Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.7 percent for the 2 months ending in February 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted this was the largest bi-monthly increase since June 2022. The all items less food and energy index, up 1.8 percent, led the increase. The energy index (up 2.5 percent) and the food index (up 1.0 percent) also rose. (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 2.6 percent, mostly due to a 2.7-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. The food index increased 1.9 percent and the energy index was up 2.5 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, February 2021–February 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Feb 2021	1.1	0.9
Apr 2021	2.9	2.5
Jun 2021	4.5	4.0
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

Food prices increased 1.0 percent for the 2 months ending in February 2024. The food away from home index increased 1.6 percent. The food at home index rose 0.5 percent due to higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (up 2.8 percent, mostly due to price increases for beef steaks) and other food at home (up 2.3 percent). All other grocery categories declined and tempered the overall increase. The dairy and related products index was down 3.2 percent, mostly due to price declines for cheese and related products.

Over the year, the food index rose 1.9 percent as prices for food away from home were up 4.2 percent. The food at home index increased 0.4 percent due to higher prices for other food at home, up 4.4 percent. The index for cereals and bakery products was unchanged over the year in February. All other grocery categories were down over the year, including prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, which declined 3.1 percent (the largest published decline since October 2021).

In the two months ending in February, the energy index increased 2.5 percent, preceded by two bi-monthly price declines. The February energy index increase was mainly due to rising prices for gasoline, up 3.8 percent. The utility (piped) gas service index advanced 12.6 percent and prices for electricity were up 0.5 percent.

From February 2023 to February 2024 the energy index gained 2.5 percent, the same as it did in the bi-monthly rise. The increase was largely due to a rise in prices for electricity, up 7.6 percent (the smallest published advance since August 2021). Offsetting the overall energy index rise was the utility (piped) gas service index, down 9.5 percent—moderating from a 21.0-percent decline in December.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.8 percent in the two months ending in February 2024, the largest increase since October 2021, reflecting increases throughout the categories within the index. The shelter index was up 1.3 percent—within shelter, the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index was up 1.1 percent. The apparel index rose 12.4 percent (the largest published bi-monthly increase since October 2018), the public transportation index was up, and the other goods and services index increased 4.5 percent (the largest published bi-monthly increase since 2008). Countering the rises were lower prices for new and used motor vehicles—down 1.4 percent—and, within new and used motor vehicles, used cars and trucks prices were down 3.1 percent while new vehicle prices increased 0.3 percent.  

Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.7 percent, led by a 4.9-percent increase in the shelter index and, within shelter, an equal rise in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index. The rent of primary residence index was up 6.3 percent. The rise in the other goods and services index was 8.1 percent. Within the medical care index (down 1.1 percent), prices for medical care commodities increased and prices for medical care services declined. Other indexes declined and tempered the overall index, including household furnishings and operations (down 4.1 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (down 1.9 percent).

The April 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on May 15, 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, 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; 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	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Feb. 2023	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024
All items		306.379		311.665	2.6	1.7
Food and beverages		329.541		332.618	1.9	0.9
Food		329.687		332.960	1.9	1.0
Food at home		292.696	289.836	294.220	0.4	0.5	1.5
Cereals and bakery products		355.060	352.112	354.733	0.0	-0.1	0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		295.366	295.017	303.496	-0.4	2.8	2.9
Dairy and related products		283.004	276.558	273.842	-2.8	-3.2	-1.0
Fruits and vegetables		327.227	322.699	322.779	-0.2	-1.4	0.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		221.943	225.879	218.795	-3.1	-1.4	-3.1
Other food at home		271.210	265.226	277.371	4.4	2.3	4.6
Food away from home		380.543		386.610	4.2	1.6
Alcoholic beverages		323.362		324.002	3.4	0.2
Housing(1)		310.417		314.707	3.9	1.4
Shelter		364.235	365.584	369.096	4.9	1.3	1.0
Rent of primary residence		423.139	425.587	427.393	6.3	1.0	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		384.851	385.877	389.251	4.9	1.1	0.9
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		384.851	385.877	389.251	4.9	1.1	0.9
Fuels and utilities		311.183		314.421	5.1	1.0
Household energy		276.017	279.008	279.405	4.5	1.2	0.1
Energy services		296.329	299.622	300.268	5.5	1.3	0.2
Electricity		280.395	281.623	281.687	7.6	0.5	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		221.315	243.100	249.190	-9.5	12.6	2.5
Household furnishings and operations		134.895		137.707	-4.1	2.1
Apparel		117.480		132.010	-4.5	12.4
Transportation		268.340		273.769	1.8	2.0
Private transportation		274.843		277.548	1.2	1.0
New and used motor vehicles(3)		136.382		134.534	-1.9	-1.4
New vehicles(1)		276.829		277.563	-0.2	0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		326.969		316.727	-1.2	-3.1
Motor fuel		279.233	274.081	289.623	-0.3	3.7	5.7
Gasoline (all types)		272.095	267.206	282.419	-0.2	3.8	5.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		274.361	269.110	285.196	-0.4	3.9	6.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		298.168	294.155	307.073	0.6	3.0	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		286.650	283.472	295.014	1.5	2.9	4.1
Medical care		495.950		503.122	-1.1	1.4
Recreation		145.291		145.163	2.5	-0.1
Education and communication(3)		161.884		164.812	2.2	1.8
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,368.306		1,384.338	5.2	1.2
Other goods and services		520.672		543.992	8.1	4.5
Commodity and service group
Commodities		226.939		231.538	0.7	2.0
Commodities less food and beverages		181.566		186.604	0.1	2.8
Nondurables less food and beverages		223.140		234.477	2.0	5.1
Durables		132.816		133.083	-2.1	0.2
Services		384.026		389.966	3.9	1.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		285.039		290.555	1.4	1.9
All items less medical care		296.957		302.152	2.9	1.7
Commodities less food		185.838		190.762	0.2	2.6
Nondurables		272.042		279.492	2.0	2.7
Nondurables less food		228.597		239.231	2.0	4.7
Services less rent of shelter(2)		419.085		426.610	2.7	1.8
Services less medical care services		373.618		379.890	5.0	1.7
Energy(1)		287.472	286.457	294.516	2.5	2.5	2.8
All items less energy		309.830		315.013	2.6	1.7
All items less food and energy		306.856		312.358	2.7	1.8
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.