Prices in the Boston area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged for the two months ending in May 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that the May index reflected rising prices for shelter that were offset by declining prices for 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 advanced 3.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.3 percent over the year. Food prices rose 7.1 percent. Energy prices fell 9.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, May 2020–May 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2020	0.6	1.1
Jul 2020	0.8	0.8
Sep 2020	0.6	0.5
Nov 2020	0.4	0.4
Jan 2021	0.5	0.2
Mar 2021	1.3	0.4
May 2021	3.2	2.3
Jul 2021	4.3	3.3
Sep 2021	4.0	2.7
Nov 2021	5.3	3.3
Jan 2022	6.3	4.7
Mar 2022	7.3	5.2
May 2022	7.5	4.9
Jul 2022	7.0	3.9
Sep 2022	8.1	5.9
Nov 2022	7.0	4.7
Jan 2023	6.4	4.6
Mar 2023	4.7	4.1
May 2023	3.6	4.3

Food prices rose 0.4 percent for the two months ending in May. Prices for food away from home increased 1.6 percent for this period. This was partially offset by prices for food at home decreasing 0.2 percent, with decreases in three of the six grocery categories.

Over the year, food prices rose 7.1 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 6.7 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 8.0 percent.

For the two months ending in May, the energy index declined 10.2 percent, driven by a 17.3-percent decline in household energy. Within household energy, electricity charges fell 15.7 percent, and natural gas prices decreased 22.8 percent. Prices also declined for fuel oil. In contrast, gasoline prices increased 5.7 percent.

Energy prices fell 9.3 percent over the year, primarily due to lower prices for gasoline (-22.7 percent). Household energy prices rose 2.6 percent, as a 27.7-percent climb in electricity prices was partly offset by declines in natural gas (13.3 percent) and fuel oil.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent for the two months ending in May. Shelter prices rose 1.2 percent, with higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent (0.8 percent), residential rent (1.1 percent), and out-of-town lodging contributing to the advance. New and used motor vehicles prices rose 1.9 percent, and prices for other goods and services increased 2.6 percent. Lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.4 percent) and medical care (-0.6 percent) partially offset these increases.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.5 percent)—with increases reported for owners’ equivalent rent (6.8 percent) and residential rent (8.2 percent)— and other goods and services (10.7 percent).

The July 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Boston area is scheduled to be released on August 10, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Boston is published bi-monthly. 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, 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts and Rockingham and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.

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.