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News Release Information

18-90-KAN
Friday, January 12, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Consumer Price Index, Kansas City – Second Half 2017

Prices increased 1.7 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., metropolitan area increased 1.7 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that while the increase was broad based, higher costs for shelter (2.5 percent) and gasoline (11.0 percent) had the largest upward impacts on the index. The energy index rose 5.6 percent and food prices were 2.4 percent higher. The all items less food and energy index advanced 1.2 percent over the year.

Food

Food prices rose 2.4 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017 after registering little change (-0.1 percent) in the same period one year ago. Costs for food at home were 2.2 percent higher and prices for food away from home rose 2.6 percent over the year. These compared with changes of -1.5 and 1.9 percent, respectively, in the same period one year ago.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, was up 5.6 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, following a modest decline of 0.3 percent in the same period one year ago. The advance was largely attributable to an increase of 11.0 percent in prices for gasoline, though costs for utility (piped) gas service were up 6.9 percent and also contributed to the rise. Prices for electricity were 1.4 percent lower over the year, with all of the decline occurring during the first half of the year. During the same period one year ago, gasoline costs declined 7.2 percent, prices for utility (piped) gas service were up 3.4 percent, and electricity costs rose 6.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017, after registering a gain of 1.4 percent in the same period one year ago. Shelter costs advanced 2.5 percent and had the largest upward impact on the all items less food and energy index. Other expenditure categories that registered higher prices over the year included recreation (1.8 percent) and other goods and services (1.5 percent). In contrast, prices for household furnishings and operations (-2.3 percent) were among those that declined over the period.

The Kansas City CPI-U stood at 228.995 for the second half of 2017. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $229.00 in the second 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 Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., metropolitan area for the second half of 2017 was 219.305. The CPI-W increased 1.8 percent from the second half of 2016 to the second half of 2017.

The Consumer Price Index for Kansas City will be discontinued after this release.

Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision for 2018

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As part of this new sample, the index for this area will be discontinued. The first indexes using the new structure will be published in February 2018. Additional information on the geographic revision is available at: www.bls.gov/cpi/additional-resources/geographic-revision-2018.htm.


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

The Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., area covered in this release includes Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas; and Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties 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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Kansas City, MO-KS (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
2nd half 2017 from-
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017
2nd half
2017
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017

Expenditure category

 
 

All Items

225.156 227.427 228.995 1.7 0.7

All items (1967=100)

668.568 675.312 679.970    

Food and beverages

256.807 259.643 262.447 2.2 1.1

Food

261.866 265.132 268.070 2.4 1.1

Food at home

246.847 250.847 252.274 2.2 0.6

Food away from home

286.005 288.017 293.492 2.6 1.9

Alcoholic beverages

197.672 196.696 198.194 0.3 0.8

Housing

217.805 220.122 222.000 1.9 0.9

Shelter

243.898 247.498 249.884 2.5 1.0

Rent of primary residence(1)

250.146 254.257 259.368 3.7 2.0

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

239.495 242.033 246.314 2.8 1.8

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

239.495 242.033 246.314 2.8 1.8

Fuels and utilities

239.664 238.324 245.716 2.5 3.1

Household energy

200.657 196.787 203.384 1.4 3.4

Energy services(1)

198.530 194.552 201.085 1.3 3.4

Electricity(1)

173.925 164.099 171.445 -1.4 4.5

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

181.844 192.035 194.479 6.9 1.3

Household furnishings and operations

121.934 122.255 119.081 -2.3 -2.6

Apparel

108.345 108.216 107.560 -0.7 -0.6

Transportation

189.955 194.005 195.396 2.9 0.7

Private transportation

186.884 191.039 193.121 3.3 1.1

Motor fuel

196.168 206.731 217.783 11.0 5.3

Gasoline (all types)

195.582 206.120 217.080 11.0 5.3

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

189.326 199.516 210.288 11.1 5.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

244.913 257.740 269.798 10.2 4.7

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

208.870 220.536 231.252 10.7 4.9

Medical Care

367.129 369.054 367.428 0.1 -0.4

Recreation(5)

129.729 129.927 132.053 1.8 1.6

Education and communication(5)

125.802 125.208 125.332 -0.4 0.1

Other goods and services

396.601 401.055 402.735 1.5 0.4
 

Commodity and Service Group

 
 

