Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in August 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the August increase was mainly influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy, but price increases for the food index and energy index also contributed. (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 6.6 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.2 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 23.3 percent, while food prices rose 5.7 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.5 percent for the two months ending in August. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.8 percent, while prices for food at home rose 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 5.7 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 9.9 percent, and prices for food at home rose 2.5 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.8 percent for the two months ending in August. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+3.3 percent), but all energy subcomponents contributed to the rise. Prices for natural gas service increased 0.6 percent, and prices for electricity rose 0.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 23.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+46.3 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 14.7 percent, and prices for electricity increased 4.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in July and August. Higher prices for medical care (+3.5 percent), shelter (+0.6 percent), and new vehicles (+4.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.0 percent) and other goods and services (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.2 percent. Components driving the increase included new and used motor vehicles (+19.8 percent), shelter (+4.4 percent) and medical care (+4.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in recreation (-0.9 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-1.3 percent).

The October 2021 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 10, 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 -
	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Aug. 2020	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021
All items	247.777	-	250.237	6.6	1.0	-
All items (1967 = 100)	735.939	-	743.247
Food and beverages	276.077	-	280.034	5.3	1.4	-
Food	273.837	-	278.050	5.7	1.5	-
Food at home	248.635	251.131	252.002	2.5	1.4	0.3
Cereals and bakery products	217.073	-	225.636	1.2	3.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	278.350	-	282.360	4.7	1.4	-
Dairy and related products	157.618	-	160.823	-2.8	2.0	-
Fruits and vegetables	386.500	-	371.903	-0.1	-3.8	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	176.959	-	182.032	2.9	2.9	-
Other food at home	244.473	-	250.653	4.3	2.5	-
Food away from home	315.685	-	321.284	9.9	1.8	-
Alcoholic beverages	269.506	-	270.423	1.8	0.3	-
Housing	241.904	-	243.609	4.7	0.7	-
Shelter	281.873	282.576	283.586	4.4	0.6	0.4
Rent of primary residence	263.084	262.986	263.420	3.3	0.1	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	294.207	294.194	295.429	2.7	0.4	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	294.207	294.194	295.429	2.7	0.4	0.4
Fuels and utilities	256.083	-	257.818	7.5	0.7	-
Household energy	228.273	228.684	229.223	7.1	0.4	0.2
Energy services	230.930	231.340	231.895	7.0	0.4	0.2
Electricity	243.103	243.248	243.915	4.3	0.3	0.3
Utility (piped) gas service	167.784	168.589	168.848	14.7	0.6	0.2
Household furnishings and operations	127.831	-	129.496	3.3	1.3	-
Apparel	131.668	-	131.589	3.4	-0.1	-
Transportation	217.792	-	221.073	19.1	1.5	-
Private transportation	221.524	-	226.491	19.9	2.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	111.286	-	113.093	19.8	1.6	-
New vehicles(1)	227.711	-	236.783	14.2	4.0	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	428.902	-	426.601	32.4	-0.5	-
Motor fuel	269.958	275.921	278.684	46.4	3.2	1.0
Gasoline (all types)	265.513	271.484	274.256	46.3	3.3	1.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	255.639	261.437	264.098	47.2	3.3	1.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	314.880	321.737	325.379	42.7	3.3	1.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	271.348	276.894	279.747	37.8	3.1	1.0
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	576.931	-	576.931	-1.3	0.0	-
Medical care	478.199	-	495.017	4.8	3.5	-
Recreation(3)	120.537	-	119.283	-0.9	-1.0	-
Education and communication(3)	147.793	-	148.100	2.9	0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,271.500	-	1,290.590	2.3	1.5	-
Other goods and services	334.602	-	331.563	2.8	-0.9	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	202.741	-	205.511	10.1	1.4	-
Commodities less food and beverages	165.750	-	167.951	13.0	1.3	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	217.726	-	219.230	12.0	0.7	-
Durables	115.633	-	117.865	14.0	1.9	-
Services	294.559	-	296.803	4.5	0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	238.188	-	240.956	7.5	1.2	-
All items less medical care	236.155	-	237.938	6.7	0.8	-
Commodities less food	170.086	-	172.264	12.4	1.3	-
Nondurables	247.202	-	249.906	8.2	1.1	-
Nondurables less food	222.613	-	224.077	10.9	0.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	315.578	-	318.421	4.6	0.9	-
Services less medical care services	276.729	-	277.514	4.2	0.3	-
Energy	248.306	251.183	252.712	23.3	1.8	0.6
All items less energy	251.281	-	253.604	5.3	0.9	-
All items less food and energy	247.535	-	249.579	5.2	0.8	-
(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.