vegetables		291.366		289.202	8.7	-0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		247.974		248.318	10.3	0.1
Other food at home		231.785		243.045	15.6	4.9
Food away from home		311.206		317.390	4.8	2.0
Alcoholic beverages		211.139		213.859	6.7	1.3
Housing		301.741		305.997	5.7	1.4
Shelter		357.027	358.180	359.902	4.4	0.8	0.5
Rent of primary residence		384.095	385.497	387.026	2.7	0.8	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		363.284	365.713	367.182	4.0	1.1	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		363.284	365.713	367.182	4.0	1.1	0.4
Fuels and utilities		269.799		292.226	11.2	8.3
Household energy		215.560	229.775	236.755	15.2	9.8	3.0
Energy services		218.483	233.291	240.583	14.1	10.1	3.1
Electricity		221.352	233.657	245.105	11.0	10.7	4.9
Utility (piped) gas service		199.079	217.655	216.651	22.0	8.8	-0.5
Household furnishings and operations		127.406		128.182	9.8	0.6
Apparel		154.652		151.434	0.9	-2.1
Transportation		272.233		274.897	15.1	1.0
Private transportation		280.920		285.673	15.9	1.7
New and used motor vehicles(3)		124.823		127.866	10.8	2.4
New vehicles(1)		222.495		226.879	8.8	2.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		450.344		461.374	7.1	2.4
Motor fuel		422.470	462.805	429.617	48.2	1.7	-7.2
Gasoline (all types)		416.926	457.048	424.170	47.9	1.7	-7.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		410.040	449.707	416.226	48.5	1.5	-7.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		412.523	451.178	425.963	45.0	3.3	-5.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		422.068	461.007	436.904	43.4	3.5	-5.2
Medical care		534.705		542.333	8.8	1.4
Recreation(3)		122.920		123.047	3.8	0.1
Education and communication(3)		161.204		161.663	2.5	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,504.959		1,513.532	3.9	0.6
Other goods and services		479.001		481.141	5.8	0.4
Commodity and service group
Commodities		212.586		215.007	10.7	1.1
Commodities less food and beverages		173.822		175.026	11.9	0.7
Nondurables less food and beverages		231.433		231.151	15.9	-0.1
Durables		121.724		123.558	8.3	1.5
Services		370.708		374.932	5.6	1.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		271.494		275.055	9.1	1.3
All items less medical care		285.290		288.464	7.3	1.1
Commodities less food		175.567		176.820	11.7	0.7
Nondurables		258.671		261.179	11.9	1.0
Nondurables less food		229.276		229.219	15.2	0.0
Services less rent of shelter(2)		398.868		404.932	6.9	1.5
Services less medical care services		354.127		357.971	5.1	1.1
Energy		307.641	332.890	324.210	31.4	5.4	-2.6
All items less energy		300.240		302.787	6.1	0.8
All items less food and energy		302.247		304.283	5.6	0.7
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.