The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., metropolitan area increased 1.7 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that while the increase was broad based, higher costs for shelter (2.5 percent) and gasoline (11.0 percent) had the largest upward impacts on the index. The energy index rose 5.6 percent and food prices were 2.4 percent higher. The all items less food and energy index advanced 1.2 percent over the year.

Food

Food prices rose 2.4 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017 after registering little change (-0.1 percent) in the same period one year ago. Costs for food at home were 2.2 percent higher and prices for food away from home rose 2.6 percent over the year. These compared with changes of -1.5 and 1.9 percent, respectively, in the same period one year ago.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, was up 5.6 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, following a modest decline of 0.3 percent in the same period one year ago. The advance was largely attributable to an increase of 11.0 percent in prices for gasoline, though costs for utility (piped) gas service were up 6.9 percent and also contributed to the rise. Prices for electricity were 1.4 percent lower over the year, with all of the decline occurring during the first half of the year. During the same period one year ago, gasoline costs declined 7.2 percent, prices for utility (piped) gas service were up 3.4 percent, and electricity costs rose 6.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, after registering a gain of 1.4 percent in the same period one year ago. Shelter costs advanced 2.5 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 recreation (1.8 percent) and other goods and services (1.5 percent). In contrast, prices for household furnishings and operations (-2.3 percent) were among those that declined over the period.

The Kansas City CPI-U stood at 228.995 for the second half of 2017. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $229.00 in the second 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 second half of 2017 was 219.305. The CPI-W increased 1.8 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017.

The Consumer Price Index for Kansas City will be discontinued after this release.

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.

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