The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson increased 1.1 percent from April to June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the recent bi-monthly increase was mostly due to a rise in the all items less food and energy index, up 0.9 percent. The energy index and the food index also rose since April, up 5.3 and 0.9 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 4.5 percent, the largest over-the-year increase since 2008. The over-the-year rise was due to increases in the all items less food and energy index (4.0 percent) and the energy index (21.3 percent). (See chart 1.) The food index also increased, up 0.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

Food

The food index rose from April to June, up 0.9 percent. Prices increased for food at home, up 1.4 percent since April, and for food away from home, up 0.5 percent. Within the food at home component, prices were higher for citrus fruits and rice, pasta, cornmeal, while they decreased for fresh fish and seafood.

Over the year, the food index increased 0.7 percent. Prices rose for food away from home (2.4 percent), while they were lower for food at home (-0.9 percent).

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, increased 5.3 percent since April, due to higher prices for gasoline (6.5 percent). Prices for electricity and utility (piped) gas service also rose over the past two months, up 4.1 and 2.9 percent, respectively.

Over the year, the energy index increased 21.3 percent, led by higher prices for gasoline (42.4 percent), the highest 12-month increase since May 2008. Prices were also higher for electricity (1.6 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (7.7 percent) since June 2020.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent from April to June. Prices were higher for new and used motor vehicles (7.4 percent) dominated by an 18.1 percent increase in used cars and truck prices, public transportation (27.1 percent), and shelter (0.4 percent), while they were lower for medical care (-5.0 percent), the largest 2-month decrease since this index started in 1998.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.0 percent since June 2020, the largest 12-month increase since 2008. The rise was led by sharply higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (19.1 percent), particularly those for used cars and trucks (45.3 percent). Prices were also higher for shelter (2.4 percent), while they were lower for medical care (-3.3 percent) over the year.

The Consumer Price Index for August 2021 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, September 14, 2021 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	Apr. 2021	May 2021	Jun. 2021	Jun. 2020	Apr. 2021	May 2021
All items		266.534		269.598	4.5	1.1
Food and beverages		275.406		277.793	1.1	0.9
Food		274.460		277.003	0.7	0.9
Food at home		243.176	244.532	246.497	-0.9	1.4	0.8
Cereals and bakery products		295.617		299.056	-3.3	1.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		240.238		255.841	3.7	6.5
Dairy and related products		241.826		240.477	-0.4	-0.6
Fruits and vegetables		299.471		290.198	0.6	-3.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		170.542		173.093	-4.3	1.5
Other food at home		220.171		221.822	-3.8	0.7
Food away from home		320.328		321.856	2.4	0.5
Alcoholic beverages		286.392		286.392	6.2	0.0
Housing(1)		268.757		270.380	2.6	0.6
Shelter		319.163	318.864	320.577	2.4	0.4	0.5
Rent of primary residence		368.527	363.024	363.471	-1.3	-1.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		336.926	337.719	338.531	2.7	0.5	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		336.926	337.719	338.531	2.7	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities		224.256		231.840	3.5	3.4
Household energy		193.889	202.743	201.357	3.5	3.9	-0.7
Energy services		207.157	217.029	215.253	2.6	3.9	-0.8
Electricity		191.015	201.343	198.863	1.6	4.1	-1.2
Utility (piped) gas service		200.540	203.673	206.366	7.7	2.9	1.3
Household furnishings and operations		124.667		124.344	4.3	-0.3
Apparel		125.921		126.085	4.1	0.1
Transportation		213.986		231.285	19.9	8.1
Private transportation		215.606		228.843	18.5	6.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)		106.495
New vehicles(1)		204.543
Used cars and trucks(1)		291.590		344.433	45.3	18.1
Motor fuel		243.230	258.417	259.171	42.3	6.6	0.3
Gasoline (all types)		238.162	253.088	253.746	42.4	6.5	0.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		240.210	256.120	256.405	43.5	6.7	0.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		260.853	271.894	275.527	36.3	5.6	1.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		249.700	258.883	262.094	35.0	5.0	1.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)		736.892		745.285	-16.2	1.1
Medical care		474.622		450.915	-3.3	-5.0
Recreation		126.180		127.309	3.1	0.9
Education and communication(3)		158.015		155.472	2.2	-1.6
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,270.658		1,272.601	2.0	0.2
Other goods and services		454.865		456.912	5.4	0.5
Commodity and service group
Commodities		194.569		198.503	8.9	2.0
Commodities less food and beverages		157.209		161.478	14.0	2.7
Nondurables less food and beverages		202.024		204.398	13.6	1.2
Durables		110.292		114.798	14.5	4.1
Services		336.628		338.820	2.2	0.7
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		246.885		250.688	5.7	1.5
All items less medical care		256.159		260.624	5.3	1.7
Commodities less food		161.124		165.336	13.7	2.6
Nondurables		235.738		238.101	6.2	1.0
Nondurables less food		206.723		208.967	13.0	1.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)		368.439		371.731	1.9	0.9
Services less medical care services		323.362		327.845	3.0	1.4
Energy(1)		222.353	234.486	234.107	21.3	5.3	-0.2
All items less energy		271.828		274.208	3.5	0.9
All items less food and energy		271.297		273.650	4.0	0.9
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.