Prices in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.4 percent for the two months ending in September 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the September increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 2.7 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.7 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 1.9 percent. Energy prices decreased 8.2 percent, largely the result of decreases in prices for gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.3 percent for the two months ending in September. Prices for food at home and food away from home each rose 1.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.9 percent. Prices for food at home were unchanged since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 4.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index was unchanged for the two months ending in September. Higher prices for electricity (5.1 percent) were offset by lower prices for gasoline (-2.4 percent) for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 8.2 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-12.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 0.8 percent, while prices for natural gas service declined 8.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.5 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (14.8 percent) and shelter (2.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-2.5 percent) and recreation (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (6.5 percent) and medical care (4.2 percent).

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area for September 2019 was 260.022.  The CPI-W increased 1.1 percent over the two months and rose 2.0 percent over the year.

The November 2019 Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area is scheduled to be released on December 11, 2019.

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 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 (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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