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 April 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the rise was mostly due to the all items less food and energy index, also up 0.7 percent, led by increases for shelter as well as new and used cars and trucks. The energy index increased 2.9 percent and the food index was up 0.2 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 continued to moderate after the series peaked in June, rising 5.3 percent. The increase was mostly due to a 5.4 percent increase in the all items less food and energy index which also has continued to moderate since the 8.8 percent peak in August. The food index advanced 7.2 percent since April, the smallest increase in over a year and a half. The energy index rose 1.9 percent, well below the recent peak of 40.7 percent in June. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, April 2020–April 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2020	0.1	0.8
Jun 2020	0.4	0.6
Aug 2020	0.7	0.8
Oct 2020	1.3	1.3
Dec 2020	1.4	1.5
Feb 2021	1.1	0.9
Apr 2021	2.9	2.5
Jun 2021	4.5	4.0
Aug 2021	4.5	3.5
Oct 2021	6.3	5.3
Dec 2021	8.0	6.5
Feb 2022	9.3	7.6
Apr 2022	9.1	7.1
Jun 2022	10.6	7.9
Aug 2022	10.2	8.8
Oct 2022	8.4	7.0
Dec 2022	8.2	6.9
Feb 2023	6.1	5.8
Apr 2023	5.3	5.4

Food prices rose 0.2 percent for the 2 months ending in April as food away from home prices were up 1.3 percent and grocery prices decreased 0.4 percent (the first price decrease since December). Prices for other food at home rose 3.9 percent while the remaining grocery categories all had lower prices led by a 2.6 percent drop in fruits and vegetable prices. Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (down 3.9 percent; largest decrease since 2021); meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (down 1.8 percent) and cereals and bakery products (down 0.3 percent) all fell.

Over the year, food index prices continued to moderate, up 7.2 percent, well below the series-record 12.9 percent increase in October. The food at home index increased 6.2 percent. The other food at home index rose 14.4 percent. Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials advanced 12.4 percent – down from the series peak of 22.3 percent in February. Cereals and bakery product prices continued to moderate, up 7.1 percent. The dairy and related products index and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index rose 6.8 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. The increases were offset by a 4.7 percent decrease in fruits and vegetables prices – the largest since the series began in 2018. Food away from home prices rose 9.0 percent.

The energy index has generally moderated after peaking at 13.5 percent in June 2022; it was up just 2.9 percent for the 2 months ending in April (see table 1). The rise was mainly due to higher gasoline prices, up 6.9 percent, the largest price increase since the June 2022 peak of 25.7 percent. The electricity index advanced 3.8 percent but the utility (piped) gas service index was down 27.4 percent – the largest price decrease since July 2003.

The energy index continued the trend of moderating price increases, up just 1.9 percent over the year, well below the peak of 40.7 percent in June 2022. The increase was largely due to higher prices for electricity, up 19.0 percent, as gasoline prices fell 8.9 percent over the year and the utility (piped) gas service index fell 13.4 percent, the first decline after 39 consecutive months of price increases.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent in the latest 2-month period due in large part to higher prices for shelter (up 0.7 percent), new and used motor vehicles (up 1.9 percent), and medical care (up 1.7 percent). Within shelter, prices increased for all three components, led by owners' equivalent rent of residences (up 0.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (up 1.5 percent). Within the new and used motor vehicles index, prices for used cars and trucks increased 5.6 percent – the largest increase since June 2021 – while new vehicle prices increased 0.8 percent. Offsetting the overall increase were lower prices for apparel (down 3.2 percent), education and communication (down 1.1 percent), and household furnishings and operations (down 0.4).

