Prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.1 percent in April following a 2.0 percent rise in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that a 0.7 percent increase in the shelter index was predominantly responsible for the overall rise although it was partially offset by 2-month declines in several indexes including apparel. Shelter likewise led the all items less food and energy index rise of 0.2 percent. The food index advanced 0.3 percent, whereas the energy index reported a decline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The CPI-U was up 4.7 percent over the year and the index for all items less food and energy was mainly responsible, up 5.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices continued to moderate, up 8.5 percent but down from last year’s 13.1-percent peak in October, whereas the energy price index declined 3.6 percent over the year.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, April 2020–April 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2020	-0.1	0.6
Jun 2020	0.1	0.5
Aug 2020	0.4	0.8
Oct 2020	0.8	1.1
Dec 2020	1.1	0.9
Feb 2021	1.0	0.6
Apr 2021	3.5	3.1
Jun 2021	4.9	4.5
Aug 2021	4.6	4.1
Oct 2021	5.6	4.6
Dec 2021	6.6	5.6
Feb 2022	7.3	5.9
Apr 2022	8.4	6.3
Jun 2022	8.8	5.6
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Oct 2022	7.8	5.8
Dec 2022	6.4	5.2
Feb 2023	6.9	6.3
Apr 2023	4.7	5.0

Food prices rose by 0.3 percent for the 2 months ending in April, with increases in both the food away from home index (0.5 percent) and food at home index (0.2 percent). The food at home index saw increases in most categories, led by the 3.5-percent price advance for dairy and related products. Prices for cereals and bakery products were up 1.3 percent. Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs advanced 0.6 percent. Among the rest of the grocery categories, other food at home rose 0.1 percent; and the fruits and vegetables index advanced 0.2 percent due in part to rising prices for citrus fruits. Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials was the only grocery category to record a decline (-3.4 percent) in April, led by falling prices reported for coffee.

Over the year, food prices rose 8.5 percent. For both food at home (up 9.7 percent) and food away from home (up 6.6 percent), prices continued to moderate from last year’s double-digit peaks. All major grocery categories were up over the year although the rates of increase for each category moderated from peaks reported during the last year. The other food at home index (15.2 percent) and cereals and bakery products (13.5 percent) led the grocery increase.

As prices fell 1.2 percent for the 2 months ending in April, the energy index recorded its fifth consecutive bi-monthly decline. The bi-monthly decrease was mainly due to lower prices in the household energy index with declines in utility (piped) gas service (-8.9 percent); electricity (-2.4 percent); and fuel oil. The gasoline index tempered the overall energy decline as it advanced 3.8 percent since February.

Energy prices decreased 3.6 percent over the year, considerably below last June’s 46.0-percent peak. Leading the decline was the gasoline index (down 14.1 percent) and lower prices for fuel oil. Prices were up for electricity (11.3 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (9.1 percent, the smallest 12-month percent change since November 2021, ending 16 months of consecutive double-digit increases).

The index for all items less food and energy posted a 0.2-percent rise in the latest 2-month period. The rise was led by higher prices for shelter (0.7 percent) due largely to the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (0.4 percent) followed by lodging away from home and rent of primary residence prices. In the transportation index, prices rose for new and used motor vehicles, up 1.2 percent due to a 5.6-percent increase in used cars and trucks; public transportation prices were also higher. Other major categories in the all items less food and energy index also increased: recreation was up 0.6 percent and alcoholic beverages up 0.8 percent. Partially offsetting the overall index rise were declines in apparel (-5.5 percent), education and communication (-0.7 percent), medical care (-0.5 percent), household furnishings and operations (- 0.5 percent), and other goods and services (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.0 percent. The recent increase was mainly driven by a 7.5-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences advanced 7.3 percent and rent of primary residence rose 7.7 percent. Other categories also saw increases: the household furnishings and operations index advanced 5.9 percent; the other goods and services index was up 11.7 percent; the recreation index was up 2.5 percent; and the medical care index was up 0.9 percent for the same period. The new and used motor vehicles index continued to moderate, up just 0.8 percent. Within that index, used cars and trucks declined 6.1 percent.

The June 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is scheduled to be released on July 12, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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, 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County 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, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-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		300.882		301.225	4.7	0.1
All items (1967 = 100)		869.231		870.222
Food and beverages		292.615		293.595	8.2	0.3
Food		295.127		296.037	8.5	0.3
Food at home		303.871	307.297	304.500	9.7	0.2	-0.9
Cereals and bakery products		405.657		410.733	13.5	1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		339.917		341.875	7.5	0.6
Dairy and related products		236.119		244.492	12.1	3.5
Fruits and vegetables		306.456		306.952	1.9	0.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		204.613		197.713	5.4	-3.4
Other food at home		293.002		293.423	15.2	0.1
Food away from home		274.389		275.697	6.6	0.5
Alcoholic beverages		254.253		256.278	4.8	0.8
Housing		316.711		317.022	7.2	0.1
Shelter		386.067	386.602	388.601	7.5	0.7	0.5
Rent of primary residence		360.607	361.569	362.512	7.7	0.5	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		395.140	395.377	396.895	7.3	0.4	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		395.140	395.377	396.895	7.3	0.4	0.4
Fuels and utilities		277.535		267.964	5.7	-3.4
Household energy		230.747	221.819	220.802	5.0	-4.3	-0.5
Energy services		240.760	231.066	230.031	10.9	-4.5	-0.4
Electricity		231.019	225.945	225.436	11.3	-2.4	-0.2
Utility (piped) gas service		245.466	225.809	223.635	9.1	-8.9	-1.0
Household furnishings and operations		144.559		143.852	5.9	-0.5
Apparel		114.757		108.417	0.0	-5.5
Transportation		259.514		264.597	-0.7	2.0
Private transportation		268.436		272.570	-0.1	1.5
New and used motor vehicles(3)		131.673		133.318	0.8	1.2
New vehicles(1)		236.151		237.672	5.6	0.6
Used cars and trucks(1)		342.296		361.470	-6.1	5.6
Motor fuel		316.045	310.353	328.036	-14.1	3.8	5.7
Gasoline (all types)		311.882	306.283	323.785	-14.1	3.8	5.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		306.760	301.425	319.556	-14.4	4.2	6.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		326.411	320.013	333.184	-13.1	2.1	4.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		323.212	316.326	329.010	-11.8	1.8	4.0
Medical care		601.266		597.993	0.9	-0.5
Recreation(3)		133.656		134.502	2.5	0.6
Education and communication(3)		136.400		135.412	0.5	-0.7
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,108.412		1,108.544	2.6	0.0
Other goods and services		692.360		691.829	11.7	-0.1
Commodity and service group
Commodities		221.654		221.118	2.0	-0.2
Commodities less food and beverages		182.953		181.812	-1.6	-0.6
Nondurables less food and beverages		225.330		222.999	-3.7	-1.0
Durables		133.235		133.052	0.9	-0.1
Services		380.411		381.500	6.2	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		272.665		272.072	3.2	-0.2
All items less medical care		288.144		288.630	5.1	0.2
Commodities less food		185.983		184.915	-1.3	-0.6
Nondurables		260.028		259.297	2.5	-0.3
Nondurables less food		227.277		225.184	-3.0	-0.9
Services less rent of shelter(2)		382.240		381.520	4.6	-0.2
Services less medical care services		363.717		365.079	7.0	0.4
Energy		264.384	256.262	261.248	-3.6	-1.2	1.9
All items less energy		307.897		308.537	5.4	0.2
All items less food and energy		313.141		313.744	5.0	0.2
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base (2) Indexes on a December 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.