Prices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.3 percent for the two months ending in July 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the energy index increased 6.0 percent and the food index increased 0.7 percent from May to July.  The all items less food and energy index increased 1.1 percent over the past two months. Within the all items less food and energy category, indexes were higher over the two-month period for recreation and shelter. (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 3.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.8 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.3 percent. Energy prices advanced 1.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, July 2021–July 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
May 2023	1.8	2.4
Jul 2023	1.0	2.4
Sep 2023	2.2	3.2
Nov 2023	2.8	3.7
Jan 2024	2.6	3.5
Mar 2024	2.7	3.2
May 2024	2.6	3.0
Jul 2024	3.5	3.8

Food prices rose 0.7 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) increased 1.0 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.3 percent. Prices for food at home rose 0.6 percent since a year ago. Four of the 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 2.6 percent, the index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 3.3 percent, and the index for cereals and bakery products increased 2.5 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.0 percent.

The energy index rose 6.0 percent for the two months ending in July. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (+10.3 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service advanced 9.2 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 2.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 1.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (+6.6 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service advanced 8.3 percent, while prices for gasoline declined 3.4 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (+9.2 percent) and shelter (+1.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for medical care (-0.5 percent) and apparel (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+5.9 percent) and recreation (+9.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-6.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.2 percent).

The September 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2024.

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 at www.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 consists of Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Le Sueur, 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.