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News Release Information

19-793-KAN
Friday, May 10, 2019

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Consumer Price Index, St. Louis – April 2019

Area prices rose 1.0 percent over the two months; up 1.0 percent over the year

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 GroupIndexesPercent change from -
Feb.
2019
Mar.
2019
Apr.
2019
Apr.
2018
Feb.
2019
Mar.
2019

All items

228.528-230.9001.01.0-

All items (1967 = 100)

678.765-685.811   

Food and beverages

256.570-253.8380.4-1.1-

Food

256.950-253.8240.6-1.2-

Food at home

232.955232.888227.464-1.7-2.4-2.3

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

146.322-154.485-8.25.6-

Fruits and vegetables

370.837-356.3543.8-3.9-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

175.345-171.294-1.9-2.3-

Other food at home

227.014-220.8891.5-2.7-

Food away from home

296.787-----

Alcoholic beverages

224.270-226.148-2.30.8-

Housing

223.254-224.7881.90.7-

Shelter

264.743267.767268.2994.31.30.2

Rent of primary residence

243.822244.572243.9812.70.1-0.2

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

277.456278.694278.7863.70.50.0

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

277.456278.694278.7863.70.50.0

Fuels and utilities

207.003-205.700-2.8-0.6-

Household energy

177.312176.139175.731-7.1-0.9-0.2

Energy services

178.877177.701177.236-7.3-0.9-0.3

Electricity

174.763173.922174.001-5.6-0.40.0

Utility (piped) gas service

153.797152.274150.983-10.3-1.8-0.8

Household furnishings and operations

121.430-119.467-5.8-1.6-

Apparel

161.344-143.685-12.8-10.9-

Transportation

182.638-195.0300.56.8-

Private transportation

183.448-196.1930.76.9-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

92.036-93.0870.31.1-

New vehicles(1)

207.124-203.498-1.1-1.8-

Used cars and trucks(1)

297.778-302.1630.71.5-

Motor fuel

198.291225.008250.7300.626.411.4

Gasoline (all types)

194.311220.951246.7540.627.011.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

185.888211.810237.2760.527.612.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

240.919270.022293.1281.521.78.6

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

208.583233.510256.1861.722.89.7

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

578.471-578.4790.90.0-

Medical care

459.675-459.8191.90.0-

Recreation(3)

117.137-116.212-1.0-0.8-

Education and communication(3)

133.223-135.3521.51.6-

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,220.553-----

Other goods and services

336.586-----

Commodity and service group

Commodities

185.385-187.863-1.71.3-

Commodities less food and beverages

150.266-154.563-2.92.9-

Nondurables less food and beverages

204.100-215.698-1.85.7-

Durables

101.348-100.568-4.3-0.8-

Services

272.988-275.2842.80.8-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

217.887-219.882-0.30.9-

All items less medical care

216.945-219.4580.91.2-

Commodities less food

153.581-157.834-2.92.8-

Nondurables

230.743-235.604-0.72.1-

Nondurables less food

206.644-217.617-1.85.3-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

289.008-290.1071.40.4-

Services less medical care services

256.051-258.4802.90.9-

Energy

186.915199.520212.017-2.413.46.3

All items less energy

235.573-235.7261.30.1-

All items less food and energy

232.071-232.7621.40.3-

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, May 10, 2019