The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged from May to July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that energy costs fell 4.3 percent and food prices were up 0.3 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent. Within this last category, costs were higher for shelter, recreation, and medical care over the two-month period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the past 12 months the Cleveland area all items CPI-U was down 0.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 14.7 percent over the year as prices declined for gasoline, electricity, and utility (piped) gas service. The all items less food and energy index was 0.9 percent higher over the past 12 months. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were up 0.3 percent from May to July following a 0.6-percent decrease over the previous bi-monthly period. Between the food index’s two components, prices for food at home (groceries) increased 0.5 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) was unchanged over the recent two-month period.

Over the year, overall food prices were 0.6 percent lower. Prices for food at home fell 2.2 percent and food away from home prices rose 1.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 4.3 percent from May to July following a 7.5-percent increase over the previous bi-monthly period. In the current period, decreasing prices for electricity (-8.5 percent) and gasoline (-4.2 percent) contributed to the fall in the overall energy index. Utility (piped) gas service costs were up 5.5 percent over the same period.

Over the year, the energy index fell 14.7 percent due to decreases in gasoline prices (-16.0 percent), electricity costs (-13.0 percent), and utility (piped) gas service costs (-14.4 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent from May to July. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter (1.9 percent), recreation (2.2 percent), and medical care (1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent. Increases in the indexes for shelter (1.6 percent), medical care (1.9 percent), and recreation (2.0 percent) were major contributing factors.

Table A. Cleveland CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.4	2.1	0.2	1.5	0.3	1.1	-0.7	0.5	-0.1	0.1
March	1.3	2.6	0.9	1.0	1.6	1.9	0.9	-0.2	0.5	-0.2
May	-0.1	1.1	0.4	1.5	0.2	1.7	0.4	-0.1	0.9	0.3
July	0.0	1.4	0.7	2.2	0.5	1.4	0.9	0.4	0.0	-0.6
September	1.0	1.8	-0.4	0.7	-0.5	1.3	-1.4	-0.4
November	-1.0	1.6	-0.7	1.0	-0.6	1.5	-0.5	-0.4

The September 2016 Consumer Price Index for Cleveland is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, October 18, 2016.

Technical Note

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Cleveland-Akron, Ohio consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties in Ohio.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals 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

Cleveland-Akron, OH (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2016	Jun. 2016	Jul. 2016	Jul. 2015	May 2016	Jun. 2016
Expenditure category
All items	221.926	-	222.010	-0.6	0.0	-
All items (1967=100)	711.156	-	711.425	-	-	-
Food and beverages	249.436	-	249.918	-0.4	0.2	-
Food	254.000	-	254.788	-0.6	0.3	-
Food at home	242.379	241.847	243.604	-2.2	0.5	0.7
Food away from home	275.377	-	275.442	1.9	0.0	-
Alcoholic beverages	197.148	-	194.822	1.3	-1.2	-
Housing	205.719	-	207.335	-0.4	0.8	-
Shelter	239.984	247.051	244.462	1.6	1.9	-1.0
Rent of primary residence (1)	236.362	236.894	237.346	1.5	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	233.107	233.682	234.057	2.6	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	233.107	233.682	234.057	2.6	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities	187.881	-	181.586	-10.0	-3.4	-
Household energy	152.766	147.556	146.071	-13.2	-4.4	-1.0
Energy services (1)	151.264	146.020	144.622	-13.4	-4.4	-1.0
Electricity (1)	180.982	170.147	165.642	-13.0	-8.5	-2.6
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	96.416	98.953	101.712	-14.4	5.5	2.8
Household furnishings and operations	117.609	-	115.588	-1.9	-1.7	-
Apparel	140.170	-	132.016	3.3	-5.8	-
Transportation	196.456	-	193.699	-4.6	-1.4	-
Private transportation	196.269	-	194.320	-5.0	-1.0	-
Motor fuel	237.006	253.723	227.229	-16.0	-4.1	-10.4
Gasoline (all types)	234.583	251.152	224.835	-16.0	-4.2	-10.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	222.094	238.743	211.987	-17.5	-4.6	-11.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	250.804	266.623	242.501	-13.1	-3.3	-9.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	252.569	265.814	245.776	-9.4	-2.7	-7.5
Medical care	418.757	-	422.788	1.9	1.0	-
Recreation (5)	117.204	-	119.791	2.0	2.2	-
Education and communication (5)	126.965	-	127.222	1.3	0.2	-
Other goods and services	421.591	-	409.826	-0.5	-2.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items	221.926	-	222.010	-0.6	0.0	-
Commodities	189.507	-	187.142	-2.5	-1.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages	159.356	-	155.616	-3.7	-2.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	205.753	-	198.720	-4.7	-3.4	-
Durables	109.560	-	108.578	-2.4	-0.9	-
Services	254.892	-	257.271	0.7	0.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	212.905	-	212.805	-0.8	0.0	-
All items less shelter	216.781	-	215.273	-1.5	-0.7	-
Commodities less food	160.826	-	157.158	-3.5	-2.3	-
Nondurables	227.549	-	224.456	-2.6	-1.4	-
Nondurables less food	204.631	-	198.069	-4.4	-3.2	-
Services less rent of shelter (2)	276.521	-	276.664	0.0	0.1	-
Services less medical care services	242.537	-	244.720	0.5	0.9	-
Energy	185.107	187.692	177.213	-14.7	-4.3	-5.6
All items less energy	227.603	-	228.425	0.7	0.4	-
All items less food and energy	223.187	-	224.018	0.9	0.4	-
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.