The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) declined 0.1 percent from September to November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that food prices fell 1.2 percent while energy costs were up 0.8 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent over the past two months. Within this last category, costs were higher for medical care and recreation and lower for apparel and shelter 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 rose 0.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 3.1 percent over the year as prices declined for electricity and gasoline. The all items less food and energy index was 1.6 percent higher over the past 12 months. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were down 1.2 percent from September to November following a 0.2-percent decrease over the previous bi-monthly period. Between the food index’s two components, prices for food at home (groceries) declined 2.2 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were up 0.2 percent over the recent two-month period.

Over the year, overall food prices were 1.5 percent lower. Prices for food at home fell 3.8 percent while food away from home prices rose 2.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 0.8 percent from September to November following a 2.4-percent decrease over the previous bi-monthly period. In the current period, the 4.0-percent increase in utility (piped) gas service costs was a contributing factor. The indexes for gasoline and electricity were both down 0.1 percent from September to November.

Over the year, the energy index fell 3.1 percent due to declines in the indexes for electricity (-9.6 percent) and gasoline (-4.0 percent). The utility (piped) gas service index rose 12.9 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent from September to November. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for medical care (1.0 percent) and recreation (1.0 percent). Prices were lower for apparel (-3.1 percent), shelter (-0.3 percent), and other goods and services (-2.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent. Increases in the indexes for shelter (3.1 percent) and medical care (8.0 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	-0.5	0.3
November	-1.0	1.6	-0.7	1.0	-0.6	1.5	-0.5	-0.4	-0.1	0.8

The January 2017 Consumer Price Index for Cleveland is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 15, 2017.

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-
	Sep. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Nov. 2015	Sep. 2016	Oct. 2016
Expenditure category
All items	220.963	-	220.777	0.8	-0.1	-
All items (1967=100)	708.071	-	707.474	-	-	-
Food and beverages	249.587	-	246.653	-1.3	-1.2	-
Food	254.365	-	251.196	-1.5	-1.2	-
Food at home	242.376	243.301	236.988	-3.8	-2.2	-2.6
Food away from home	276.360	-	276.874	2.0	0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	195.339	-	194.671	1.1	-0.3	-
Housing	205.611	-	205.552	1.8	0.0	-
Shelter	241.749	240.697	241.112	3.1	-0.3	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)	238.889	239.098	240.027	2.3	0.5	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	235.504	235.586	236.504	3.2	0.4	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	235.504	235.586	236.504	3.2	0.4	0.4
Fuels and utilities	181.138	-	183.166	-1.4	1.1	-
Household energy	145.590	148.125	147.747	-2.2	1.5	-0.3
Energy services(1)	144.226	146.658	146.250	-2.3	1.4	-0.3
Electricity(1)	155.186	156.376	155.036	-9.6	-0.1	-0.9
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	114.327	118.094	118.931	12.9	4.0	0.7
Household furnishings and operations	116.120	-	116.449	-2.4	0.3	-
Apparel	135.889	-	131.623	1.1	-3.1	-
Transportation	187.475	-	189.291	-3.2	1.0	-
Private transportation	187.666	-	189.286	-3.4	0.9	-
Motor fuel	216.317	221.560	216.163	-4.0	-0.1	-2.4
Gasoline (all types)	214.008	219.187	213.831	-4.0	-0.1	-2.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	201.201	205.979	201.206	-4.3	0.0	-2.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	231.768	237.939	229.359	-4.4	-1.0	-3.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	237.148	243.855	236.134	-1.9	-0.4	-3.2
Medical care	438.283	-	442.539	8.0	1.0	-
Recreation(5)	118.778	-	119.915	2.7	1.0	-
Education and communication(5)	126.301	-	126.563	-0.3	0.2	-
Other goods and services	420.835	-	411.785	-1.2	-2.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items	220.963	-	220.777	0.8	-0.1	-
Commodities	187.946	-	186.254	-1.0	-0.9	-
Commodities less food & beverages	156.970	-	155.890	-0.6	-0.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	203.973	-	201.203	1.0	-1.4	-
Durables	106.982	-	107.232	-2.7	0.2	-
Services	254.478	-	255.702	2.0	0.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	210.985	-	210.591	0.1	-0.2	-
All items less shelter	214.824	-	214.800	-0.2	0.0	-
Commodities less food	158.471	-	157.412	-0.5	-0.7	-
Nondurables	226.781	-	223.938	-0.5	-1.3	-
Nondurables less food	202.851	-	200.291	0.9	-1.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	273.613	-	276.843	0.9	1.2	-
Services less medical care services	241.547	-	242.559	1.6	0.4	-
Energy	172.983	176.525	174.340	-3.1	0.8	-1.2
All items less energy	227.662	-	227.331	1.1	-0.1	-
All items less food and energy	223.189	-	223.391	1.6	0.1	-
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. Data not seasonally adjusted.