Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.5 percent for the two months ending in October 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the October decrease was influenced by lower prices for energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 0.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent over the year. Food prices rose 1.1 percent. Energy prices decreased 5.3 percent, largely the result of lower prices for gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.3 percent for the two months ending in October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.6 percent and prices for food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 1.1 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 0.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 1.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 11.2 percent for the two months ending in October. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-25.0 percent). Prices for gasoline also declined (-5.5 percent). In contrast, prices for natural gas service advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 5.3 percent over the year, largely attributable to lower prices for gasoline (-7.9 percent). Prices paid for electricity decreased 1.1 percent, and prices for natural gas service declined 2.3 percent over the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (2.5 percent) and education and communication (1.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-4.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent led by higher prices for shelter (1.3 percent). Offsetting movements were recorded in the indexes for apparel (-13.6 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-2.2 percent).

The St. Louis metropolitan area Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) stood at 231.653 in October 2019. A typical market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $231.65 in October 2019.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the St. Louis metropolitan area for October 2019 was 229.321.  The CPI-W declined 0.7 percent over the two months and rose 0.4 percent over the year.

The December 2019 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on January 14, 2020.

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 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 -
	Aug. 2019	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019	Oct. 2018	Aug. 2019	Sep. 2019
All items	232.882	-	231.653	0.5	-0.5	-
All items (1967 = 100)	691.699	-	688.049
Food and beverages	256.207	-	256.139	1.1	0.0	-
Food	256.511	-	255.736	1.1	-0.3	-
Food at home	231.316	232.892	230.013	0.4	-0.6	-1.2
Cereals and bakery products	211.448	-	200.128	-5.9	-5.4	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	238.699	-	249.357	3.1	4.5	-
Dairy and related products	162.552	-	161.166	-1.6	-0.9	-
Fruits and vegetables	354.619	-	347.061	0.8	-2.1	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	173.640	-	173.237	0.9	-0.2	-
Other food at home	229.626	-	227.101	1.3	-1.1	-
Food away from home	298.128	-	298.128	1.9	0.0	-
Alcoholic beverages	224.785	-	232.455	1.4	3.4	-
Housing	229.429	-	225.242	0.5	-1.8	-
Shelter	267.877	267.036	267.568	1.3	-0.1	0.2
Rent of primary residence	243.739	245.725	246.825	2.3	1.3	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	278.406	279.046	279.567	2.2	0.4	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	278.406	279.046	279.567	2.2	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities	238.679	-	209.974	-1.0	-12.0	-
Household energy	215.752	215.664	177.804	-1.6	-17.6	-17.6
Energy services	218.661	218.527	179.451	-1.5	-17.9	-17.9
Electricity	235.749	235.366	176.808	-1.1	-25.0	-24.9
Utility (piped) gas service	151.155	151.458	151.817	-2.3	0.4	0.2
Household furnishings and operations	121.105	-	120.760	-2.2	-0.3	-
Apparel	138.721	-	137.927	-13.6	-0.6	-
Transportation	193.756	-	192.795	0.1	-0.5	-
Private transportation	195.369	-	194.464	-0.1	-0.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	93.513	-	93.141	1.5	-0.4	-
New vehicles(1)	206.160	-	207.469	0.3	0.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	310.871	-	297.724	2.0	-4.2	-
Motor fuel	242.297	233.882	229.277	-8.0	-5.4	-2.0
Gasoline (all types)	238.498	229.921	225.314	-7.9	-5.5	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	228.988	220.738	216.230	-8.2	-5.6	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	286.742	277.549	272.004	-6.2	-5.1	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	250.201	240.639	237.022	-6.0	-5.3	-1.5
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	578.479	-	574.694	-2.1	-0.7	-
Medical care	466.802	-	466.853	-0.7	0.0	-
Recreation(3)	115.229	-	118.125	2.9	2.5	-
Education and communication(3)	137.599	-	140.255	3.0	1.9	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,234.297	-	1,259.486	-	2.0	-
Other goods and services	332.687	-	335.673	4.4	0.9	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	188.664	-	186.785	-1.1	-1.0	-
Commodities less food and beverages	154.745	-	152.280	-2.5	-1.6	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	212.727	-	208.883	-4.1	-1.8	-
Durables	102.744	-	101.399	-0.3	-1.3	-
Services	278.435	-	277.824	1.5	-0.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	222.670	-	221.131	0.1	-0.7	-
All items less medical care	221.171	-	219.863	0.6	-0.6	-
Commodities less food	157.969	-	155.799	-2.3	-1.4	-
Nondurables	235.155	-	233.079	-1.4	-0.9	-
Nondurables less food	214.744	-	211.695	-3.7	-1.4	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	296.826	-	295.914	1.7	-0.3	-
Services less medical care services	261.323	-	260.519	2.0	-0.3	-
Energy	227.940	223.740	202.464	-5.3	-11.2	-9.5
All items less energy	236.354	-	237.510	1.0	0.5	-
All items less food and energy	233.052	-	234.525	1.0	0.6	-
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.