Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.3 percent for the two months ending in April 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the food index rose 3.5 percent, and the energy index increased 11.7 percent in March and April. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.2 percent over the past two months.  Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy sector, prices were higher for shelter and recreation. (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 8.4 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 28.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline, while food prices advanced 14.2 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 3.5 percent for the two months ending in April. Prices for food at home advanced 3.0 percent, and prices for food away from home rose 4.2 percent for the same period.

From April 2021 to April 2022, food prices jumped 14.2 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 18.9 percent, while prices for food at home increased 11.0 percent over the year.

Energy

The energy index jumped 11.7 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+18.9 percent), but all energy components contributed to the rise. Prices for electricity increased 5.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 1.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 28.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+45.7 percent), but all energy components contributed to the rise. Prices paid for natural gas service increased 18.6 percent during the past year, while prices for electricity rose 8.6 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (+1.0 percent), recreation (+3.2 percent), and medical care (+1.3 percent) were among the largest contributors to the rise. Partially offsetting these increases were lower prices for used cars and trucks (-2.8 percent), education and communication (-0.6 percent), and apparel (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent. Components most contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+5.8 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+15.4 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+8.0 percent).

The June 2022 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on July 13, 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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. 2022	Mar. 2022	Apr. 2022	Apr. 2021	Feb. 2022	Mar. 2022
All items	256.458	-	262.296	8.4	2.3	-
All items (1967 = 100)	761.724	-	779.064
Food and beverages	293.221	-	303.404	13.3	3.5	-
Food	292.335	-	302.568	14.2	3.5	-
Food at home	264.645	271.194	272.716	11.0	3.0	0.6
Cereals and bakery products	222.858	-	229.443	3.5	3.0	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	295.588	-	291.817	11.1	-1.3	-
Dairy and related products	166.288	-	171.165	7.0	2.9	-
Fruits and vegetables	395.897	-	411.926	8.7	4.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	190.213	-	203.633	14.5	7.1	-
Other food at home	269.395	-	280.476	14.4	4.1	-
Food away from home	338.856	-	353.093	18.9	4.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	270.516	-	278.991	3.7	3.1	-
Housing	247.101	-	249.820	6.4	1.1	-
Shelter	292.140	293.786	294.975	5.7	1.0	0.4
Rent of primary residence	267.137	266.721	268.280	4.5	0.4	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	306.049	306.602	308.731	5.8	0.9	0.7
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	306.049	306.602	308.731	5.8	0.9	0.7
Fuels and utilities	234.832	-	241.318	9.0	2.8	-
Household energy	201.491	206.436	209.063	12.2	3.8	1.3
Energy services	202.965	207.593	210.395	12.0	3.7	1.3
Electricity	185.283	192.525	194.970	8.6	5.2	1.3
Utility (piped) gas service	197.090	197.174	200.061	18.6	1.5	1.5
Household furnishings and operations	133.856	-	134.244	8.0	0.3	-
Apparel	132.928	-	131.301	-0.9	-1.2	-
Transportation	229.228	-	241.737	16.6	5.5	-
Private transportation	235.993	-	246.732	17.5	4.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	119.059	-	119.282	15.4	0.2	-
New vehicles(1)	244.585	-	247.211	10.8	1.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	458.607	-	445.947	22.4	-2.8	-
Motor fuel	310.232	370.288	369.890	46.0	19.2	-0.1
Gasoline (all types)	305.200	363.233	362.785	45.7	18.9	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	294.249	350.714	350.091	46.2	19.0	-0.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	359.038	423.680	424.645	42.3	18.3	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	307.144	359.453	361.227	39.9	17.6	0.5
Medical care	492.716	-	499.354	4.2	1.3	-
Recreation(3)	125.544	-	129.561	3.7	3.2	-
Education and communication(3)	151.595	-	150.627	2.5	-0.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,299.706	-	1,299.629	2.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services	341.212	-	355.361	6.0	4.1	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	215.972	-	222.250	13.5	2.9	-
Commodities less food and beverages	176.868	-	181.438	13.5	2.6	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	234.413	-	247.669	15.2	5.7	-
Durables	122.220	-	121.471	11.5	-0.6	-
Services	299.083	-	304.582	5.2	1.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	246.271	-	253.164	9.4	2.8	-
All items less medical care	244.599	-	250.425	8.8	2.4	-
Commodities less food	180.992	-	185.710	13.1	2.6	-
Nondurables	264.249	-	276.147	14.2	4.5	-
Nondurables less food	238.230	-	251.232	14.2	5.5	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	313.598	-	321.790	4.3	2.6	-
Services less medical care services	280.685	-	285.936	5.3	1.9	-
Energy	250.460	278.464	279.878	28.8	11.7	0.5
All items less energy	260.702	-	264.731	6.9	1.5	-
All items less food and energy	255.577	-	258.657	5.7	1.2	-
(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.