Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.2 percent for the two months ending in February 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the February increase was most influenced by higher prices for energy and for all items less food and energy. (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 1.6 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.8 percent over the year and energy prices increased 2.7 percent. In contrast, food prices fell 0.4 percent during the period. (See table 1.)

  

Food

Food prices increased 0.9 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.5 percent and prices for food away from home crept up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices decreased 0.4 percent. Prices for food away from home declined 3.1 percent, while prices for food at home rose 1.7 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 8.9 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (17.7 percent). Prices for electricity also advanced, 1.7 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 1.9 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 2.7 percent over the year, led by to higher prices for gasoline (4.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service also advanced, up 1.7 percent, and prices for electricity increased 0.5 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 medical care (3.1 percent) and apparel (7.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for shelter (-0.7 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.8 percent. Components contributing the most to the increase included shelter (2.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (6.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-8.1 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-10.4 percent).

The April 2021 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 12, 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.