The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson increased 2.3 percent from August to October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the recent bi-monthly increase was the largest since March 2008 and was due largely to a rise in the all items less food and energy index, up 2.3 percent. The energy index and the food index also rose since August, up 6.4 and 0.6 percent, respectively. (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 6.3 percent, the largest 12-month change in over 13 years. The over-the-year rise was mostly due to a 5.3-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index. The energy index and the food index also rose over the year, up 27.4 and 3.3 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

Food

The food index rose from August to October, up 0.6 percent, reflecting increases for food away from home, up 0.7 percent, and for food at home, up 0.5 percent. Within the food at home component, prices were higher for the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs group along with the nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, and cereals and bakery products groups, while other groups showed declines.

Over the year, the food index increased 3.3 percent. Prices rose for both food away from home (3.7 percent), and for food at home (2.9 percent).

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, increased 6.4 percent since August, led by higher prices for gasoline (7.2 percent). Prices for electricity and utility (piped) gas service also rose over the past 2 months, up 4.5 and 9.0 percent, respectively.

Over the year, the energy index increased 27.4 percent, the largest such increase since February 2011. In October it was led by higher prices for gasoline (at 43.7 percent it was more moderate than the recent peak of 57.9 percent in May). Prices were also higher for electricity (8.5 percent—the highest 12-month increase in more than 5 years) and utility (piped) gas service (24.0 percent—the highest 12-month rise since June 2017) since October 2020.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent from August to October. Almost half of the overall all items index was due to higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (11.7 percent), which were led by those for new vehicles (19.3 percent). Used cars and trucks, which had large increases earlier in the year, fell by 0.7 percent since August. Prices were higher for shelter (1.0 percent) and recreation (1.9 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.3 percent since October 2020. The rise was led by higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (27.6 percent). Within that category prices for new vehicles rose 28.6 percent and those for used cars and trucks were up 27.2 percent. Prices were also higher for shelter over the year (2.7 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for December 2021 is scheduled to be released Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 8:30 am (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is published bi-monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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, and 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 5,000 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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	Aug. 2021	Sep. 2021	Oct. 2021	Oct. 2020	Aug. 2021	Sep. 2021
All items		271.067		277.415	6.3	2.3
Food and beverages		282.159		283.694	3.1	0.5
Food		281.500		283.289	3.3	0.6
Food at home		252.477	251.539	253.826	2.9	0.5	0.9
Cereals and bakery products		300.653		308.227	3.0	2.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		268.324		274.425	13.7	2.3
Dairy and related products		248.928		246.747	1.4	-0.9
Fruits and vegetables		294.589		291.787	-0.5	-1.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		170.323		178.533	-3.3	4.8
Other food at home		228.103		222.609	-1.5	-2.4
Food away from home		324.413		326.820	3.7	0.7
Alcoholic beverages		288.735		286.410	-0.3	-0.8
Housing(1)		271.311		275.018	3.6	1.4
Shelter		321.563	324.401	324.719	2.7	1.0	0.1
Rent of primary residence		367.576	370.801	372.229	0.0	1.3	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		339.912	342.651	343.116	2.4	0.9	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		339.912	342.651	343.116	2.4	0.9	0.1
Fuels and utilities		234.130		245.667	11.1	4.9
Household energy		202.850	204.141	214.046	12.1	5.5	4.9
Energy services		216.991	218.416	228.467	11.0	5.3	4.6
Electricity		198.696	199.250	207.652	8.5	4.5	4.2
Utility (piped) gas service		217.322	222.681	236.952	24.0	9.0	6.4
Household furnishings and operations		124.497		126.651	6.2	1.7
Apparel		124.180		128.220	14.9	3.3
Transportation		226.090		245.838	24.1	8.7
Private transportation		228.869		252.124	26.4	10.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		113.141		126.322	27.6	11.7
New vehicles(1)		206.404		246.152	28.6	19.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		343.131		340.711	27.2	-0.7
Motor fuel		265.223	265.909	284.236	43.8	7.2	6.9
Gasoline (all types)		259.750	260.426	278.354	43.7	7.2	6.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		262.703	263.448	282.417	45.3	7.5	7.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		280.445	281.417	294.749	32.5	5.1	4.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		266.725	266.900	279.777	33.5	4.9	4.8
Motor vehicle insurance(1)		745.285		752.593	-10.8	1.0
Medical care		469.718		470.792	-1.8	0.2
Recreation		128.930		131.316	2.2	1.9
Education and communication(3)		158.999		159.560	3.4	0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,312.470		1,320.520	4.1	0.6
Other goods and services		457.205		461.303	5.9	0.9
Commodity and service group
Commodities		199.588		207.615	12.6	4.0
Commodities less food and beverages		161.386		171.237	18.8	6.1
Nondurables less food and beverages		204.967		211.238	15.3	3.1
Durables		114.399		124.413	21.8	8.8
Services		340.663		345.329	2.9	1.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		252.380		260.162	8.4	3.1
All items less medical care		261.192		267.826	7.1	2.5
Commodities less food		165.294		174.965	18.0	5.9
Nondurables		240.487		244.440	8.2	1.6
Nondurables less food		209.634		215.434	14.0	2.8
Services less rent of shelter(2)		374.844		381.886	3.3	1.9
Services less medical care services		327.879		332.741	3.6	1.5
Energy(1)		237.847	238.875	253.098	27.4	6.4	6.0
All items less energy		275.503		281.170	5.1	2.1
All items less food and energy		274.446		280.714	5.3	2.3
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.