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errata

Incorrect prices for prescription drugs were used for the CPI-U and CPI-W indexes from May through August 2016 in a number of areas. Several indexes were affected, including the all items and medical care indexes. A list of the series affected can be found at www.bls.gov/bls/errata/cpi-price-corrections-10182016.htm, and the corrected data are available in the CPI database (www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm).

News Release Information

16-1446-CHI
Friday, July 15, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Consumer Price Index, Milwaukee-Racine — First Half 2016

Local prices rose 0.4 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Milwaukee-Racine area rose 0.4 percent from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that the all items less food and energy index was 1.2 percent higher compared to its first half 2015 level as price increases were noted for several categories: shelter, recreation, and medical care. Food prices rose 1.1 percent over the year while the index for energy fell 8.7 percent. (See chart 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.1 percent from their first half 2015 levels. Within the food category, the index for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 4.5 percent while prices for food at home (groceries) were 0.9 percent lower.

Energy

The energy index was 8.7 percent lower from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2016. Within the energy category, the indexes for gasoline and utility (piped) gas service declined 14.9 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, over the year. The index for electricity rose 0.3 percent compared to its first half 2015 level.

All items less food and energy

The all items less food and energy index increased 1.2 percent over the year. Among the index’s components, higher costs were recorded for shelter (2.3 percent), recreation (1.9 percent), and medical care (1.2 percent). Prices declined 1.3 percent for education and communication over the year.

The second half 2016 Consumer Price Index for Milwaukee-Racine is scheduled to be released in January 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 Milwaukee-Racine, Wis., consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, and Waukesha Counties in Wisconsin.

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 for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Milwaukee-Racine, WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
1st half 2016 from-
1st half
2015
2nd half
2015
1st half
2016
1st half
2015
2nd half
2015

Expenditure category

 
 

All Items

226.220 226.984 227.147 0.4 0.1

All items (1967=100)

698.704 701.066 701.568 - -

Food and beverages

246.551 248.702 249.801 1.3 0.4

Food

251.090 252.964 253.851 1.1 0.4

Food at home

246.293 248.995 243.964 -0.9 -2.0

Food away from home

259.030 259.541 270.570 4.5 4.2

Alcoholic beverages

203.507 208.358 211.580 4.0 1.5

Housing

211.854 213.262 215.621 1.8 1.1

Shelter

257.408 260.716 263.454 2.3 1.1

Rent of primary residence (1)

239.683 241.257 243.815 1.7 1.1

Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)

273.591 278.025 280.692 2.6 1.0

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)

273.591 278.025 280.692 2.6 1.0

Fuels and utilities

212.012 208.419 208.691 -1.6 0.1

Household energy

173.468 169.387 169.269 -2.4 -0.1

Energy services (1)

178.310 174.593 174.696 -2.0 0.1

Electricity (1)

212.489 216.195 213.153 0.3 -1.4

Utility (piped) gas service (1)

118.049 105.286 109.147 -7.5 3.7

Household furnishings and operations

96.797 95.644 98.328 1.6 2.8

Apparel

143.504 139.638 143.679 0.1 2.9

Transportation

188.043 187.955 178.677 -5.0 -4.9

Private transportation

179.949 180.048 170.303 -5.4 -5.4

Motor fuel

219.746 225.426 186.601 -15.1 -17.2

Gasoline (all types)

216.463 222.241 184.274 -14.9 -17.1

Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)

216.045 219.801 180.211 -16.6 -18.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)

234.862 244.856 206.462 -12.1 -15.7

Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)

203.418 217.561 189.200 -7.0 -13.0

Medical care

486.551 488.733 (r)492.159 1.2 0.7

Recreation (5)

116.796 118.172 119.058 1.9 0.7

Education and communication (5)

154.216 152.723 152.158 -1.3 -0.4

Other goods and services

388.370 389.660 397.126 2.3 1.9
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All Items

226.220 226.984 227.147 0.4 0.1

Commodities

178.022 177.558 (r)175.980 -1.1 -0.9

Commodities less food & beverages

146.998 145.558 142.995 -2.7 -1.8

Nondurables less food & beverages

199.014 198.575 192.621 -3.2 -3.0

Durables

99.847 97.689 98.030 -1.8 0.3

Services

272.379 274.366 276.332 1.5 0.7
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

214.774 215.476 215.492 0.3 0.0

All items less shelter

216.829 216.676 215.906 -0.4 -0.4

Commodities less food

149.188 147.960 145.594 -2.4 -1.6

Nondurables

223.761 224.515 221.692 -0.9 -1.3

Nondurables less food

199.124 199.070 193.787 -2.7 -2.7

Services less rent of shelter (2)

301.813 302.343 303.456 0.5 0.4

Services less medical care services

255.314 257.310 259.263 1.5 0.8

Energy

195.626 195.796 178.639 -8.7 -8.8

All items less energy

231.527 232.358 234.259 1.2 0.8

All items less food and energy

229.157 229.819 231.893 1.2 0.9

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 November 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.
(r) Revised.

- Data not available.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 15, 2016