The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Denver area turned up 1.3 percent over the two months ended in March 2019 after declining 1.0 percent in the prior period, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter, gasoline, and apparel. Overall, energy costs were up 5.4 percent. Food prices crept up 0.1 percent and the all items less food and energy index rose 1.2 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 1.4 percent as lower prices for energy (-5.1 percent) and apparel (-5.9 percent) moderated the overall increase. Prices for food were down 0.2 percent over the year while the index for all items less food and energy was up 2.1 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were little changed, up 0.1 percent, during the February-March period. Prices for food at home also registered little change (-0.1 percent), but prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent.

Over the year, the food index edged down 0.2 percent as food at home prices declined 1.4 percent.  Costs for food away from home rose 1.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 5.4 percent over the two-month pricing period, largely due to a 9.6-percent increase in prices for gasoline.  Electricity costs recorded an increase of 0.8 percent over the two-month period. Prices for utility (piped) gas service were down 0.3 percent.

Over the year, the energy index decreased 5.1 percent reflecting lower prices for all major components. Prices for gasoline were down 4.6 percent, electricity costs declined 6.0 percent, and utility (piped) gas service prices were 5.5 percent lower.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy turned up 1.2 percent during the most recent two-month period. Shelter (0.8 percent) and apparel prices (10.2 percent) were among those that contributed to the increase, while other goods and services (-2.2 percent) was among the indexes that registered lower prices over the period.

From March 2018 to March 2019, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent. The broad-based increase was led by higher prices for shelter (2.3 percent) and medical care (4.0 percent). Apparel prices declined 5.9 percent and had the largest offsetting movement over the year.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metropolitan area for March 2019 was 254.616.  The CPI-W increased 1.3 percent over the two months and rose 1.5 percent over the year.

The Consumer Price Index for April 2019 is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 10, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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 ww.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area is comprised of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park counties in Colorado.

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