Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.2 percent for the 2 months ending in June 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the rise was due to the all items less food and energy index, up 0.5 percent, led by increases for shelter as well as new and used motor vehicles. The energy index and food index decreased 1.8 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. (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 the trend of moderating increases, rising 2.8 percent in June, after peaking at 10.6 percent last June. The June increase was mostly due to a 4.2-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 2022. The food index increased 4.4 percent since April, the smallest increase in over a year and a half. Energy index prices decreased 11.9 percent, the largest decline in over 3 years. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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	6.3	5.6
Feb 2023	6.1	5.8
Apr 2023	5.3	5.4
Jun 2023	2.8	4.2

Food prices decreased for the first time in 2 years, down 0.8 percent for the 2 months ending in June. Food at home prices contributed to the decrease, down 1.4 percent due to prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-3.0 percent), fruits and vegetables (-1.6 percent), and dairy and related products (-2.0 percent) all decreasing. Other food at home prices declined 0.6 percent and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials prices were down 1.3 percent. Offsetting the decreases were cereals and bakery products rising 0.8 percent and prices for food away from home increasing 0.2 percent.

Over the year, food index prices continued to moderate, up just 4.4 percent, well below the series-record 12.9 percent increase in October. The food at home index increased 2.7 percent. The other food at home index rose 7.5 percent, down from 14.4 percent in April. Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials advanced 8.4 percent — breaking 7 consecutive published months of double-digit price increases. The dairy and related products index rose 2.4 percent. Cereals and bakery product prices continued to moderate, up 1.7 percent – the smallest gain since August 2020. Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs continued to moderate as well since December, increasing just 1.9 percent. The increases were offset by a 4.4 percent decrease in fruits and vegetables prices. Food away from home prices rose 7.4 percent.

The energy index has generally moderated after peaking with a 13.5 percent increase in June 2022; it was down 1.8 percent for the 2 months ending in June (see table 1). The decrease was mainly due to lower gasoline prices, down 2.5 percent. The electricity index fell 0.4 percent and the utility (piped) gas service index was down 0.8 percent – the smallest price decrease since 2023 began.

From June 2022 to June 2023 the energy index decreased 11.9 percent over the year, well below the peak of 40.7 percent in June 2022. The decrease was largely due to falling prices for gasoline, down 29.4 percent — the largest price decline in over two and a half years. Utility (piped) gas service prices also contributed to the overall energy index decrease, down 26.2 percent, the largest decline since December 2009. The 25.3 percent increase in the electricity index offset the broad decline in energy components.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in the latest 2-month period due in large part to higher prices for shelter (also up 0.5 percent), new and used motor vehicles (up 1.1 percent), and other goods and services (up 2.1 percent). Within shelter, prices increased for owners' equivalent rent of residences (up 0.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (up 0.7 percent). Lodging away from home prices fell. Within the new and used motor vehicles index, prices for used cars and trucks increased 4.3 percent — while new vehicle prices increased 0.3 percent. Offsetting the overall increase were lower prices for apparel (down 2.0 percent), medical care (down 0.1 percent), and public transportation.

Over-the-year, the all items less food and energy rose 4.2 percent. Shelter prices were up 3.9 percent —continuing to moderate from the February historic high for the series of 7.2 percent. The shelter increase was largely due to a 4.6-percent rise in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and a 5.1 percent increase in rent of primary residence. Lodging away from home prices fell while household furnishings and operation prices increased 8.0 percent in the same period. Medical care prices moderated after increasing 8.9 percent in April, rising 7.3 percent over the year in June due to higher prices for medical care commodities and medical care services. New and used motor vehicle prices rose 1.4 percent due to new vehicle prices, up 3.8 percent in June. Used cars and trucks prices countered the overall increase, down 5.1 percent — marking the fourth consecutive published decline.

The August 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on September 13, 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	Apr. 2023	May 2023	Jun. 2023	Jun. 2022	Apr. 2023	May 2023
All items		306.015		306.506	2.8	0.2
Food and beverages		326.971		324.946	4.7	-0.6
Food		327.401		324.755	4.4	-0.8
Food at home		291.732	286.137	287.722	2.7	-1.4	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		353.827	350.708	356.526	1.7	0.8	1.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		299.019	290.870	290.103	1.9	-3.0	-0.3
Dairy and related products		280.740	280.192	275.015	2.4	-2.0	-1.8
Fruits and vegetables		315.105	303.435	310.077	-4.4	-1.6	2.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		217.006	218.177	214.161	8.4	-1.3	-1.8
Other food at home		276.182	270.742	274.650	7.5	-0.6	1.4
Food away from home		375.533		376.173	7.4	0.2
Alcoholic beverages		316.433		324.038	9.7	2.4
Housing(1)		304.372		305.274	5.1	0.3
Shelter		354.481	355.251	356.180	3.9	0.5	0.3
Rent of primary residence		408.019	410.153	410.981	5.1	0.7	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		373.170	374.311	375.110	4.6	0.5	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		373.170	374.311	375.110	4.6	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities		298.357		296.353	11.3	-0.7
Household energy		266.297	262.546	263.305	12.0	-1.1	0.3
Energy services		285.485	283.216	284.270	17.6	-0.4	0.4
Electricity		271.708	268.717	270.650	25.3	-0.4	0.7
Utility (piped) gas service		200.044	205.416	198.369	-26.2	-0.8	-3.4
Household furnishings and operations		142.988		142.768	8.0	-0.2
Apparel		133.795		131.112	3.3	-2.0
Transportation		274.834		275.872	-5.7	0.4
Private transportation		280.427		281.972	-5.5	0.6
New and used motor vehicles(3)		139.706		141.298	1.4	1.1
New vehicles(1)		280.355		281.281	3.8	0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		338.361		352.829	-5.1	4.3
Motor fuel		309.830	302.574	301.808	-29.4	-2.6	-0.3
Gasoline (all types)		302.551	295.591	294.969	-29.4	-2.5	-0.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		306.784	299.517	298.745	-29.8	-2.6	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		323.372	316.931	317.648	-26.9	-1.8	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		306.051	300.524	300.836	-25.8	-1.7	0.1
Medical care		517.194		516.911	7.3	-0.1
Recreation		141.810		142.026	4.9	0.2
Education and communication(3)		159.484		160.585	0.3	0.7
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,315.636		1,315.636	0.9	0.0
Other goods and services		510.616		521.169	7.9	2.1
Commodity and service group
Commodities		232.167		232.294	-0.5	0.1
Commodities less food and beverages		188.785		189.546	-2.8	0.4
Nondurables less food and beverages		234.293		233.166	-8.8	-0.5
Durables		137.259		138.573	2.9	1.0
Services		377.466		378.345	4.6	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		288.574		288.567	2.2	0.0
All items less medical care		295.539		296.067	2.4	0.2
Commodities less food		192.870		193.762	-2.5	0.5
Nondurables		276.413		274.865	-2.4	-0.6
Nondurables less food		238.748		238.104	-7.9	-0.3
Services less rent of shelter(2)		417.351		417.027	5.3	-0.1
Services less medical care services		363.930		365.193	4.5	0.3
Energy(1)		295.677	290.202	290.297	-11.9	-1.8	0.0
All items less energy		308.794		309.747	4.2	0.3
All items less food and energy		306.010		307.511	4.2	0.5
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.