Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.1 percent for the 2 months ending in December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the decrease reflected declines in multiple indexes led by decreasing gasoline prices. The energy index continued to decrease, down 4.3 percent in December after dropping 0.8 percent in October while the all items less food and energy index increased 0.2 percent and the food index increased 0.5 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 6.3 percent – the smallest increase since October 2021 - mostly due to a 5.6-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index while higher prices for shelter and medical care also contributed to the increase. The energy index rose 10.1 percent – the smallest over-the-year increase in over a year and a half. The food index advanced 8.9 percent in December, the lowest price increase of 2022. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent for the 2 months ending in December - the smallest price increase in the last 2 years. Gains in food away from home prices (2.2 percent – the largest increase for this index in 2022) were offset by food at home prices falling 0.3 percent in the same period. Within food at home, every category but meats, poultry, fish and eggs decreased.  Fruits and vegetables decreased 1.8 percent, dairy and related products fell 2.0 percent, nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials prices decreased 1.4 percent and other food at home decreased 0.5 percent. The meats, poultry, fish, and egg index advanced 2.3 percent as the price of eggs rose while chicken prices fell.

Over the year, the food index rose 8.9 percent, down from its notable 12.9-percent increase in October – which was the largest since the index started in 1999. This increase was driven by the food at home index advancing 10.9 percent, continuing a trend of price increases which began in mid-2021. The food at home increase was led by a 13.8-percent rise in the other food at home index and a 10.1-percent increase in the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index; both were well below their recent peaks earlier in 2022. The other grocery categories also increased. Food away from home prices increased 5.3 percent – the lowest increase since October 2021.

Energy

The energy index decreased 4.3 percent for the 2 months ending in December (see table 1). The decrease was mainly due to lower gasoline prices, down 12.4 percent following a 5.7 percent drop in October. The utility (piped) gas service index, up 12.9 percent, and electricity index, up 2.5 percent, helped offset the overall decrease in the energy index.

The energy index had its smallest 12-month gain of 2022, increasing 10.1 percent over the year and continuing the trend of moderating price increases that followed a peak of 40.7 percent in June 2022. The increase was largely due to higher prices for electricity (21.8 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (20.8 percent). Gasoline prices fell 2.9 percent over the year, ending nearly 2 years of over-the-year increases which reached 64.6 percent in June 2022.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in the latest 2-month period due in part to higher prices for medical care (3.5 percent), shelter (0.3 percent) and other goods and services (2.1 percent). Higher medical care prices were driven by increases in both medical care commodities and medical care service prices. Gains in owners' equivalent rent of residences (up 0.8 percent) and rent of primary residences (up 0.7 percent) were somewhat offset by decreasing prices for lodging away from home. The overall increase was offset by decreasing prices in new and used motor vehicles (-1.7 percent), apparel (-5.8 percent) and recreation (-0.9 percent). Within the new and used motor vehicles index, prices for used cars and trucks decreased 4.8 percent, the second decline in that category.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.6 percent, marking the second month of moderating prices after a historic increase (8.8 percent) in August; it was the smallest price increase since October 2021. Shelter prices were up 6.7 percent due in part to the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index advancing 6.5 percent and rent of primary residence increasing 6.8 percent; lodging away from home prices also were higher. The medical care index increased 7.3 percent (its largest increase since December 2019) due to higher prices for both medical care commodities and medical care services. The household furnishings and operations index rose 9.1 percent over the year, down from its September 12-month peak (11.8 percent) which was the largest increase since this index started in 1999.

The February 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on March 14, 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	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2021	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022
All items		300.628		300.182	6.3	-0.1
Food and beverages		319.370		321.426	8.9	0.6
Food		319.832		321.506	8.9	0.5
Food at home		288.751	286.439	287.832	10.9	-0.3	0.5
Cereals and bakery products		354.299		352.701	13.2	-0.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		296.416		303.217	10.1	2.3
Dairy and related products		278.610		273.110	9.1	-2.0
Fruits and vegetables		323.501		317.825	2.1	-1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		216.666		213.716	20.5	-1.4
Other food at home		262.879		261.607	13.8	-0.5
Food away from home		358.063		365.763	5.3	2.2
Alcoholic beverages		308.615		316.372	9.3	2.5
Housing(1)		296.649		298.274	8.2	0.5
Shelter		345.205	347.181	346.122	6.7	0.3	-0.3
Rent of primary residence		394.480	397.640	397.427	6.8	0.7	-0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		362.902	366.514	365.673	6.5	0.8	-0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		362.902	366.514	365.673	6.5	0.8	-0.2
Fuels and utilities		287.923		295.848	19.7	2.8
Household energy		255.626	270.190	263.714	22.3	3.2	-2.4
Energy services		268.811	281.014	279.992	21.6	4.2	-0.4
Electricity		250.273	261.252	256.452	21.8	2.5	-1.8
Utility (piped) gas service		247.996	261.218	280.107	20.8	12.9	7.2
Household furnishings and operations		141.590		142.293	9.1	0.5
Apparel		132.784		125.046	0.8	-5.8
Transportation		277.763		268.423	3.6	-3.4
Private transportation		284.104		274.451	3.1	-3.4
New and used motor vehicles(3)		139.806		137.374	0.5	-1.7
New vehicles(1)		276.618		276.286	2.4	-0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)		347.996		331.259	-8.3	-4.8
Motor fuel		321.917	323.742	282.557	-2.0	-12.2	-12.7
Gasoline (all types)		313.183	314.020	274.352	-2.9	-12.4	-12.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		317.209	318.140	277.061	-3.3	-12.7	-12.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		335.861	336.180	299.383	-0.5	-10.9	-10.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		318.754	318.970	285.730	0.5	-10.4	-10.4
Medical care		494.790		512.316	7.3	3.5
Recreation		139.495		138.183	4.4	-0.9
Education and communication(3)		160.247		160.254	-0.2	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,316.034		1,316.034	-0.3	0.0
Other goods and services		497.576		508.234	6.7	2.1
Commodity and service group
Commodities		230.515		226.899	4.9	-1.6
Commodities less food and beverages		188.908		183.941	3.0	-2.6
Nondurables less food and beverages		235.640		222.128	3.9	-5.7
Durables		136.141		135.997	2.3	-0.1
Services		368.791		371.206	7.1	0.7
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		284.793		283.739	6.1	-0.4
All items less medical care		291.021		289.662	6.2	-0.5
Commodities less food		192.858		188.067	3.2	-2.5
Nondurables		274.287		267.600	6.5	-2.4
Nondurables less food		239.805		227.255	4.3	-5.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)		409.812		414.351	7.4	1.1
Services less medical care services		356.091		357.289	7.1	0.3
Energy(1)		294.553	303.980	281.808	10.1	-4.3	-7.3
All items less energy		302.939		303.551	6.0	0.2
All items less food and energy		300.389		300.865	5.6	0.2
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.