The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington was unchanged in October and November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that declines in the indexes for energy and food, down 8.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively, were balanced by a 0.9-percent increase in the index for all items less food and energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, short-term changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

During the year ended in November 2018, the all items CPI-U rose 2.2 percent and the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent. The annual rates of gain for both series are below their recent peaks in May 2018. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices fell 0.3 percent in October and November, after rising 0.4 percent in August and September. The latest decline resulted from a 1.4-percent decrease in prices for food at home (grocery stores), as prices for food away from home increased 0.7 percent.

During the 12 months ended in November 2018, total food prices were virtually unchanged, edging up 0.1 percent. A 2.1-percent decline in grocery store prices was offset by a 2.5-percent increase in prices for food away from home.

Energy

The energy index fell 8.2 percent in October and November, following a 1.4-percent decrease in August and September. The 8.2-percent decline was the sharpest two-month decrease since August and September 2015. During the latest period, prices fell for all three of the major components within the energy index, but the largest contributor was a 13.3-percent decline in motor fuel prices. The cost of natural gas fell 4.4 percent and electricity prices were down 0.3 percent in October and November.

During the year ended in November 2018, the energy index increased 0.8 percent. A 6.4-percent increase in electricity prices was nearly offset by annual price declines in both natural gas (-16.4 percent) and motor fuel (-1.0 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent in October and November, after rising 0.6 percent in August and September. The leading factors in the latest advance were higher prices for shelter (0.5 percent), household furnishings and operations (3.9 percent), and recreation (2.9 percent). Also contributing to the current increase were higher costs for public transportation and for used cars and trucks. Slowing these gains, prices fell for apparel (-4.8 percent), education and communication (-2.3 percent), and new vehicles (-1.4 percent).

From November 2017 to November 2018, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.7 percent. Higher shelter costs, up 3.5 percent, were responsible for the largest share of the annual rise, but a 7.3-percent increase in recreation costs was another large contributor.

The January 2019 Consumer Price Index for All Items for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is scheduled to be released Wednesday, February 13, 2019.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise Counties.

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 and percent changes for selected periods,
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Sep. 2018	Oct. 2018	Nov. 2018	Nov. 2017	Sep. 2018	Oct. 2018
All items	234.563	-	234.487	2.2	0.0	-
All items (1967 = 100)	735.811	-	735.574
Food and beverages	253.652	-	252.570	0.2	-0.4	-
Food	247.544	-	246.692	0.1	-0.3	-
Food at home	212.576	208.131	209.703	-2.1	-1.4	0.8
Cereals and bakery products	255.424	-	254.689	-0.6	-0.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	245.949	-	238.553	-1.2	-3.0	-
Dairy and related products	190.021	-	186.413	-8.4	-1.9	-
Fruits and vegetables	203.360	-	195.843	-2.4	-3.7	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	181.064	-	179.588	-4.2	-0.8	-
Other food at home	195.793	-	198.122	-0.4	1.2	-
Food away from home	300.428	-	302.492	2.5	0.7	-
Alcoholic beverages	337.220	-	329.958	0.4	-2.2	-
Housing	225.016	-	228.690	4.0	1.6	-
Shelter	250.989	251.187	252.334	3.5	0.5	0.5
Rent of primary residence	269.313	268.644	269.708	4.2	0.1	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	269.186	269.314	270.907	3.3	0.6	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	269.186	269.314	270.907	3.3	0.6	0.6
Fuels and utilities	235.203	-	251.857	10.3	7.1	-
Household energy	211.188	210.300	209.152	2.6	-1.0	-0.5
Energy services	207.470	206.681	205.569	2.6	-0.9	-0.5
Electricity	197.125	197.636	196.499	6.4	-0.3	-0.6
Utility (piped) gas service	204.380	195.916	195.315	-16.4	-4.4	-0.3
Household furnishings and operations	120.018	-	124.697	0.9	3.9	-
Apparel	115.649	-	110.146	-1.7	-4.8	-
Transportation	211.906	-	205.162	0.3	-3.2	-
Private transportation	216.320	-	208.334	0.7	-3.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	107.283	-	107.477	2.5	0.2	-
New vehicles(1)	204.743	-	201.776	-0.8	-1.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	316.525	-	322.158	1.9	1.8	-
Motor fuel	251.061	249.964	217.586	-1.0	-13.3	-13.0
Gasoline (all types)	249.590	248.377	215.690	-1.2	-13.6	-13.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	240.043	238.847	206.837	-1.3	-13.8	-13.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	265.183	263.371	231.687	-0.9	-12.6	-12.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	266.800	265.933	236.110	-0.6	-11.5	-11.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	795.116	-	804.608	-1.1	1.2	-
Medical care	438.491	-	438.761	1.5	0.1	-
Recreation(3)	119.571	-	123.076	7.3	2.9	-
Education and communication(3)	135.131	-	132.065	-2.4	-2.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,264.621	-	1,263.097	1.9	-0.1	-
Other goods and services	408.710	-	406.857	3.2	-0.5	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	177.032	-	173.202	-0.1	-2.2	-
Commodities less food and beverages	142.078	-	137.704	-0.2	-3.1	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	182.561	-	171.368	-0.8	-6.1	-
Durables	108.088	-	109.012	0.4	0.9	-
Services	290.707	-	294.213	3.6	1.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	227.549	-	226.803	1.6	-0.3	-
All items less medical care	224.648	-	224.556	2.3	0.0	-
Commodities less food	147.073	-	142.578	-0.2	-3.1	-
Nondurables	215.701	-	208.424	-0.3	-3.4	-
Nondurables less food	190.047	-	178.704	-0.7	-6.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	344.871	-	351.677	3.7	2.0	-
Services less medical care services	275.518	-	279.105	3.7	1.3	-
Energy	234.111	233.105	214.857	0.8	-8.2	-7.8
All items less energy	238.686	-	240.358	2.3	0.7	-
All items less food and energy	237.023	-	239.060	2.7	0.9	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a February 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Index on a December 1993=100.
- Data not available.