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News Release Information

17-1003-KAN
Friday, July 14, 2017

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Consumer Price Index, Kansas City – First Half 2017

Prices increased 2.0 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., metropolitan area increased 2.0 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that higher costs for shelter (3.1 percent) and gasoline (18.0 percent) had the largest upward impacts on the index. Apparel (-6.2 percent) was among the expenditure categories that recorded lower prices and moderated the overall increase. The energy index rose 9.7 percent and food prices were up 0.9 percent. The all items less food and energy index advanced 1.5 percent over the year.

   
  Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Kansas City, first half 2014 - first half 2017

 

Food

Food prices rose a moderate 0.9 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017. Costs for food at home and food away from home rose 0.5 and 1.6 percent over the year, respectively. These compared with changes of 0.1 and 1.9 percent, respectively, in the same period one year ago.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, jumped 9.7 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017. The index for gasoline (18.0 percent) was largely responsible for the increase in energy prices and registered the first over-the-year increase since the first half of 2013. Costs for utility (piped) gas service (10.9 percent) also rose over the year while electricity (-0.1 percent) was virtually unchanged. During the same period one year ago, energy costs fell 8.5 percent as prices for gasoline and utility (piped) gas service declined 17.3 and 8.4 percent, respectively, while electricity prices rose 3.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017 after registering a gain of 1.6 percent in the same period one year ago. Shelter costs advanced 3.1 percent and had the largest upward impact on the all items less food and energy index. Other expenditure categories that registered higher prices over the year included medical care (3.8 percent) and other goods and services (1.4 percent). In contrast, prices for apparel (-6.2 percent) were among those that declined over the period.

The Kansas City CPI-U stood at 227.427 for the first half of 2017. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $227.43 in the first half of 2017. 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 metropolitan area indexes.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., metropolitan area for the first half of 2017 was 217.374. The CPI-W increased 2.0 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017.

The Consumer Price Index for the Second Half of 2017 is scheduled to be released in January 2018.

Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision for 2018

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As part of this new sample, the index for this area will be discontinued. The first indexes using the new structure will be published in February 2018. Additional information on the geographic revision is available at: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/additional-resources/geographic-revision-2018.htm .


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 approximately 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 Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., area covered in this release includes Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas; and Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Kansas City, MO-KS (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
1st half 2017 from-
1st half
2016
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017
1st half
2016
2nd half
2016

Expenditure category

 
 

All Items

222.963 225.156 227.427 2.0 1.0

All items (1967=100)

662.056 668.568 675.312    

Food and beverages

257.393 256.807 259.643 0.9 1.1

Food

262.669 261.866 265.132 0.9 1.2

Food at home

249.547 246.847 250.847 0.5 1.6

Food away from home

283.599 286.005 288.017 1.6 0.7

Alcoholic beverages

196.394 197.672 196.696 0.2 -0.5

Housing

214.379 217.805 220.122 2.7 1.1

Shelter

240.152 243.898 247.498 3.1 1.5

Rent of primary residence(1)

246.057 250.146 254.257 3.3 1.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

235.752 239.495 242.033 2.7 1.1

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

235.752 239.495 242.033 2.7 1.1

Fuels and utilities

229.021 239.664 238.324 4.1 -0.6

Household energy

189.950 200.657 196.787 3.6 -1.9

Energy services(1)

187.969 198.530 194.552 3.5 -2.0

Electricity(1)

164.219 173.925 164.099 -0.1 -5.6

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

173.163 181.844 192.035 10.9 5.6

Household furnishings and operations

123.940 121.934 122.255 -1.4 0.3

Apparel

115.314 108.345 108.216 -6.2 -0.1

Transportation

186.195 189.955 194.005 4.2 2.1

Private transportation

182.426 186.884 191.039 4.7 2.2

Motor fuel

175.268 196.168 206.731 18.0 5.4

Gasoline (all types)

174.716 195.582 206.120 18.0 5.4

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

168.989 189.326 199.516 18.1 5.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

220.676 244.913 257.740 16.8 5.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

187.095 208.870 220.536 17.9 5.6

Medical Care

355.503 367.129 369.054 3.8 0.5

Recreation(5)

131.011 129.729 129.927 -0.8 0.2

Education and communication(5)

125.488 125.802 125.208 -0.2 -0.5

Other goods and services

395.622 396.601 401.055 1.4 1.1
 

Commodity and Service Group

 
 

