The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for St. Louis rose 0.8 percent over the two months ended in February 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the increase was broad based with higher prices for shelter leading the advance. Food prices rose 1.0 percent and energy costs were up 0.8 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent over the two-month period. (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 0.7 percent. Prices for food increased 2.2 percent, but costs for energy were 10.5 percent lower. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.0 percent over the two months ended in February largely reflecting a 1.3-percent increase in prices for food at home. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent over the two months.

Over the year, the food index rose 2.2 percent as prices for food away from home increased 3.4 percent and prices for food at home rose 1.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.8 percent over the two-month period largely due to a 3.2-percent increase in prices for gasoline. Prices for electricity and utility (piped) gas service declined 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, and moderated the advance in energy costs.

Over the year, the energy index declined 10.5 percent reflecting lower prices for gasoline (-13.1 percent), utility (piped) gas service (-12.0 percent), and electricity (-5.7 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent during the January-February period. Shelter costs increased 0.7 percent and prices for medical care rose 1.1 percent. Lower prices for education and communication (-1.3 percent) helped to offset the advance.

From February 2018 to February 2019, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent largely attributable to higher prices for shelter (4.1 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for March 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 10, 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 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 www.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 St. Louis, MO-IL, area covered in this release includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois; and Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties and St. Louis City 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.