Prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.2 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Influenced by higher prices for shelter, a 0.4-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index led the overall increase, as noted by Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee. The food index advanced 0.7 percent, whereas the energy index declined 3.7 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 3.5 percent and the index for all items less food and energy was mainly responsible, up 4.4 percent due to rising shelter prices. (See chart 1 and table A.) Also increasing were food prices, up 2.6 percent. The energy index continued to decline for the fourth bi-monthly period, with a 5.4-percent decrease. (See table 1.) 

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jun 2023	3.1	4.6
Aug 2023	3.9	4.6
Oct 2023	3.5	4.4

After remaining unchanged in August, the food index rose 0.7 percent for the 2 months ending in October. Prices for food away from home increased 1.2 percent for the same period, the highest increase of the year after previous increases were below 1.0 percent. The food at home index advanced 0.5 percent, ending 2 months of decline. Leading the increase was meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, up 1.6 percent. Prices for cereals and bakery products advanced 1.8 percent, dairy and related products were up 1.6 percent, and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials increased 0.6 percent. The rest of the grocery categories tempered the rise in the food at home index, as other food at home fell 1.0 percent and prices for fruits and vegetables declined 0.1 percent.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.6 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.6 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 1.4 percent. Most of the major grocery categories were up over the year. Leading the increase was the other food at home index (up 2.3 percent—the smallest 12-month percent change since February 2020) as well as nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials prices, up 4.1 percent. Prices for cereals and bakery products rose 2.9 percent, dairy and related products prices increased 2.4 percent, and fruits and vegetables recorded no change. Declining for the third month, meats, poultry, fish, and eggs was the only category to decrease, down 2.4 percent.

The energy index decreased 3.7 percent for the 2 months ending in October. The decline was mainly due to dropping gasoline prices (-5.6 percent). The electricity index fell 4.0 percent, and utility (piped) gas service declined 1.9 percent for the same period. The fuel oil index was the only energy category that rose.

Energy prices decreased 5.4 percent over the year, largely due to a lower fuel oil index. Utility (piped) gas service and the gasoline index were also down 14.4 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. Offsetting the general declines, the electricity index was up 5.4 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.4 percent in the latest 2-month period. The rise was led by higher prices for shelter (0.8 percent) due largely to the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (up 1.2 percent), followed by rent of primary residence (up 1.3 percent). The index for public transportation also rose. Prices for education and communication were up 0.5 percent as prices for tuition, other school fees, and childcare increased 1.3 percent. Other major categories in the all items less food and energy index also advanced: household furnishings and operations was up 0.6 percent, other goods and services was up 0.3 percent, and apparel was up 0.1 percent. Partially offsetting the overall index rise were declines in the lodging away from home, recreation (-1.8 percent), used cars and trucks (-6.2 percent), and medical care (-0.5 percent) indexes.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent, mainly driven by a 6.9-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, the indexes for owners’ equivalent rent of residences advanced 7.4 percent and rent of primary residence rose 7.6 percent whereas lodging away from home declined. Other categories also had increases—the household furnishings and operations index rose 6.0 percent; prices for other good and services rose 10.7 percent; education and communication was up 2.4 percent; and apparel increased 1.7 percent. Slightly tempering the overall increase were the medical care index, down 2.2 percent; prices for used cars and trucks, down 6.7 percent; and recreation, down 0.5 percent.

The December 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is scheduled to be released on January 11, 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	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2022	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
All items		305.742		306.276	3.5	0.2
All items (1967 = 100)		883.273		884.814
Food and beverages		293.358		295.513	2.6	0.7
Food		295.847		298.064	2.6	0.7
Food at home		301.578	301.027	303.087	1.4	0.5	0.7
Cereals and bakery products		410.679	406.961	418.128	2.9	1.8	2.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		326.982	336.453	332.292	-2.4	1.6	-1.2
Dairy and related products		234.758	242.903	238.582	2.4	1.6	-1.8
Fruits and vegetables		301.499	296.283	301.286	0.0	-0.1	1.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		203.553	201.181	204.871	4.1	0.6	1.8
Other food at home		295.207	290.386	292.343	2.3	-1.0	0.7
Food away from home		279.624		282.847	4.6	1.2
Alcoholic beverages		255.338		256.560	2.4	0.5
Housing		323.937		325.692	5.5	0.5
Shelter		398.086	400.475	401.411	6.9	0.8	0.2
Rent of primary residence		371.788	373.724	376.732	7.6	1.3	0.8
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		407.564	410.137	412.357	7.4	1.2	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		407.564	410.137	412.357	7.4	1.2	0.5
Fuels and utilities		273.223		268.105	-5.1	-1.9
Household energy		225.845	223.222	220.542	-6.6	-2.3	-1.2
Energy services		235.561	230.949	227.590	-1.4	-3.4	-1.5
Electricity		236.945	230.580	227.542	5.4	-4.0	-1.3
Utility (piped) gas service		214.934	214.714	210.862	-14.4	-1.9	-1.8
Household furnishings and operations		144.647		145.579	6.0	0.6
Apparel		112.350		112.500	1.7	0.1
Transportation		271.899		269.873	2.2	-0.7
Private transportation		283.340		280.222	3.4	-1.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)		136.510		134.377	1.3	-1.6
New vehicles(1)		239.279		239.277	2.5	0.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		369.749		346.752	-6.7	-6.2
Motor fuel		352.600	350.299	332.882	-3.6	-5.6	-5.0
Gasoline (all types)		348.054	345.751	328.534	-3.6	-5.6	-5.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		343.957	341.114	322.966	-3.9	-6.1	-5.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		356.261	356.564	344.216	-2.8	-3.4	-3.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		350.981	352.035	341.572	-2.0	-2.7	-3.0
Medical care		590.806		587.828	-2.2	-0.5
Recreation(3)		134.441		132.016	-0.5	-1.8
Education and communication(3)		137.893		138.597	2.4	0.5
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,143.332		1,158.191	4.5	1.3
Other goods and services		683.713		685.933	10.7	0.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities		223.510		223.443	0.7	0.0
Commodities less food and beverages		185.192		184.208	-0.5	-0.5
Nondurables less food and beverages		228.959		227.241	-1.6	-0.8
Durables		134.256		133.893	0.8	-0.3
Services		387.989		389.045	4.9	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		274.574		273.917	1.5	-0.2
All items less medical care		293.600		294.271	4.0	0.2
Commodities less food		188.208		187.273	-0.3	-0.5
Nondurables		262.275		262.437	0.6	0.1
Nondurables less food		230.770		229.213	-1.3	-0.7
Services less rent of shelter(2)		384.313		382.522	2.4	-0.5
Services less medical care services		372.344		373.548	5.8	0.3
Energy		272.718	270.129	262.626	-5.4	-3.7	-2.8
All items less energy		312.530		313.962	4.2	0.5
All items less food and energy		318.452		319.773	4.4	0.4
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.