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News Release Information

24-523-PHI
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson – February 2024

Area prices were up 1.7 percent over the past 2 months, up 2.6 percent from a year ago

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.)

Food

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).

Energy

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.

All items less food and energy

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).

Table A. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

February

0.5 1.8 0.1 1.1 1.3 9.3 1.2 6.1 1.7 2.6

April

-0.1 0.1 1.8 2.9 1.6 9.1 0.7 5.3

June

-0.4 0.4 1.1 4.5 2.6 10.6 0.2 2.8

August

0.5 0.7 0.5 4.5 0.1 10.2 0.5 3.1

October

0.6 1.3 2.3 6.3 0.7 8.4 -0.2 2.2

December

0.2 1.4 1.8 8.0 -0.1 6.3 -0.3 2.1

The April 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on May 15, 2024.


Technical Note

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024