Prices in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 1.3 percent for the two months ending in October 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the all items less food and energy index was down 1.4 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were lower over the two month period for lodging away from home, recreation, apparel, and used cars and trucks. The energy index was down 3.0 percent, and the food index rose 0.2 percent from August to October.  (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.6 percent over the year. Food prices rose 0.7 percent. Energy prices declined 10.2 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, October 2020–October 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Oct 2020	0.5	0.9
Dec 2020	0.7	1.3
Feb 2021	0.8	0.2
Apr 2021	5.4	3.5
Jun 2021	5.4	3.8
Aug 2021	3.9	1.9
Oct 2021	5.5	3.5
Dec 2021	7.0	5.0
Feb 2022	7.5	6.2
Apr 2022	8.3	6.3
Jun 2022	9.7	6.1
Aug 2022	8.6	6.7
Oct 2022	8.5	6.2
Dec 2022	6.2	5.5
Feb 2023	7.0	6.8
Apr 2023	6.6	7.6
Jun 2023	4.7	7.8
Aug 2023	5.9	7.7
Oct 2023	3.4	5.6

Food prices rose 0.2 percent for the two months ending in October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) were unchanged, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 0.7 percent. Prices for food at home declined 0.2 percent since a year ago. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes were lower over the year. The index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) fell 1.2 percent, the index for dairy and related products was down 1.5 percent, and the index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials declined 0.5 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 2.2 percent.

The energy index declined 3.0 percent for the two months ending in October. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-8.1 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 3.4 percent, and prices for electricity rose 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 10.2 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-14.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 7.8 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 20.6 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy declined 1.4 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for lodging while away from home, recreation (-3.4 percent), apparel (-5.7 percent), and used cars and trucks (-6.9 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for household furnishings and operations (+4.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+9.8 percent); other goods and services (+7.4 percent); and tuition, other school fees, and childcare (+7.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were declines in the indexes for used cars and trucks (-6.9 percent), apparel (-4.2 percent), and recreation (-0.7 percent).

The December 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area is scheduled to be released on January 11, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index for Detroit 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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, Core Based Statistical Area consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

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.