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News Release Information

20-2213-DAL
Thursday, December 10, 2020

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (972) 850-4800

Consumer Price Index, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area – November 2020

Area prices down 0.5 percent in October and November, up 0.3 percent over the year

Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.5 percent for the two months ending in November 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that declines in the index for all items less food and energy, down 0.6 percent, as well as energy, down 3.5 percent, contributed to the decrease. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 0.3 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent over the year and food prices rose 2.7 percent. Partially countering these increases, energy prices fell 11.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.6 percent for the two months ending in November, the largest bimonthly increase since July 2008. Increased costs for food away from home, up 2.8 percent, accounted for the majority of the rise, but higher prices for food at home, up 0.5 percent, also contributed.

During the 12 months ending in November 2020, the index for food rose 2.7 percent. The rise reflected an increase in prices for both food away from home and food at home, which rose 4.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Energy

The energy index fell 3.5 percent for the two months ending in November, after rising 0.2 percent in the previous bi-monthly period. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for motor fuel (-6.5 percent), but lower prices for electricity (-1.6 percent) also contributed. Price increases for natural gas service (2.0 percent) partly offset these declines.

From November 2019 to November 2020, the energy index fell 11.2 percent, largely due to lower prices for motor fuel (-22.8 percent), but electricity costs also declined (-1.1). Prices paid for natural gas service climbed 10.2 percent over the past year, partially countering declines in the other energy sub-components.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.6 percent in October and November, after rising 0.5 percent in August and September. The latest movement was particularly fueled by lower prices for recreation (-6.6 percent), apparel (-4.0 percent), and household furnishings and operations (-2.6 percent).  These declines were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent. The components most contributing to the increase included shelter (2.8 percent), medical care (3.2 percent), and education and communication (2.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases for categories including apparel (-8.7 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-12.1 percent).

The January 2021 Consumer Price Index for All Items for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is scheduled to be released Wednesday, February 10, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on November 2020 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in November was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed. While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.


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

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 GroupIndexesPercent change from -
Sep.
2020
Oct.
2020
Nov.
2020
Nov.
2019
Sep.
2020
Oct.
2020

All items

240.658-239.5440.3-0.5-

All items (1967 = 100)

754.930-751.437   

Food and beverages

262.249-266.8622.51.8-

Food

256.831-260.9522.71.6-

Food at home

213.535215.570214.5050.80.5-0.5

Cereals and bakery products

258.480-259.8770.20.5-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

242.312-241.5073.9-0.3-

Dairy and related products

200.221-200.0330.2-0.1-

Fruits and vegetables

181.876-182.640-5.60.4-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

192.626-195.0383.81.3-

Other food at home

205.682-207.6641.71.0-

Food away from home

322.086-331.1414.72.8-

Alcoholic beverages

333.711-345.3100.83.5-

Housing

239.168-239.3602.60.1-

Shelter

267.555268.908268.9612.80.50.0

Rent of primary residence

288.439289.566289.7804.00.50.1

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

289.303290.839291.6433.20.80.3

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

289.303290.839291.6433.20.80.3

Fuels and utilities

252.456-250.9781.9-0.6-

Household energy

222.130221.604219.6870.4-1.1-0.9

Energy services

218.644218.266216.3230.5-1.1-0.9

Electricity

206.879206.231203.544-1.1-1.6-1.3

Utility (piped) gas service

220.117221.438224.45210.22.01.4

Household furnishings and operations

123.390-120.1841.3-2.6-

Apparel

108.744-104.399-8.7-4.0-

Transportation

191.911-189.428-7.8-1.3-

Private transportation

197.046-193.181-6.7-2.0-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

105.526-104.007-0.3-1.4-

New vehicles(1)

189.418-184.465-6.0-2.6-

Used cars and trucks(1)

358.036-356.59311.2-0.4-

Motor fuel

181.241175.630169.463-22.8-6.5-3.5

Gasoline (all types)

180.195174.624168.423-22.8-6.5-3.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

171.888166.643160.573-23.1-6.6-3.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

198.189192.084186.767-21.0-5.8-2.8

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

205.753198.633192.842-20.0-6.3-2.9

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

673.169-670.134-12.1-0.5-

Medical care

477.055-474.0163.2-0.6-

Recreation(3)

127.317-118.929-1.8-6.6-

Education and communication(3)

133.830-133.9962.00.1-

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,263.476-1,260.350-2.0-0.2-

Other goods and services

441.001-439.3303.3-0.4-

Commodity and service group

Commodities

173.663-172.047-2.1-0.9-

Commodities less food and beverages

135.314-131.798-4.9-2.6-

Nondurables less food and beverages

165.966-160.422-8.8-3.3-

Durables

108.915-107.009-0.1-1.7-

Services

305.909-305.2831.7-0.2-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

228.708-226.384-1.0-1.0-

All items less medical care

229.269-228.2440.1-0.4-

Commodities less food

140.174-136.946-4.6-2.3-

Nondurables

209.354-208.098-2.9-0.6-

Nondurables less food

173.560-168.799-8.0-2.7-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

356.856-352.9050.2-1.1-

Services less medical care services

287.906-287.3961.4-0.2-

Energy

202.664199.608195.571-11.2-3.5-2.0

All items less energy

248.120-247.4581.2-0.3-

All items less food and energy

246.465-245.1010.9-0.6-

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, December 10, 2020