Prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.2 percent for the 2 months ending in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A). Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that October’s rise was due to an increase in the all items less food and energy index (0.4 percent) influenced by higher prices for education and communication and shelter. The food index was up 0.5 percent, and 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 3.4 percent, led by the index for all items less food and energy, up 4.0 percent largely due to rising shelter prices. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices also rose, up 3.4 percent. The energy index decreased 4.0 percent, in part due to lower prices for gasoline. (See table 1). 

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, October 2021–October 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Dec 2023	3.9	4.7
Feb 2024	3.4	4.2
Apr 2024	4.1	4.6
Jun 2024	3.6	4.0
Aug 2024	3.4	4.0
Oct 2024	3.4	4.0

In the two months ending in October, the food index advanced, mostly due to the food at home index, as both rose 0.5 percent. Leading the rise in grocery prices were fruits and vegetables, up 3.9 percent; and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, up 0.7 percent. Tempering the grocery index were decreased prices for cereals and bakery products, down 3.1 percent. For the same period, prices for food away from home increased 0.6 percent.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.4 percent as prices for food at home were up 3.0 percent. Mainly contributing to the increase for food at home was the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, up 5.9 percent. Prices also rose for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, up 6.8 percent. Declining prices for cereals and bakery products (-2.5 percent) slightly tempered the rise in the grocery index. Prices for food away from home increased 4.1 percent.

The energy index decreased 3.7 percent for the 2 months ending in October. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices in the gasoline index (-7.6 percent). For the same period, the electricity index declined 1.8 percent, the largest 2-month decrease in 2024 so far, and prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 0.8 percent. Fuel oil prices rose.

From October 2023 to October 2024, energy prices declined 4.0 percent, led by a lower gasoline index (-13.5 percent) and declining prices for fuel oil. Prices for natural gas decreased 0.4 percent, the smallest over-the-year decrease since February 2021. Slowing the overall energy index decline, prices for electricity advanced 7.7 percent over the year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in the latest 2-month period. The rise was led by higher prices for education and communication up, 1.9 percent, mainly due to a 3.3-percent rise in prices for tuition, other school fees, and childcare. Shelter rose 0.1 percent, and within the shelter index, the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and the rent of primary residence index increased 1.1 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively; whereas prices for lodging away from home fell. Other increases in the all items less food and energy index included recreation (0.7 percent), and alcoholic beverages (0.9 percent). Prices for medical care remained unchanged, as prices for medical care commodities and medical care services nearly offset each other. Mitigating the overall rise were lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.5 percent), apparel (-1.1 percent), other goods and services (-0.3 percent), and new and used motor vehicles (-0.2 percent).

During the past year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.0 percent as seen in over-the-year increases for June and August. The advance was primarily driven by a 5.1-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter the indexes for rent of primary residence and owners’ equivalent rent of residences both increased 5.9 percent, while lodging away from home decreased. The recreation index rose 5.2 percent over the year, and the medical care index was up 2.0 percent for the same period. Other categories also had increases— prices for other goods and services were up 2.4 percent, and prices for education and communication advanced 1.4 percent. Slightly offsetting the overall index increase was a decrease in prices for household furnishings and operations, down 1.3 percent, and the first 12-month decrease since August 2020. The new and used motor vehicles index was down 0.7 percent for the same period, with prices for used cars and trucks continuing to decline as it has for every published month since December 2022 (-2.2 percent).

The December 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is scheduled to be released on January 15, 2025.

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 Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is published bi-monthly. The set of components and sub-aggregates published for regional and metropolitan indexes is more limited than at the U.S. city average level; these indexes are byproducts of the national CPI program. Each local index has a much smaller sample size than the national or regional indexes and is, therefore, subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error. As a result, local-area indexes are more volatile than the national or regional indexes. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. 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.

Refer to the national CPI news release technical note or the Handbook of Methods for more information.

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. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Oct. 2023	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024
All items		316.061		316.617	3.4	0.2
All items (1967 = 100)		913.084		914.688
Food and beverages		303.494		305.216	3.3	0.6
Food		306.539		308.216	3.4	0.5
Food at home		310.453	312.231	312.062	3.0	0.5	-0.1
Cereals and bakery products		420.999	400.348	407.787	-2.5	-3.1	1.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		349.195	349.699	351.756	5.9	0.7	0.6
Dairy and related products		242.061	240.974	242.578	1.7	0.2	0.7
Fruits and vegetables		299.330	306.843	310.888	3.2	3.9	1.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		219.866	229.371	218.853	6.8	-0.5	-4.6
Other food at home		295.640	298.101	296.911	1.6	0.4	-0.4
Food away from home		292.647		294.378	4.1	0.6
Alcoholic beverages		257.672		259.937	1.3	0.9
Housing		339.789		339.800	4.3	0.0
Shelter		421.492	421.051	422.024	5.1	0.1	0.2
Rent of primary residence		395.714	396.659	399.112	5.9	0.9	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		431.781	434.976	436.741	5.9	1.1	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		431.781	434.976	436.741	5.9	1.1	0.4
Fuels and utilities		276.957		278.431	3.9	0.5
Household energy		229.807	227.518	227.563	3.2	-1.0	0.0
Energy services		243.867	242.523	240.138	5.5	-1.5	-1.0
Electricity		249.390	248.197	245.014	7.7	-1.8	-1.3
Utility (piped) gas service		211.750	210.103	209.996	-0.4	-0.8	-0.1
Household furnishings and operations		145.874		143.663	-1.3	-1.5
Apparel		112.912		111.690	-0.7	-1.1
Transportation		275.900		275.615	2.1	-0.1
Private transportation		290.459		286.846	2.4	-1.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		133.768		133.495	-0.7	-0.2
New vehicles(1)		237.983		238.162	-0.5	0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)		337.777		339.144	-2.2	0.4
Motor fuel		311.435	295.725	287.878	-13.5	-7.6	-2.7
Gasoline (all types)		307.613	292.067	284.235	-13.5	-7.6	-2.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		302.024	286.052	278.170	-13.9	-7.9	-2.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		324.300	311.267	303.112	-11.9	-6.5	-2.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		322.499	309.983	302.876	-11.3	-6.1	-2.3
Medical care		599.776		599.738	2.0	0.0
Recreation(3)		137.907		138.866	5.2	0.7
Education and communication(3)		137.858		140.493	1.4	1.9
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,158.801		1,196.650	3.3	3.3
Other goods and services		704.532		702.213	2.4	-0.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities		223.162		221.985	-0.7	-0.5
Commodities less food and beverages		180.423		177.693	-3.5	-1.5
Nondurables less food and beverages		225.926		220.982	-2.8	-2.2
Durables		128.161		127.502	-4.8	-0.5
Services		408.034		410.277	5.5	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		279.752		280.323	2.3	0.2
All items less medical care		303.960		304.539	3.5	0.2
Commodities less food		183.559		181.011	-3.3	-1.4
Nondurables		265.479		264.069	0.6	-0.5
Nondurables less food		227.885		223.488	-2.5	-1.9
Services less rent of shelter(2)		400.967		405.297	6.0	1.1
Services less medical care services		393.185		395.283	5.8	0.5
Energy		261.783	254.801	252.107	-4.0	-3.7	-1.1
All items less energy		324.801		326.125	3.9	0.4
All items less food and energy		331.232		332.492	4.0	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.