The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston area increased 0.6 percent over the two months ending in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley attributed the rise primarily to higher prices for shelter that outweighed lower prices for 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 advanced 4.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.5 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.6 percent, and energy prices declined 0.4 percent. (See table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, May 2021–May 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jul 2023	2.8	4.0
Sep 2023	2.6	3.0
Nov 2023	2.4	3.4
Jan 2024	2.0	3.0
Mar 2024	3.3	4.4
May 2024	4.0	4.5

Food prices decreased 0.4 percent during the April-May pricing period, resulting from a 1.4-percent price decline for food at home that was tempered by a 0.8-percent rise in prices for food away from home. Among the six grocery classifications, four had lower prices, led by a 5.5-percent reduction in prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials.

For the year ended in May 2024, the food index rose 2.6 percent, reflecting price increases for both food away from home (6.0 percent) and food at home (0.8 percent).

The energy index decreased 1.0 percent over the two-month pricing period. An 8.8-percent drop in prices for household energy was moderated by a 9.8-percent rise in prices for gasoline. A seasonal decline in natural gas prices (-26.9 percent) accounted for most of the household energy decline; prices also decreased for electricity (-0.1 percent) and fuel oil.

Over the year, the energy index declined 0.4 percent. Lower prices for household energy (-4.2 percent) were largely offset by a 3.1-percent increase in gasoline prices. A 9.4-percent fall in electricity prices contributed to the reduction in household energy prices. In contrast, prices for natural gas rose 3.1 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent during the April-May pricing period. A 1.4-percent rise in shelter included increases of 1.7 percent for owners’ equivalent rent and 1.3 percent for rent of primary residence. Higher prices were also recorded for medical care (1.4 percent), education and communication (1.0 percent), and public transportation, including airline fares. These increases were partially counterbalanced by a 2.9-percent fall in prices for household furnishings and operations. Additionally, apparel prices, often down at this time of year, declined 1.9 percent.

From May 2023 to May 2024, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.5 percent, led by a 7.7-percent rise in prices for shelter. The shelter advance reflected increases in owners’ equivalent rent (6.7 percent), rent of primary residence (7.2 percent), and lodging away from home. Medical care prices rose 2.8 percent.

The July 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Boston area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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.