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News Release Information

23-1578-PHI
Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson – June 2023

Area prices were up 0.2 percent over the past 2 months, up 2.8 percent from a year ago

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.)

Food

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.

Energy

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.

All items less food and energy

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.


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 categoryIndexesPercent change from
Historical
data
Apr.
2023
May
2023
Jun.
2023
Jun.
2022
Apr.
2023
May
2023

All items

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0
306.015 306.5062.80.2 

Food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF
326.971 324.9464.7-0.6 

Food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF1
327.401 324.7554.4-0.8 

Food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF11
291.732286.137287.7222.7-1.40.6

Cereals and bakery products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF111
353.827350.708356.5261.70.81.7

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF112
299.019290.870290.1031.9-3.0-0.3

Dairy and related products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEFJ
280.740280.192275.0152.4-2.0-1.8

Fruits and vegetables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF113
315.105303.435310.077-4.4-1.62.2

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF114
217.006218.177214.1618.4-1.3-1.8

Other food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF115
276.182270.742274.6507.5-0.61.4

Food away from home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEFV
375.533 376.1737.40.2 

Alcoholic beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF116
316.433 324.0389.72.4 

Housing(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH
304.372 305.2745.10.3 

Shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH1
354.481355.251356.1803.90.50.3

Rent of primary residence

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHA
408.019410.153410.9815.10.70.2

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHC
373.170374.311375.1104.60.50.2

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHC01
373.170374.311375.1104.60.50.2

Fuels and utilities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH2
298.357 296.35311.3-0.7 

Household energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH21
266.297262.546263.30512.0-1.10.3

Energy services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHF
285.485283.216284.27017.6-0.40.4

Electricity

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHF01
271.708268.717270.65025.3-0.40.7

Utility (piped) gas service

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHF02
200.044205.416198.369-26.2-0.8-3.4

Household furnishings and operations

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH3
142.988 142.7688.0-0.2 

Apparel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAA
133.795 131.1123.3-2.0 

Transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAT
274.834 275.872-5.70.4 

Private transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAT1
280.427 281.972-5.50.6 

New and used motor vehicles(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETA
139.706 141.2981.41.1 

New vehicles(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETA01
280.355 281.2813.80.3 

Used cars and trucks(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETA02
338.361 352.829-5.14.3 

Motor fuel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETB
309.830302.574301.808-29.4-2.6-0.3

Gasoline (all types)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETB01
302.551295.591294.969-29.4-2.5-0.2

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESS47014
306.784299.517298.745-29.8-2.6-0.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESS47015
323.372316.931317.648-26.9-1.80.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESS47016
306.051300.524300.836-25.8-1.70.1

Medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAM
517.194 516.9117.3-0.1 

Recreation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAR
141.810 142.0264.90.2 

Education and communication(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAE
159.484 160.5850.30.7 

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEEB
1,315.636 1,315.6360.90.0 

Other goods and services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAG
510.616 521.1697.92.1 

Commodity and service group

Commodities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAC
232.167 232.294-0.50.1 

Commodities less food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESACL11
188.785 189.546-2.80.4 

Nondurables less food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESANL11
234.293 233.166-8.8-0.5 

Durables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAD
137.259 138.5732.91.0 

Services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAS
377.466 378.3454.60.2 

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0L2
288.574 288.5672.20.0 

All items less medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0L5
295.539 296.0672.40.2 

Commodities less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESACL1
192.870 193.762-2.50.5 

Nondurables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAN
276.413 274.865-2.4-0.6 

Nondurables less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESANL1
238.748 238.104-7.9-0.3 

Services less rent of shelter(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESASL2RS
417.351 417.0275.3-0.1 

Services less medical care services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESASL5
363.930 365.1934.50.3 

Energy(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0E
295.677290.202290.297-11.9-1.80.0

All items less energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0LE
308.794 309.7474.20.3 

All items less food and energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0L1E
306.010 307.5114.20.5 

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, July 12, 2023