The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo., metropolitan area increased 1.0 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that higher costs for shelter (5.5 percent) were largely responsible for the overall increase. Costs for energy fell 21.7 percent, food prices rose 1.5 percent, and the all items less food and energy index advanced 3.2 percent.

 

Food

Food prices rose 1.5 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015, compared to a 2.0-percent gain in the same period one year ago. Costs for food away from home led the advance, rising 2.9 percent over the year. Higher prices for food at home (0.9 percent) also contributed to the increase. Comparatively, from the first half of 2013 to the first half of 2014, costs for food away from home rose 1.3 percent and prices for food at home were up 2.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, decreased 21.7 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015, following a gain of 3.9 percent in the same period one year ago. Falling prices for motor fuel (-32.4 percent), most of which occurred in the most recent six months of the period, were largely responsible for the decline in the energy component. The over-the-year drop in the motor fuel index was the largest recorded since 2009. Lower prices for utility (piped) gas service (-10.8 percent) and electricity (-1.8 percent) also contributed to the decrease. During the same period one year ago, motor fuel costs declined 0.6 percent, while the indexes for utility (piped) gas service and electricity rose 18.1 and 3.7 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015. Shelter costs had the greatest upward impact with an increase of 5.5 percent after rising 5.0 percent in the same period one year ago.

The Denver CPI-U stood at 238.086 for the first half of 2015. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $238.09 in the first half of 2015. Because metropolitan area CPI data are not adjusted for seasonal price variation, consumers and businesses should be cautious in drawing conclusions about long-term retail price trends from short-term changes in the area indexes.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo., metropolitan area for the first half of 2015 was 228.062. The CPI-W increased 0.8 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015.

The Consumer Price Index for the Second Half of 2015 is scheduled to be released in January 2016.

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/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 areas; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo., Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Weld Counties in Colorado.

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