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Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.6 percent for the 2 months ending in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A). Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that August’s rise was due to an increase in the all items less food and energy index (also rising 0.6 percent) influenced by higher prices for shelter and other goods and services. The food index was up 0.9 percent, and the energy index declined -1.2 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 3.6 percent. The energy index decreased -4.0 percent, in part due to lower prices for gasoline. (See table 1).
FoodIn the two months ending in August, the food index advanced 0.9 percent, mostly due to the food at home index, which rose 1.1 percent. Leading the rise in grocery prices were cereals and bakery products, up 3.1 percent; and fruit and vegetables, up 2.1 percent after declining in the past two periods. Tempering the grocery index were decreased prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, down -3.3 percent. For the same period, prices for food away from home increased 0.5 percent.
Over the year, food prices rose 3.6 percent, where prices for food away from home increased 4.7 percent and prices for food at home were up 2.9 percent. Mainly contributing to the increase for food at home was the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, up 6.8 percent. Prices also rose for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, up 8.0 percent. Declining prices for fruits and vegetables (-0.7 percent) slightly tempered the rise in the grocery index.
EnergyThe energy index decreased -1.2 percent for the 2 months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices in the gasoline index (-2.9 percent), and the fuel oil index. For the same period, the electricity index went unchanged. Marking the smallest 2-month increase of the year, the prices for utility (piped) gas service advanced 0.3 percent.
From August 2023 to August 2024, energy prices declined -4.0 percent, led by a lower gasoline index and declining prices for fuel oil. Prices for gasoline decreased -11.6 percent, and prices for natural gas also decreased 1.5 percent. Slowing the overall energy index decline, prices for electricity were up 5.3 percent over-the-year.
All items less food and energyThe index for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 percent in the latest 2-month period. The rise was led by higher prices for shelter (1.0 percent) and other goods and services (1.5 percent). Within the shelter index, both the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and the rent of primary residence index increased 0.6 percent. Other advances in the all items less food and energy index also included apparel (0.5 percent), medical care (0.2 percent), and recreation (0.2 percent). Prices for new and used motor vehicles remained unchanged. Mitigating the overall rise were lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-2.2 percent), education and communication (-0.6 percent), and alcoholic beverages (-0.8 percent).
During the past year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.0 percent, mainly driven by a 5.9-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, the indexes for rent of primary residence rose 6.4 percent, owners’ equivalent rent of residences advanced 5.9 percent, and lodging away from home decreased. The recreation index rose 2.6 percent over the year, and the medical care index increased 1.5 percent for the same period. Other categories also had increases— prices for other goods and services were up 3.0 percent, prices for apparel advanced 0.5 percent, and prices for household furnishings and operations rose 0.8 percent. Prices for education and communication were unchanged and partially tempering the overall index increase was a decrease in prices for new and used motor vehicles, down -2.0 percent.
The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is scheduled to be released on November 13, 2024.
The Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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, 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 6,000 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 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.
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.
