Prices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent for the two months ending in March 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 increased 0.6 percent over the past two months. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the two-month period for shelter, household furnishings and operations, and apparel, but lower for recreation. The food index rose 0.1 percent and the energy index decreased 1.0 percent from January to March. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent over the year. Food prices increased 11.3 percent. Energy prices declined 6.3 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, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, March 2020–March 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2020	1.2	2.0
May 2020	0.0	1.2
Jul 2020	-0.3	0.0
Sep 2020	1.9	2.4
Nov 2020	1.7	2.4
Jan 2021	1.6	1.6
Mar 2021	3.0	2.0
May 2021	4.6	3.6
Jul 2021	6.5	5.6
Sep 2021	5.4	3.7
Nov 2021	6.9	5.0
Jan 2022	7.2	5.7
Mar 2022	8.2	6.6
May 2022	8.7	5.8
Jul 2022	8.2	5.0
Sep 2022	7.4	5.3
Nov 2022	5.3	3.7
Jan 2023	5.1	3.8
Mar 2023	3.4	3.0

Food prices increased 0.1 percent for the two months ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) were unchanged, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 11.3 percent. Prices for food at home increased 12.7 percent since a year ago. All six major grocery store food group indexes were higher over the year. The index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) was up 13.9 percent and the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 10.9 percent over the year. Prices for food away from home rose 9.1 percent.

The energy index declined 1.0 percent for the two months ending in March. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for utility (piped) gas services (-16.7 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 4.7 percent, and prices for gasoline were up 2.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 6.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 4.8 percent, and prices for utility (piped) gas service advanced 1.5 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (0.4 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.9 percent), and apparel (3.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (3.2 percent) and other goods and services (9.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-10.9 percent).

The May 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Minneapolis 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 atwww.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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, LeSueur, Mille Lacs, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Washington, and Wright Counties in Minnesota; and Pierce and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.

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.