Prices in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.3 percent for the 2 months ending in November 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the November decrease was due in large part to lower prices for gasoline. For the same period, the food index and all items less food and energy index increased, up 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U index rose 2.8 percent. The all items less food and energy index was mainly responsible for the total increase as it advanced 3.3 percent. (See chart 1.) Food prices were up 2.8 percent over the year, in contrast, declines in gasoline prices this year helped to offset increases elsewhere. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, November 2020–November 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Nov 2020	1.4	1.4
Jan 2021	1.5	1.3
Mar 2021	2.6	2.0
May 2021	3.8	3.2
Jul 2021	4.4	3.6
Sep 2021	4.5	3.7
Nov 2021	5.8	4.4
Jan 2022	6.0	4.8
Mar 2022	7.3	6.0
May 2022	7.5	5.7
Jul 2022	7.5	5.6
Sep 2022	6.5	5.6
Nov 2022	5.6	4.9
Jan 2023	4.4	3.6
Mar 2023	3.7	4.0
May 2023	3.1	3.9
Jul 2023	1.8	2.9
Sep 2023	3.3	3.6
Nov 2023	2.8	3.3

Over the last 2 months, the food index increased 0.3 percent, with food away from home prices up 1.3 percent. Prices for food at home moderated the overall food index with a 0.3-percent decline. Within the food at home category, nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials prices fell 4.6 percent, the largest price decrease in a reporting month since the index began. Other declines in the grocery categories included prices for cereals and bakery products (-2.5 percent—the largest decline of the year) and fruits and vegetables (-0.3 percent). Partially offsetting the fall in the food index were higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+1.5 percent); other food at home (+0.7 percent); and dairy and related products (+1.3 percent).

From November 2022 to November 2023, food prices increased 2.8 percent as both food away from home and food at home increased, up 5.7 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively. Within the food at home index, rising prices in other food at home (+6.1 percent), and cereals and bakery products (+3.0 percent) contributed to the advance. The index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 1.3 percent. The increase in grocery prices was tempered by price drops in the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index (-2.2 percent), the fruits and vegetables (-1.7 percent) index, and the dairy and related products index (-1.5 percent).

For the 2 months ending in November 2023, the motor fuel index was down 9.7 percent. Within motor fuel, prices for gasoline decreased 9.8 percent—the largest decline of the year. For the same period, the index for natural gas was up 2.3 percent. This year, prices for utility (piped) gas service have declined as low as 24.1 percent in March to increasing as much as 13.4 percent in May.

Over the year, prices for gasoline declined 7.3 percent, a change of pace from September’s 1.8 percent increase. The gasoline index has seen mostly over-the-year decreases in 2023, with summer bringing peak lows, after starting January with an increase of 1.8 percent. The index for natural gas continued to decrease, down 14.4 percent, tempering from September’s peak decline of 27.1 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy was up 0.1 percent in the latest 2-month period. Higher prices for recreation (+1.4 percent), medical care (+0.8 percent), and public transportation led to the overall index rise. Shelter prices edged up just 0.1 percent as the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index increased (+1.2 percent) as did rent of primary residence (+ 0.8 percent); but declining prices for lodging away from home moderated the rise in shelter. Despite those increases in categories in the all items less food and energy index there were declines in prices for education and communication, down 1.4 percent, and the largest decrease since November 2018. Other declining prices included new and used motor vehicles (-1.1 percent —largely due to lower prices for new cars, the first drop since January 2022), and a typical decline in apparel prices (-3.1 percent —slightly below the long-term trend of lower apparel prices in November).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.3 percent—continuing the trend of 12-month percent changes being higher than the all items index since March. The November rise was primarily due to a 5.1-percent rise in the shelter index, as owners’ equivalent rent of residences was up 6.1 percent and the index for rent of primary residence advanced 3.2percent. Other components contributing to the increase in all items less food and energy included new and used motor vehicles (+2.3 percent); education and communication (+2.0 percent); apparel (+6.0 percent); and household furnishings and operations (+2.6 percent). Moderating the rise in the overall index was medical care, down 4.0 percent, continuing declines seen since March.

The January 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on February 13, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of Jefferson in West Virginia.

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, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023	Nov. 2023	Nov. 2022	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023
All items		309.254		308.419	2.8	-0.3
Food and beverages		302.693		303.613	2.8	0.3
Food		311.741		312.634	2.8	0.3
Food at home		291.427	289.822	290.524	1.0	-0.3	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		397.125	372.690	387.096	3.0	-2.5	3.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		305.931	310.478	310.467	-2.2	1.5	0.0
Dairy and related products		283.456	279.245	287.123	-1.5	1.3	2.8
Fruits and vegetables		295.596	302.679	294.803	-1.7	-0.3	-2.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		259.741	248.401	247.736	1.3	-4.6	-0.3
Other food at home		248.559	250.294	250.229	6.1	0.7	0.0
Food away from home		339.519		343.763	5.7	1.3
Alcoholic beverages		218.194		219.620	2.5	0.7
Housing		322.477		322.264	4.4	-0.1
Shelter		383.752	383.516	384.062	5.1	0.1	0.1
Rent of primary residence		409.575	411.519	412.800	3.2	0.8	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		391.688	394.580	396.573	6.1	1.2	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		391.688	394.580	396.573	6.1	1.2	0.5
Fuels and utilities
Household energy
Energy services
Electricity
Utility (piped) gas service		154.724	158.473	158.316	-14.4	2.3	-0.1
Household furnishings and operations		131.153		131.366	2.6	0.2
Apparel		168.054		162.797	6.0	-3.1
Transportation		273.063		268.219	2.1	-1.8
Private transportation		286.478		280.054	3.0	-2.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		129.129		127.675	2.3	-1.1
New vehicles(1)		231.812		229.498	0.3	-1.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		406.878		405.377	-3.4	-0.4
Motor fuel		350.434	335.194	316.269	-7.5	-9.7	-5.6
Gasoline (all types)		345.534	330.396	311.650	-7.3	-9.8	-5.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		337.687	322.272	303.418	-7.7	-10.1	-5.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		352.819	340.686	325.363	-5.6	-7.8	-4.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		368.485	357.237	341.391	-4.7	-7.4	-4.4
Medical care		515.793		519.811	-4.0	0.8
Recreation(3)		126.038		127.748	2.0	1.4
Education and communication(3)		168.818		166.430	2.0	-1.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,683.394		1,669.910	5.0	-0.8
Other goods and services		506.082		507.221	3.9	0.2
Commodity and service group
Commodities		215.362		213.403	1.3	-0.9
Commodities less food and beverages		172.057		169.037	0.3	-1.8
Nondurables less food and beverages		225.635		221.567	2.1	-1.8
Durables		122.110		120.026	-1.5	-1.7
Services		393.119		393.416	3.6	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		278.419		277.087	1.4	-0.5
All items less medical care		299.629		298.545	3.4	-0.4
Commodities less food		174.071		171.148	0.4	-1.7
Nondurables		262.963		261.430	2.4	-0.6
Nondurables less food		224.568		220.856	2.1	-1.7
Services less rent of shelter(2)		415.522		415.802	1.7	0.1
Services less medical care services		380.995		381.282	5.1	0.1
Energy
All items less energy		315.330		315.596	3.3	0.1
All items less food and energy		317.235		317.394	3.3	0.1
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1977=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.