Expenditure category | Indexes | Percent change from | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Historical data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Aug. 2023 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
|
All items |
314.328 | 316.061 | 3.4 | 0.6 | |||
All items (1967 = 100) |
908.076 | 913.084 | |||||
Food and beverages |
301.174 | 303.494 | 3.5 | 0.8 | |||
Food |
303.882 | 306.539 | 3.6 | 0.9 | |||
Food at home |
307.039 | 307.358 | 310.453 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | |
Cereals and bakery products |
408.259 | 418.543 | 420.999 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 0.6 | |
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs |
344.392 | 342.780 | 349.195 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 | |
Dairy and related products |
235.964 | 239.753 | 242.061 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 1.0 | |
Fruits and vegetables |
293.049 | 295.426 | 299.330 | -0.7 | 2.1 | 1.3 | |
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1) |
227.267 | 217.856 | 219.866 | 8.0 | -3.3 | 0.9 | |
Other food at home |
292.920 | 294.865 | 295.640 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | |
Food away from home |
291.154 | 292.647 | 4.7 | 0.5 | |||
Alcoholic beverages |
259.756 | 257.672 | 0.9 | -0.8 | |||
Housing |
337.851 | 339.789 | 4.9 | 0.6 | |||
Shelter |
417.433 | 419.561 | 421.492 | 5.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | |
Rent of primary residence |
393.168 | 394.195 | 395.714 | 6.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | |
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2) |
429.041 | 430.551 | 431.781 | 5.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | |
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2) |
429.041 | 430.551 | 431.781 | 5.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | |
Fuels and utilities |
276.848 | 276.957 | 1.4 | 0.0 | |||
Household energy |
229.788 | 230.280 | 229.807 | 1.8 | 0.0 | -0.2 | |
Energy services |
243.727 | 243.857 | 243.867 | 3.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | |
Electricity |
249.455 | 249.401 | 249.390 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
Utility (piped) gas service |
211.077 | 211.686 | 211.750 | -1.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | |
Household furnishings and operations |
149.084 | 145.874 | 0.8 | -2.2 | |||
Apparel |
112.299 | 112.912 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |||
Transportation |
273.632 | 275.900 | 1.5 | 0.8 | |||
Private transportation |
287.447 | 290.459 | 2.5 | 1.0 | |||
New and used motor vehicles(3) |
133.709 | 133.768 | -2.0 | 0.0 | |||
New vehicles(1) |
238.351 | 237.983 | -0.5 | -0.2 | |||
Used cars and trucks(1) |
342.372 | 337.777 | -8.6 | -1.3 | |||
Motor fuel |
320.656 | 325.045 | 311.435 | -11.7 | -2.9 | -4.2 | |
Gasoline (all types) |
316.674 | 321.046 | 307.613 | -11.6 | -2.9 | -4.2 | |
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4) |
311.509 | 316.156 | 302.024 | -12.2 | -3.0 | -4.5 | |
331.787 | 334.858 | 324.300 | -9.0 | -2.3 | -3.2 | ||
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4) |
328.839 | 331.565 | 322.499 | -8.1 | -1.9 | -2.7 | |
Medical care |
598.605 | 599.776 | 1.5 | 0.2 | |||
Recreation(3) |
137.692 | 137.907 | 2.6 | 0.2 | |||
Education and communication(3) |
138.697 | 137.858 | 0.0 | -0.6 | |||
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1) |
1,158.750 | 1,158.801 | 1.4 | 0.0 | |||
Other goods and services |
693.827 | 704.532 | 3.0 | 1.5 | |||
Commodity and service group |
|||||||
Commodities |
223.300 | 223.162 | -0.2 | -0.1 | |||
Commodities less food and beverages |
181.876 | 180.423 | -2.6 | -0.8 | |||
Nondurables less food and beverages |
227.183 | 225.926 | -1.3 | -0.6 | |||
Durables |
129.667 | 128.161 | -4.5 | -1.2 | |||
Services |
404.472 | 408.034 | 5.2 | 0.9 | |||
Special aggregate indexes |
|||||||
All items less shelter |
278.892 | 279.752 | 1.9 | 0.3 | |||
All items less medical care |
302.206 | 303.960 | 3.5 | 0.6 | |||
Commodities less food |
185.038 | 183.559 | -2.5 | -0.8 | |||
Nondurables |
264.847 | 265.479 | 1.2 | 0.2 | |||
Nondurables less food |
229.201 | 227.885 | -1.3 | -0.6 | |||
Services less rent of shelter(2) |
397.854 | 400.967 | 4.3 | 0.8 | |||
Services less medical care services |
389.528 | 393.185 | 5.6 | 0.9 | |||
Energy |
264.970 | 266.822 | 261.783 | -4.0 | -1.2 | -1.9 | |
All items less energy |
322.676 | 324.801 | 3.9 | 0.7 | |||
All items less food and energy |
329.202 | 331.232 | 4.0 | 0.6 | |||
Footnotes |
Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024