The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., metropolitan area increased 1.8 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that higher shelter costs (2.6 percent) had the largest upward impact on the index, while rising energy prices (9.2 percent) also contributed to the advance. Education and communication costs registered the largest offsetting movement with a decline of 6.9 percent. The all items less food and energy index, which includes shelter, rose 1.2 percent over the year.

Food

Food prices increased 1.3 percent from first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, after registering little change (-0.1 percent) in the same period one year ago. Costs for food at home turned up a modest 0.3 percent, while prices for food away from home advanced 2.6 percent for the 12 months ended with the first half 2017. During the same period one year ago, costs for food at home declined 1.4 percent and prices for food away from home rose 1.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, increased 9.2 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, after decreasing 11.3 percent in the same period one year ago. Rising prices for gasoline (14.0 percent) were largely responsible for the rise in the energy component, though higher costs for utility (piped) gas service (9.1 percent) and electricity (2.5 percent) also contributed to the increase. In the same period one year ago, prices for gasoline fell 18.1 percent, utility (piped) gas service prices declined 11.1 percent, and electricity costs were down 1.8 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.2 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, following an increase of 1.9 percent in the same period one year ago. Among the expenditure categories posting higher costs were shelter (2.6 percent) and medical care (6.3 percent). In contrast, the index for education and communication (-6.9 percent) was among the components that registered lower prices over the year.

The St. Louis CPI-U stood at 223.685 for the first half of 2017. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $223.69 in the first half of 2017. Because metropolitan area CPI data are not adjusted for seasonal price variation, consumers and businesses should be cautious in drawing conclusions about long-term retail price trends from short-term changes in the metropolitan area indexes.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., metropolitan area for the first half of 2017 was 221.049. The CPI-W increased 1.5 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017.

The Consumer Price Index for the Second Half of 2017 is scheduled to be released in January 2018.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 28 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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 areas; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., area covered in this release includes Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties in Illinois; and Crawford (part), 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.