Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.1 percent for the two months ending in February 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the food index increased 3.2 percent, and the energy index advanced 2.9 percent in January and February. The all items less food and energy index rose 0.6 percent over the past two months. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher for owners’ equivalent rent of residences and new and used motor vehicles. (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 8.2 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.3 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 26.7 percent, while food prices increased 10.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 3.2 percent for the two months ending in February 2022. Prices for food away from home (which includes restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 4.1 percent, while prices for food at home advanced 2.6 percent for the same period.

During the 12 months ending in February 2022, food prices rose 10.7 percent. Prices for food away from home jumped 15.5 percent over the year. Prices for food at home advanced 7.4 percent during the period.

Energy

The energy index advanced 2.9 percent in January and February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+7.0 percent), but prices for natural gas also contributed (+0.6 percent). Partially offsetting these increases, prices for electricity fell 2.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 26.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+42.5 percent), but all energy components contributed to the rise. Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 29.9 percent, and prices for electricity increased 3.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for owners' equivalent rent of residences (+1.4 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+2.9 percent), recreation (+2.4 percent) and apparel (+4.2 percent) were the largest contributors to the rise.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent. Components most contributing to the increase included shelter (+6.1 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+23.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (+7.6 percent).

The April 2022 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 11, 2022.

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 -
	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022	Feb. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022
All items	253.618	-	256.458	8.2	1.1	-
All items (1967 = 100)	753.287	-	761.724
Food and beverages	284.621	-	293.221	9.9	3.0	-
Food	283.364	-	292.335	10.7	3.2	-
Food at home	258.004	261.914	264.645	7.4	2.6	1.0
Cereals and bakery products	220.588	-	222.858	1.4	1.0	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	288.224	-	295.588	12.3	2.6	-
Dairy and related products	158.856	-	166.288	7.4	4.7	-
Fruits and vegetables	390.392	-	395.897	-0.2	1.4	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	185.598	-	190.213	7.4	2.5	-
Other food at home	261.046	-	269.395	10.4	3.2	-
Food away from home	325.506	-	338.856	15.5	4.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	267.057	-	270.516	0.9	1.3	-
Housing	247.260	-	247.101	6.6	-0.1	-
Shelter	292.213	290.229	292.140	6.1	0.0	0.7
Rent of primary residence	264.686	266.255	267.137	4.2	0.9	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	301.744	303.729	306.049	5.5	1.4	0.8
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	301.744	303.729	306.049	5.5	1.4	0.8
Fuels and utilities	236.790	-	234.832	8.8	-0.8	-
Household energy	203.818	204.606	201.491	12.2	-1.1	-1.5
Energy services	205.235	206.090	202.965	12.0	-1.1	-1.5
Electricity	189.720	190.020	185.283	3.2	-2.3	-2.5
Utility (piped) gas service	195.837	197.371	197.090	29.9	0.6	-0.1
Household furnishings and operations	133.287	-	133.856	7.6	0.4	-
Apparel	127.620	-	132.928	-0.4	4.2	-
Transportation	225.393	-	229.228	19.7	1.7	-
Private transportation	230.979	-	235.993	21.0	2.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	115.733	-	119.059	23.0	2.9	-
New vehicles(1)	236.440	-	244.585	12.5	3.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	447.161	-	458.607	42.2	2.6	-
Motor fuel	290.066	290.107	310.232	42.5	7.0	6.9
Gasoline (all types)	285.222	285.371	305.200	42.5	7.0	6.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	274.675	274.788	294.249	43.1	7.1	7.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	338.435	338.672	359.038	38.8	6.1	6.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	290.717	291.272	307.144	37.3	5.7	5.4
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	576.992	-	-	-	-	-
Medical care	493.886	-	492.716	2.9	-0.2	-
Recreation(3)	122.558	-	125.544	2.6	2.4	-
Education and communication(3)	150.171	-	151.595	3.7	0.9	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,299.397	-	1,299.706	2.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services	330.845	-	341.212	2.1	3.1	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	209.089	-	215.972	13.4	3.3	-
Commodities less food and beverages	170.974	-	176.868	15.5	3.4	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	223.640	-	234.413	14.3	4.8	-
Durables	119.754	-	122.220	16.5	2.1	-
Services	300.093	-	299.083	5.0	-0.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	242.429	-	246.271	9.1	1.6	-
All items less medical care	241.516	-	244.599	8.8	1.3	-
Commodities less food	175.115	-	180.992	14.8	3.4	-
Nondurables	254.424	-	264.249	11.9	3.9	-
Nondurables less food	227.899	-	238.230	13.1	4.5	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	315.545	-	313.598	3.7	-0.6	-
Services less medical care services	281.097	-	280.685	5.4	-0.1	-
Energy	243.454	243.945	250.460	26.7	2.9	2.7
All items less energy	258.154	-	260.702	6.9	1.0	-
All items less food and energy	254.010	-	255.577	6.3	0.6	-
(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.