The pace of over-the-year price increase continued to slow for all items less food and energy, up 5.4 percent compared with the peak 8.8 percent increase in August 2022. Shelter prices were up 5.8 percent – down from the February historic high for the series of 7.2 percent. The shelter increase was largely due to a 6.4 percent rise in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and a 7.3 percent increase in rent of primary residence. Medical care prices rose 8.9 percent over the year due to higher prices for medical care commodities and medical care services; this was the largest increase since October 2019. The household furnishings and operations index rose 7.2 percent over the year, continuing the trend of moderating price increases since its October 12-month peak (11.8 percent – the largest increase since this index started in 1999). New and used motor vehicle prices rose 3.7 percent due to new vehicle prices, up 5.9 percent in April. Used cars and trucks prices partially offset the overall increase, down 6.1 percent after February’s 13.6 percent decrease – the largest price decrease since that series began in 2018.

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

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	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2022	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023
All items		303.749		306.015	5.3	0.7
Food and beverages		326.263		326.971	7.3	0.2
Food		326.850		327.401	7.2	0.2
Food at home		293.046	294.300	291.732	6.2	-0.4	-0.9
Cereals and bakery products		354.776		353.827	7.1	-0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		304.571		299.019	3.1	-1.8
Dairy and related products		281.644		280.740	6.8	-0.3
Fruits and vegetables		323.576		315.105	-4.7	-2.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		225.819		217.006	12.4	-3.9
Other food at home		265.715		276.182	14.4	3.9
Food away from home		370.889		375.533	9.0	1.3
Alcoholic beverages		313.301		316.433	9.1	1.0
Housing(1)		302.870		304.372	6.6	0.5
Shelter		351.934	352.019	354.481	5.8	0.7	0.7
Rent of primary residence		402.124	402.278	408.019	7.3	1.5	1.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		371.200	371.246	373.170	6.4	0.5	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		371.200	371.246	373.170	6.4	0.5	0.5
Fuels and utilities		299.279		298.357	12.4	-0.3
Household energy		267.248	275.056	266.297	13.7	-0.4	-3.2
Energy services		284.690	292.098	285.485	16.0	0.3	-2.3
Electricity		261.867	271.708	271.708	19.0	3.8	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		275.497	257.342	200.044	-13.4	-27.4	-22.3
Household furnishings and operations		143.579		142.988	7.2	-0.4
Apparel		138.274		133.795	9.5	-3.2
Transportation		268.835		274.834	1.2	2.2
Private transportation		274.386		280.427	1.6	2.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		137.138		139.706	3.7	1.9
New vehicles(1)		278.110		280.355	5.9	0.8
Used cars and trucks(1)		320.412		338.361	-6.1	5.6
Motor fuel		290.383	288.697	309.830	-9.0	6.7	7.3
Gasoline (all types)		282.903	281.499	302.551	-8.9	6.9	7.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		286.263	284.913	306.784	-9.1	7.2	7.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		305.325	304.028	323.372	-8.1	5.9	6.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		290.521	288.484	306.051	-7.4	5.3	6.1
Medical care		508.522		517.194	8.9	1.7
Recreation		141.662		141.810	3.9	0.1
Education and communication(3)		161.189		159.484	0.1	-1.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,316.034		1,315.636	1.2	0.0
Other goods and services		503.105		510.616	4.4	1.5
Commodity and service group
Commodities		230.005		232.167	3.9	0.9
Commodities less food and beverages		186.328		188.785	2.3	1.3
Nondurables less food and beverages		229.939		234.293	1.3	1.9
Durables		135.952		137.259	3.7	1.0
Services		375.162		377.466	6.0	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		286.404		288.574	5.0	0.8
All items less medical care		293.586		295.539	5.0	0.7
Commodities less food		190.378		192.870	2.5	1.3
Nondurables		273.878		276.413	4.2	0.9
Nondurables less food		234.463		238.748	1.7	1.8
Services less rent of shelter(2)		415.443		417.351	6.1	0.5
Services less medical care services		361.846		363.930	5.7	0.6
Energy(1)		287.416	291.202	295.677	1.9	2.9	1.5
All items less energy		306.982		308.794	5.6	0.6
All items less food and energy		304.005		306.010	5.4	0.7
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.