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News Release Information

15-2411-BOS
Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Consumer Price Index, Boston-Brockton-Nashua — November 2015

Area prices edged up 0.7 percent over two months; up 0.8 percent from a year ago

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston-Brockton-Nashua area edged up 0.7 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that the two-month increase was mainly due to higher prices paid by area consumers for energy, up 5.1 percent and medical care, up 4.9 percent. Lower prices for shelter, down 0.3 percent over two months, and prices paid for recreation, down 1.7 percent, partially offset this increase. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bimonthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months the Boston CPI-U rose 0.8 percent. The increase was largely attributable to higher shelter and food prices, up 3.5 and 2.0 percent, respectively. (See chart 1.) Lower energy prices paid by area consumers, down 19.2 percent, partially offset the modest increase.

 

Food

Food prices were unchanged since September. A rise in the prices for food away from home (0.3 percent), or restaurant prices, was offset by a decrease in grocery store prices, also known as food at home, down 0.1 percent over the two month period.

From November 2014 to November 2015 the index for food rose 2.0 percent due to higher grocery store prices (+1.2 percent) and higher restaurant prices (+3.4 percent).

Energy

The energy index was up 5.1 percent over the two months, mainly due to increases in the prices paid for utility piped gas (+54.1 percent) and electricity (+8.4 percent) as utilities introduced winter rate schedules. Decreases in prices paid for gasoline (-6.6 percent) partially moderated the rise in the energy index. Area motorists paid $2.172 per gallon of gasoline in November.

Energy prices were down 19.2 percent from a year ago, attributable to lower gasoline prices, down 26.7 percent. Contributing to the decline were lower prices paid by area consumers for utility (piped) gas, down 16.0 percent from one year ago and electricity, down 4.6 percent over the same period.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.5 percent from September. Increases in the indexes for medical care (+4.9 percent) and education and communication (0.6 percent) led the advance but were partially offset by decreases in the indexes for recreation (-1.7 percent) and shelter (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.7 percent, with higher shelter costs, rising 3.5 percent from November 2014, being the main cause of this increase. This marked the 53rd consecutive annual increase in the local shelter index.

CPI-W

In November, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 257.124. The CPI-W was up 0.7 percent over two months and increased 0.5 percent over the year.

The January 2016 Consumer Price Index for Boston-Brockton-Nashua is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 19, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).


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 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 change 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 https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together withweights 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 Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Mass.-N.H.-Maine-Conn. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties and parts of Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts; parts of Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire; part of York County in Maine; and part of Windham County in Connecticut.

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.

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Ma.-N.H.-Maine-Conn., (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)
Expenditure categoryIndexesPercent change from
 
Historical
data
Sep.
2015
Oct.
2015
Nov.
2015
Nov.
2014
Sep.
2015
Oct.
2015

All items

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256.643 258.4070.80.7 

All items (1967 = 100)

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745.940 751.066   
 

Food and beverages

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256.579 256.2961.7-0.1 

Food

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257.173 257.2422.00.0 

Food at home

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246.662246.632246.3411.2-0.1-0.1

Food away from home

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274.794 275.5993.40.3 

Alcoholic beverages

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253.893 249.978-1.7-1.5 
 

Housing

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256.768 259.1241.50.9 

Shelter

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307.111307.201306.1233.5-0.3-0.4

Rent of primary residence (1)

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315.203315.718315.2053.20.0-0.2

Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2) (3)

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326.383327.227327.7384.20.40.2

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2) (3)

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326.383327.227327.7384.20.40.2

Fuels and utilities

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220.976 249.237-11.112.8 

Household energy

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181.690179.747209.264-12.915.216.4

Energy services (1)

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185.573183.148220.257-8.218.720.3

Electricity (1)

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220.402218.187238.965-4.68.49.5

Utility (piped) gas service (1)

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116.755114.016179.878-16.054.157.8

Household furnishings and operations

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129.254 128.4261.0-0.6 
 

Apparel

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146.410 148.3610.01.3 
 

Transportation

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184.307 183.772-7.5-0.3 

Private transportation

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182.906 181.045-7.2-1.0 

Motor fuel

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200.126187.666186.961-26.7-6.6-0.4

Gasoline (all types)

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197.754185.427184.733-26.7-6.6-0.4

Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)

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191.421179.233178.658-27.6-6.7-0.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)

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211.864199.652198.423-25.2-6.3-0.6

Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)

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210.684199.652198.134-22.7-6.0-0.8
 

Medical care

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606.668 636.3286.64.9 
 

Recreation (6)

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117.436 115.4811.1-1.7 
 

Education and communication (6)

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155.090 155.9785.10.6 
 

Other goods and services

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445.508 448.7960.30.7 
 

Commodity and service group

 

Commodities

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188.975 187.504-2.7-0.8 

Commodities less food and beverages

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153.430 151.385-6.1-1.3 

Nondurables less food and beverages

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196.762 193.236-9.1-1.8 

Durables

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110.940 110.293-0.8-0.6 

Services

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317.564 322.4373.01.5 
 

Special aggregate indexes

 

All items less shelter

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239.422 242.298-0.51.2 

All items less medical care

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243.060 243.9300.40.4 

Commodities less food

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157.433 155.313-5.8-1.3 

Nondurables

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225.614 223.742-3.2-0.8 

Nondurables less food

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199.844 196.315-8.4-1.8 

Services less rent of shelter (2)

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345.711 358.1922.33.6 

Services less medical care services

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297.920 300.7982.41.0 

Energy

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188.409181.904198.064-19.25.18.9

All items less energy

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266.850 267.8862.60.4 

All items less food and energy

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269.289 270.5232.70.5 

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) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) This index series underwent a change in composition in January 2010. The expenditure class now includes weight from secondary residences, and has been re-titled "Owners' equivalent rent of residences." The item stratum "Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence" excludes secondary residences.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2015