The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the St. Louis metropolitan area rose 1.0 percent over the two months ended in April 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the increase was primarily due to higher prices for gasoline and shelter. Food prices turned down 1.2 percent after recording a 1.0-percent increase in the prior two month period.  Energy costs were up 13.4 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 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 1.0 percent. Prices for food increased 0.6 percent, but costs for energy were 2.4 percent lower. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 1.2 percent over the two months ended in April reflecting a 2.4-percent decrease in prices for food at home.

Over the year, the food index rose 0.6 percent. A decline of 1.7 percent in prices for food at home moderated the increase.

Energy

The energy index rose 13.4 percent over the two-month period due to a 27.0-percent increase in prices for gasoline. Prices for utility (piped) gas service and electricity declined 1.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, and did little to moderate the advance.

Over the year, the energy index declined 2.4 percent reflecting lower prices for utility (piped) gas service (-10.3 percent) and electricity (-5.6 percent).  Prices for gasoline were up 0.6 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent during the March-April period. Among the expenditure categories that registered higher prices were shelter (1.3 percent) and education and communication (1.6 percent), while lower prices for apparel (-10.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent) helped to offset the advance. 

From April 2018 to April 2019, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.4 percent due to broad-based increases led by higher prices for shelter, 4.3 percent.  Over the year, prices for apparel and household furnishings and operation were among those that recorded lower prices, 12.8 percent and 5.8 percent respectively.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the St. Louis metropolitan area for April 2019 was 228.690.  The CPI-W increased 1.1 percent over the two months and rose 0.8 percent over the year.

The Consumer Price Index for May 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 12, 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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods,
St. Louis, MO-IL (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Feb. 2019	Mar. 2019	Apr. 2019	Apr. 2018	Feb. 2019	Mar. 2019
All items	228.528	-	230.900	1.0	1.0	-
All items (1967 = 100)	678.765	-	685.811
Food and beverages	256.570	-	253.838	0.4	-1.1	-
Food	256.950	-	253.824	0.6	-1.2	-
Food at home	232.955	232.888	227.464	-1.7	-2.4	-2.3
Cereals and bakery products	214.444	-	203.420	-9.3	-5.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	247.932	-	243.239	-3.2	-1.9	-
Dairy and related products	146.322	-	154.485	-8.2	5.6	-
Fruits and vegetables	370.837	-	356.354	3.8	-3.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	175.345	-	171.294	-1.9	-2.3	-
Other food at home	227.014	-	220.889	1.5	-2.7	-
Food away from home	296.787	-	-	-	-	-
Alcoholic beverages	224.270	-	226.148	-2.3	0.8	-
Housing	223.254	-	224.788	1.9	0.7	-
Shelter	264.743	267.767	268.299	4.3	1.3	0.2
Rent of primary residence	243.822	244.572	243.981	2.7	0.1	-0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	277.456	278.694	278.786	3.7	0.5	0.0
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	277.456	278.694	278.786	3.7	0.5	0.0
Fuels and utilities	207.003	-	205.700	-2.8	-0.6	-
Household energy	177.312	176.139	175.731	-7.1	-0.9	-0.2
Energy services	178.877	177.701	177.236	-7.3	-0.9	-0.3
Electricity	174.763	173.922	174.001	-5.6	-0.4	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	153.797	152.274	150.983	-10.3	-1.8	-0.8
Household furnishings and operations	121.430	-	119.467	-5.8	-1.6	-
Apparel	161.344	-	143.685	-12.8	-10.9	-
Transportation	182.638	-	195.030	0.5	6.8	-
Private transportation	183.448	-	196.193	0.7	6.9	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	92.036	-	93.087	0.3	1.1	-
New vehicles(1)	207.124	-	203.498	-1.1	-1.8	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	297.778	-	302.163	0.7	1.5	-
Motor fuel	198.291	225.008	250.730	0.6	26.4	11.4
Gasoline (all types)	194.311	220.951	246.754	0.6	27.0	11.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	185.888	211.810	237.276	0.5	27.6	12.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	240.919	270.022	293.128	1.5	21.7	8.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	208.583	233.510	256.186	1.7	22.8	9.7
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	578.471	-	578.479	0.9	0.0	-
Medical care	459.675	-	459.819	1.9	0.0	-
Recreation(3)	117.137	-	116.212	-1.0	-0.8	-
Education and communication(3)	133.223	-	135.352	1.5	1.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,220.553	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services	336.586	-	-	-	-	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	185.385	-	187.863	-1.7	1.3	-
Commodities less food and beverages	150.266	-	154.563	-2.9	2.9	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	204.100	-	215.698	-1.8	5.7	-
Durables	101.348	-	100.568	-4.3	-0.8	-
Services	272.988	-	275.284	2.8	0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	217.887	-	219.882	-0.3	0.9	-
All items less medical care	216.945	-	219.458	0.9	1.2	-
Commodities less food	153.581	-	157.834	-2.9	2.8	-
Nondurables	230.743	-	235.604	-0.7	2.1	-
Nondurables less food	206.644	-	217.617	-1.8	5.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	289.008	-	290.107	1.4	0.4	-
Services less medical care services	256.051	-	258.480	2.9	0.9	-
Energy	186.915	199.520	212.017	-2.4	13.4	6.3
All items less energy	235.573	-	235.726	1.3	0.1	-
All items less food and energy	232.071	-	232.762	1.4	0.3	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on an March 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Index on a December 1993=100.
- Data not available.