All Items

225.156 227.427 228.995 1.7 0.7

Commodities

181.170 181.617 181.612 0.2 0.0

Commodities less food & beverages

146.004 145.586 144.588 -1.0 -0.7

Nondurables less food & beverages

190.926 190.425 191.305 0.2 0.5

Durables

104.186 103.859 101.784 -2.3 -2.0

Services

267.781 271.758 274.795 2.6 1.1
 

Special aggregate indexes:

 
 

All items less medical care

217.118 219.411 221.165 1.9 0.8

All items less shelter

219.697 221.472 222.738 1.4 0.6

Commodities less food

147.970 147.532 146.624 -0.9 -0.6

Nondurables

222.629 223.683 225.465 1.3 0.8

Nondurables less food

192.001 191.458 192.392 0.2 0.5

Services less rent of shelter(2)

305.173 309.731 313.662 2.8 1.3

Services less medical care services

254.096 257.354 260.455 2.5 1.2

Energy

201.685 204.274 212.983 5.6 4.3

All items less energy

228.948 231.207 232.134 1.4 0.4

All items less food and energy

223.547 225.652 226.282 1.2 0.3

Footnotes
(1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

Table 2. Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Kansas City, MO-KS (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
2nd half 2017 from-
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017
2nd half
2017
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017

Expenditure category

 
 

All Items

215.325 217.374 219.305 1.8 0.9

All items (1967=100)

630.903 636.906 642.563    

Food and beverages

259.074 261.748 264.317 2.0 1.0

Food

263.141 266.333 268.988 2.2 1.0

Food at home

246.255 249.688 251.179 2.0 0.6

Food away from home

292.829 295.344 300.609 2.7 1.8

Alcoholic beverages

201.964 200.814 202.503 0.3 0.8

Housing

208.493 210.566 213.167 2.2 1.2

Shelter

230.802 233.969 237.442 2.9 1.5

Rent of primary residence(1)

250.146 254.257 259.368 3.7 2.0

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

218.045 220.356 224.254 2.8 1.8

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

218.045 220.356 224.254 2.8 1.8

Fuels and utilities

239.584 237.820 245.260 2.4 3.1

Household energy

200.849 196.781 203.444 1.3 3.4

Energy services(1)

199.245 195.037 201.649 1.2 3.4

Electricity(1)

173.927 164.101 171.447 -1.4 4.5

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

181.843 192.035 194.478 6.9 1.3

Household furnishings and operations

109.642 110.493 106.826 -2.6 -3.3

Apparel

100.626 99.366 100.023 -0.6 0.7

Transportation

173.435 176.683 178.497 2.9 1.0

Private transportation

171.970 175.253 177.198 3.0 1.1

Motor fuel

196.100 206.659 217.718 11.0 5.4

Gasoline (all types)

195.578 206.115 217.075 11.0 5.3

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

189.324 199.514 210.285 11.1 5.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

244.913 257.740 269.798 10.2 4.7

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

208.862 220.528 231.244 10.7 4.9

Medical Care

375.722 378.400 376.430 0.2 -0.5

Recreation(5)

127.213 127.171 128.149 0.7 0.8

Education and communication(5)

113.224 112.835 112.737 -0.4 -0.1

Other goods and services

431.505 437.862 441.675 2.4 0.9
 

Commodity and Service Group

 
 

All Items

215.325 217.374 219.305 1.8 0.9

Commodities

176.114 176.657 176.674 0.3 0.0

Commodities less food & beverages

139.455 139.358 138.656 -0.6 -0.5

Nondurables less food & beverages

187.785 188.033 190.503 1.4 1.3

Durables

104.610 104.342 102.052 -2.4 -2.2

Services

258.510 262.161 266.122 2.9 1.5
 

Special aggregate indexes:

 
 

All items less medical care

208.354 210.370 212.442 2.0 1.0

All items less shelter

210.429 212.058 213.406 1.4 0.6

Commodities less food

141.550 141.416 140.799 -0.5 -0.4

Nondurables

221.898 223.231 225.776 1.7 1.1

Nondurables less food

189.025 189.143 191.540 1.3 1.3

Services less rent of shelter(2)

267.682 271.575 275.757 3.0 1.5

Services less medical care services

244.933 247.940 251.958 2.9 1.6

Energy

198.213 201.196 209.964 5.9 4.4

All items less energy

219.457 221.427 222.641 1.5 0.5

All items less food and energy

210.677 212.459 213.466 1.3 0.5

Footnotes
(1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(2) Index is on a December 1984=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, January 12, 2018