Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.1 percent for the two months ending in April 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the April increase was most influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy, though higher prices for energy were another major factor. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 5.4 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent over the year, as food prices increased 0.9 percent. Energy prices jumped 23.6 percent during the previous 12 months. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.3 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 1.1 percent, while prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 0.9 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 3.1 percent, while prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 9.9 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline, up 16.3 percent, but prices for natural gas service also jumped, up 11.2 percent. In contrast, prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices surged 23.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (47.0 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service also jumped, up 14.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (6.8 percent) and shelter (1.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent. Components contributing the most to the increase included shelter (4.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (13.5 percent). The 0.2-percent decrease in prices for other goods and services did little to slow the advance.

The June 2021 Consumer Price Index for St. Louis is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.

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 U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

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 individuals with sensory impairments 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. 2021	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	Apr. 2020	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021
All items	237.018	-	242.022	5.4	2.1	-
All items (1967 = 100)	703.982	-	718.845
Food and beverages	266.897	-	267.772	1.3	0.3	-
Food	263.996	-	264.860	0.9	0.3	-
Food at home	246.403	243.976	245.728	-0.7	-0.3	0.7
Cereals and bakery products	219.808	-	221.770	-0.2	0.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	263.171	-	262.561	0.5	-0.2	-
Dairy and related products	154.807	-	159.984	-9.6	3.3	-
Fruits and vegetables	396.586	-	378.871	-3.3	-4.5	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	177.135	-	177.892	2.1	0.4	-
Other food at home	244.072	-	245.235	1.6	0.5	-
Food away from home	293.493	-	296.850	3.1	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	268.087	-	268.977	4.9	0.3	-
Housing	231.725	-	234.739	4.0	1.3	-
Shelter	275.314	275.591	278.951	4.0	1.3	1.2
Rent of primary residence	256.277	256.684	256.799	2.4	0.2	0.0
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	289.961	290.372	291.760	2.4	0.6	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	289.961	290.372	291.760	2.4	0.6	0.5
Fuels and utilities	215.767	-	221.347	6.1	2.6	-
Household energy	179.564	180.700	186.306	5.8	3.8	3.1
Energy services	181.253	182.000	187.800	5.6	3.6	3.2
Electricity	179.490	179.565	179.503	1.5	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	151.771	153.576	168.732	14.5	11.2	9.9
Household furnishings and operations	124.365	-	124.335	2.5	0.0	-
Apparel	133.411	-	132.545	7.5	-0.6	-
Transportation	191.500	-	207.294	17.5	8.2	-
Private transportation	195.062	-	209.961	17.2	7.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	96.793	-	103.373	13.5	6.8	-
New vehicles(1)	217.504	-	223.085	8.4	2.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	322.511	-	364.324	21.6	13.0	-
Motor fuel	217.741	251.433	253.379	46.6	16.4	0.8
Gasoline (all types)	214.186	247.160	249.046	47.0	16.3	0.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	205.660	237.415	239.385	48.2	16.4	0.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	258.595	298.258	298.417	40.4	15.4	0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	223.748	256.968	258.143	37.8	15.4	0.5
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	535.116	-	577.510	17.0	7.9	-
Medical care	478.977	-	479.250	1.7	0.1	-
Recreation(3)	122.357	-	124.949	3.4	2.1	-
Education and communication(3)	146.235	-	146.930	3.7	0.5	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,266.622	-	1,266.622	0.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services	334.102	-	335.147	-0.2	0.3	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	190.480	-	195.895	7.1	2.8	-
Commodities less food and beverages	153.122	-	159.801	10.7	4.4	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	205.000	-	215.022	13.3	4.9	-
Durables	104.886	-	108.918	8.3	3.8	-
Services	284.875	-	289.637	4.4	1.7	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	225.733	-	231.308	6.1	2.5	-
All items less medical care	224.898	-	230.104	5.8	2.3	-
Commodities less food	157.708	-	164.259	10.4	4.2	-
Nondurables	236.134	-	241.762	6.5	2.4	-
Nondurables less food	210.716	-	220.068	12.5	4.4	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	302.413	-	308.444	4.9	2.0	-
Services less medical care services	266.421	-	271.581	4.7	1.9	-
Energy	197.712	213.297	217.318	23.6	9.9	1.9
All items less energy	243.904	-	247.683	4.2	1.5	-
All items less food and energy	240.531	-	244.728	4.8	1.7	-
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.