Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.5 percent for the 2 months ending in August 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and other goods and services, both of which are index sub-components. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.8 percent while the food index increased 0.2 percent in the same period. The energy index decreased 2.9 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.) (See table A.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.0 percent, mostly due to a 3.6-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. The food index was up 2.7 percent, and the energy index decreased 2.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, August 2021–August 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Aug 2023	3.1	3.1
Oct 2023	2.2	2.4
Dec 2023	2.1	2.0
Feb 2024	2.6	2.7
Apr 2024	2.9	2.8
Jun 2024	3.0	2.9
Aug 2024	3.0	3.6

Food prices increased 0.2 percent for the 2 months ending in August 2024. The food at home index increased 0.4 percent due to higher prices for cereals and bakery products (1.6 percent), meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (0.7 percent) and other food at home (0.3 percent). Two grocery categories declined — nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-0.5 percent) and fruits and vegetables (-0.2 percent). The food away from home index had no change.

Over the year, the food index rose 2.7 percent as prices for food away from home were up 4.2 percent. The food at home index increased 1.5 percent due to higher prices for cereals and bakery products, up 5.1 percent – the largest increase since April 2023, meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (2.8 percent), and fruits and vegetables (1.0 percent). In the same period, prices for other food at home declined -0.6 percent.

In the two months ending in August, the energy index decreased 2.9 percent. The energy index decline was mainly due to falling prices for gasoline (-5.7 percent). Utility (piped) gas service decreased 2.6 percent. Prices for electricity were up 0.3 percent.

From August 2023 to August 2024 the energy index declined 2.1 percent due largely to the gasoline index decreasing 10.9 percent. The electricity index increased 5.5 percent. The utility (piped) gas service index rose 14.4 percent, down from the recent 23.6-percent peak in June.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent in the two months ending in August 2024, reflecting increases throughout many categories within the index. The shelter index was up 0.9 percent—within shelter, lodging away from home prices increased along with the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (0.4 percent) and the rent of primary residence index (0.8 percent). The other goods and services index rose 3.8 percent. The apparel index increased 2.3 percent in the same period. Countering the rises were lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.2 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.1 percent) due to lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 3.6 percent, led by a 4.7-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, a 4.1-percent rise in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index, a 4.6-percent rise in the rent of primary residence index, and higher prices for lodging away from home contributed to the shelter index increase. Also contributing to the increase was the medical index, increasing 4.8 percent due to higher prices for both medical care commodities and medical care services. Tempering the all items less food and energy index rise was the new and used motor vehicles index down 4.4 percent — the largest decrease since the index began in 2018, as prices for used cars and trucks declined 8.6 percent (continuing the trend of price decreases that started in December 2022) and new vehicle prices decreased 1.7 percent. The household furnishings and operations index declined 7.1 percent.

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on November 13, 2024.

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, 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 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	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Aug. 2023	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024
All items		315.803		317.366	3.0	0.5
Food and beverages		334.049		335.111	2.7	0.3
Food		334.159		334.904	2.7	0.2
Food at home		292.657	291.884	293.759	1.5	0.4	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		365.112	367.813	370.802	5.1	1.6	0.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		300.933	298.634	303.105	2.8	0.7	1.5
Dairy and related products		273.598	268.805	273.739	0.2	0.1	1.8
Fruits and vegetables		314.466	319.671	313.690	1.0	-0.2	-1.9
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		219.612	217.531	218.594	0.6	-0.5	0.5
Other food at home		274.050	272.019	274.945	-0.6	0.3	1.1
Food away from home		392.346		392.478	4.2	0.0
Alcoholic beverages		328.259		333.175	3.1	1.5
Housing(1)		316.917		319.023	3.5	0.7
Shelter		372.445	374.296	375.806	4.7	0.9	0.4
Rent of primary residence		432.195	433.209	435.514	4.6	0.8	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		392.457	393.735	394.160	4.1	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		392.457	393.735	394.160	4.1	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities		316.362		318.096	5.7	0.5
Household energy		281.658	284.573	282.223	6.5	0.2	-0.8
Energy services		303.164	306.156	303.293	6.2	0.0	-0.9
Electricity		285.039	287.888	285.785	5.5	0.3	-0.7
Utility (piped) gas service		245.092	247.140	238.791	14.4	-2.6	-3.4
Household furnishings and operations		136.513		134.912	-7.1	-1.2
Apparel		125.101		128.016	-2.1	2.3
Transportation		287.335		284.881	2.3	-0.9
Private transportation		295.097		291.963	2.2	-1.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)		135.754		134.262	-4.4	-1.1
New vehicles(1)		277.262		276.355	-1.7	-0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		320.483		316.182	-8.6	-1.3
Motor fuel		311.588	309.955	293.622	-11.1	-5.8	-5.3
Gasoline (all types)		304.930	303.222	287.429	-10.9	-5.7	-5.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		308.388	306.433	289.944	-11.3	-6.0	-5.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		330.862	329.339	315.572	-8.7	-4.6	-4.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		315.633	315.298	301.952	-8.2	-4.3	-4.2
Medical care		519.018		522.241	4.8	0.6
Recreation		148.877		149.092	4.5	0.1
Education and communication(3)		161.705		163.573	0.7	1.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,384.338		1,419.940	4.9	2.6
Other goods and services		548.164		568.731	8.2	3.8
Commodity and service group
Commodities		232.177		231.074	-1.3	-0.5
Commodities less food and beverages		186.925		185.039	-3.3	-1.0
Nondurables less food and beverages		236.579		234.308	-2.2	-1.0
Durables		132.183		130.773	-5.4	-1.1
Services		397.583		401.804	5.9	1.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		295.067		295.888	2.2	0.3
All items less medical care		305.681		307.159	2.9	0.5
Commodities less food		191.193		189.493	-3.1	-0.9
Nondurables		281.274		280.565	0.7	-0.3
Nondurables less food		241.460		239.643	-1.8	-0.8
Services less rent of shelter(2)		440.457		446.018	7.3	1.3
Services less medical care services		386.400		390.061	6.0	0.9
Energy(1)		306.805	307.527	298.031	-2.1	-2.9	-3.1
All items less energy		318.546		320.921	3.4	0.7
All items less food and energy		316.276		318.922	3.6	0.8
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.