Prices in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.2 percent for the two months ending in October 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that food prices increased 1.5 percent, and the energy index rose 2.0 percent from August to October. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.1 percent over the past two months due to a rise in the categories for shelter, other goods and services, and apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 5.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.)  The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.5 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 26.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 7.4 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, October 2018–October 2021

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Oct 2018	1.9	1.5
Dec 2018	1.2	2.1
Feb 2019	1.2	2.3
Apr 2019	1.0	1.2
Jun 2019	0.1	0.4
Aug 2019	1.4	1.7
Oct 2019	2.4	2.8
Dec 2019	2.5	1.8
Feb 2020	2.6	2.3
Apr 2020	-0.8	0.6
Jun 2020	0.5	1.3
Aug 2020	1.8	2.8
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

Food

Food prices increased 1.5 percent for the two months ending in October. Prices for food at home (groceries) increased 1.3 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 1.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 7.4 percent. Prices for food at home increased 7.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 7.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.0 percent for the two months ending in October. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (10.1 percent). Prices for electricity increased 1.0 percent, while prices for gasoline decreased 0.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 26.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (55.8 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service rose 14.3 percent, and prices for electricity rose 2.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (0.8 percent), other goods and services (5.1 percent), and apparel (6.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for motor vehicle insurance (-2.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (6.1 percent) and used cars and trucks (26.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-8.3 percent).

The December 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

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 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, 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 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, Core Based Statistical 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.