The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington fell 0.2 percent in December and January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that a 7.5-percent decline in the energy index, more than offset increases in the indexes for food and for all items less food and energy, up 0.5 and 0.3 percent, respectively. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, short-term changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

During the year ended in January 2019, the all items CPI-U rose 2.1 percent and the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. This is the third consecutive period in which the index for all items less food and energy has risen at a faster 12-month pace than the all items index. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent in December and January, after falling 0.3 percent in October and November. The latest increase resulted from a 2.0-percent increase in prices for food away from home, as prices for food at home (grocery prices) fell 1.1 percent.

During the 12 months ended in January 2019, total food prices were up 0.5 percent. As with the bimonthly change, a 3.7-percent increase in prices for food away from home, countered a 2.7-percent decline in prices for food at home.

Energy

The energy index fell 7.5 percent in December and January, following an 8.2-percent decrease in October and November. The latest decline was almost entirely due to a 16.1-percent decline in motor fuel prices, though a 1.8-percent decrease in natural gas prices also contributed. In contrast, electricity prices rose 4.2 percent in December and January.

During the year ended in January 2019, the energy index fell 5.8 percent. The largest contributor was a 15.7-percent drop in motor fuel prices, but a 16.4-percent drop in natural gas prices was a smaller contributor to the decline. Electricity prices climbed 12.0 percent over the year, the largest 12-month increase since October 2013 (12.2 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in December and January, after rising 0.9 percent in October and November. A host of categories registered increases in the latest period, but the leading factors were higher prices for shelter (0.5 percent), apparel (3.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.7 percent), and education and communication (1.0 percent). Slowing these gains, prices fell for other goods and services (-0.3 percent).

From January 2018 to January 2019, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.1 percent. Higher shelter costs, up 3.7 percent, were responsible for the largest share of the annual rise, but a 9.2-percent increase in recreation costs was another large contributor.

The March 2019 Consumer Price Index for All Items for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is scheduled to be released Wednesday, April 10, 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 -
	Nov. 2018	Dec. 2018	Jan. 2019	Jan. 2018	Nov. 2018	Dec. 2018
All items	234.487	-	233.915	2.1	-0.2	-
All items (1967 = 100)	735.574	-	733.777
Food and beverages	252.570	-	253.699	0.4	0.4	-
Food	246.692	-	247.842	0.5	0.5	-
Food at home	209.703	207.815	207.414	-2.7	-1.1	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products	254.689	-	255.386	0.4	0.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	238.553	-	238.325	-1.7	-0.1	-
Dairy and related products	186.413	-	188.554	-4.0	1.1	-
Fruits and vegetables	195.843	-	191.876	-4.5	-2.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	179.588	-	171.776	-6.4	-4.3	-
Other food at home	198.122	-	195.766	-1.5	-1.2	-
Food away from home	302.492	-	308.627	3.7	2.0	-
Alcoholic beverages	329.958	-	330.069	-1.6	0.0	-
Housing	228.690	-	229.081	4.0	0.2	-
Shelter	252.334	252.281	253.551	3.7	0.5	0.5
Rent of primary residence	269.708	269.940	270.392	3.8	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	270.907	271.606	272.013	3.4	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	270.907	271.606	272.013	3.4	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities	251.857	-	243.801	7.4	-3.2	-
Household energy	209.152	209.689	216.014	7.0	3.3	3.0
Energy services	205.569	206.275	212.532	7.1	3.4	3.0
Electricity	196.499	196.576	204.829	12.0	4.2	4.2
Utility (piped) gas service	195.315	199.624	191.719	-16.4	-1.8	-4.0
Household furnishings and operations	124.697	-	126.822	2.4	1.7	-
Apparel	110.146	-	114.128	4.0	3.6	-
Transportation	205.162	-	197.285	-3.6	-3.8	-
Private transportation	208.334	-	200.653	-3.8	-3.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	107.477	-	107.152	0.3	-0.3	-
New vehicles(1)	201.776	-	204.666	-0.7	1.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	322.158	-	325.710	2.0	1.1	-
Motor fuel	217.586	189.578	182.556	-15.7	-16.1	-3.7
Gasoline (all types)	215.690	187.586	180.721	-16.0	-16.2	-3.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	206.837	179.313	172.667	-16.3	-16.5	-3.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	231.687	204.130	196.910	-14.1	-15.0	-3.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	236.110	210.719	203.841	-13.2	-13.7	-3.3
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	804.608	-	804.608	-2.3	0.0	-
Medical care	438.761	-	443.905	3.0	1.2	-
Recreation(3)	123.076	-	123.316	9.2	0.2	-
Education and communication(3)	132.065	-	133.328	-0.7	1.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,263.097	-	1,265.356	2.1	0.2	-
Other goods and services	406.857	-	405.655	2.2	-0.3	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	173.202	-	171.839	-1.1	-0.8	-
Commodities less food and beverages	137.704	-	135.701	-1.8	-1.5	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	171.368	-	164.360	-4.4	-4.1	-
Durables	109.012	-	110.870	1.3	1.7	-
Services	294.213	-	294.391	3.9	0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	226.803	-	225.385	1.2	-0.6	-
All items less medical care	224.556	-	223.721	2.0	-0.4	-
Commodities less food	142.578	-	140.554	-1.8	-1.4	-
Nondurables	208.424	-	204.611	-2.0	-1.8	-
Nondurables less food	178.704	-	171.709	-4.3	-3.9	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	351.677	-	350.185	4.1	-0.4	-
Services less medical care services	279.105	-	278.945	4.0	-0.1	-
Energy	214.857	199.773	198.826	-5.8	-7.5	-0.5
All items less energy	240.358	-	241.185	2.7	0.3	-
All items less food and energy	239.060	-	239.839	3.1	0.3	-
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.