All Items

222.963 225.156 227.427 2.0 1.0

Commodities

181.264 181.170 181.617 0.2 0.2

Commodities less food & beverages

145.920 146.004 145.586 -0.2 -0.3

Nondurables less food & beverages

186.746 190.926 190.425 2.0 -0.3

Durables

106.664 104.186 103.859 -2.6 -0.3

Services

263.455 267.781 271.758 3.2 1.5
 

Special aggregate indexes:

 
 

All items less medical care

215.469 217.118 219.411 1.8 1.1

All items less shelter

218.087 219.697 221.472 1.6 0.8

Commodities less food

147.842 147.970 147.532 -0.2 -0.3

Nondurables

220.653 222.629 223.683 1.4 0.5

Nondurables less food

188.056 192.001 191.458 1.8 -0.3

Services less rent of shelter(2)

300.077 305.173 309.731 3.2 1.5

Services less medical care services

250.064 254.096 257.354 2.9 1.3

Energy

186.212 201.685 204.274 9.7 1.3

All items less energy

227.955 228.948 231.207 1.4 1.0

All items less food and energy

222.293 223.547 225.652 1.5 0.9

Footnotes
(1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

Table 2. Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Kansas City, MO-KS (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
1st half 2017 from-
1st half
2016
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017
1st half
2016
2nd half
2016

Expenditure category

 
 

All Items

213.196 215.325 217.374 2.0 1.0

All items (1967=100)

624.664 630.903 636.906    

Food and beverages

259.773 259.074 261.748 0.8 1.0

Food

264.135 263.141 266.333 0.8 1.2

Food at home

248.784 246.255 249.688 0.4 1.4

Food away from home

290.218 292.829 295.344 1.8 0.9

Alcoholic beverages

200.579 201.964 200.814 0.1 -0.6

Housing

205.214 208.493 210.566 2.6 1.0

Shelter

227.212 230.802 233.969 3.0 1.4

Rent of primary residence(1)

246.057 250.146 254.257 3.3 1.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

214.638 218.045 220.356 2.7 1.1

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

214.638 218.045 220.356 2.7 1.1

Fuels and utilities

228.864 239.584 237.820 3.9 -0.7

Household energy

190.110 200.849 196.781 3.5 -2.0

Energy services(1)

188.631 199.245 195.037 3.4 -2.1

Electricity(1)

164.221 173.927 164.101 -0.1 -5.6

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

173.162 181.843 192.035 10.9 5.6

Household furnishings and operations

112.441 109.642 110.493 -1.7 0.8

Apparel

106.550 100.626 99.366 -6.7 -1.3

Transportation

169.706 173.435 176.683 4.1 1.9

Private transportation

168.115 171.970 175.253 4.2 1.9

Motor fuel

175.213 196.100 206.659 17.9 5.4

Gasoline (all types)

174.712 195.578 206.115 18.0 5.4

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

168.987 189.324 199.514 18.1 5.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

220.676 244.913 257.740 16.8 5.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

187.088 208.862 220.528 17.9 5.6

Medical Care

363.653 375.722 378.400 4.1 0.7

Recreation(5)

129.432 127.213 127.171 -1.7 0.0

Education and communication(5)

113.167 113.224 112.835 -0.3 -0.3

Other goods and services

429.832 431.505 437.862 1.9 1.5
 

Commodity and Service Group

 
 

All Items

213.196 215.325 217.374 2.0 1.0

Commodities

176.358 176.114 176.657 0.2 0.3

Commodities less food & beverages

139.552 139.455 139.358 -0.1 -0.1

Nondurables less food & beverages

182.878 187.785 188.033 2.8 0.1

Durables

107.286 104.610 104.342 -2.7 -0.3

Services

253.865 258.510 262.161 3.3 1.4
 

Special aggregate indexes:

 
 

All items less medical care

206.612 208.354 210.370 1.8 1.0

All items less shelter

208.849 210.429 212.058 1.5 0.8

Commodities less food

141.595 141.550 141.416 -0.1 -0.1

Nondurables

219.429 221.898 223.231 1.7 0.6

Nondurables less food

184.447 189.025 189.143 2.5 0.1

Services less rent of shelter(2)

262.283 267.682 271.575 3.5 1.5

Services less medical care services

240.561 244.933 247.940 3.1 1.2

Energy

182.606 198.213 201.196 10.2 1.5

All items less energy

218.758 219.457 221.427 1.2 0.9

All items less food and energy

209.765 210.677 212.459 1.3 0.8

Footnotes
(1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(2) Index is on a December 1984=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 14, 2017