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News Release Information

21-198-DAL
Wednesday, February 10, 2021

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

Consumer Price Index, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area – January 2021

Area prices rise 1.2 percent in December and January, up 1.5 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), advanced 1.2 percent for the two months ending in January 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that a 0.8-percent increase in the index for all items less food and energy was the leading factor in the rise, but higher prices for food and energy also contributed. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 1.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent over the year and food prices increased 3.9 percent. Partially countering these increases, energy prices declined 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.3 percent for the two months ending in January. Increased costs for food away from home, up 2.2 percent, accounted for the majority of the rise, but higher prices for food at home, up 0.4 percent, also contributed.

During the 12 months ending in January 2021, the index for food rose 3.9 percent, the largest 12-month increase since January 2012. The annual increase was driven primarily by a 7.0-percent rise in prices for food away from home, the largest increase since the year ending in February 1992. Higher prices for food at home, up 0.9 percent, also contributed.

Energy

The energy index rose 7.7 percent for the two months ending in January, after falling 3.5 percent in the two months ending in November. The increase was almost entirely due to higher prices for gasoline (16.4 percent), but higher prices for natural gas service (5.7 percent), and electricity (0.3 percent) also contributed.

From January 2020 to January 2021, the energy index declined 3.9 percent, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.9 percent), but electricity costs also declined (3.2 percent). Partially countering these decreases, prices paid for natural gas service jumped 21.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in December and January. The latest movement was fueled by higher prices for new vehicles (9.1 percent), household furnishings and operations (3.8 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent).  These increases were partially offset by lower prices for other goods and services (-1.4 percent), alcoholic beverages (-3.2 percent) and medical care (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent. The components most contributing to the increase included shelter (2.6 percent), new and used motor vehicles (4.6 percent) and household furnishings and operations (4.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in motor vehicle insurance (-9.4 percent), apparel (-5.3 percent) and recreation (-1.4 percent).

The March 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 13, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on January 2021 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 January 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, January 2021 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and GroupIndexesPercent change from -
Nov.
2020
Dec.
2020
Jan.
2021
Jan.
2020
Nov.
2020
Dec.
2020

All items

239.544-242.5131.51.2-

All items (1967 = 100)

751.437-760.750   

Food and beverages

266.862-269.3253.80.9-

Food

260.952-264.3373.91.3-

Food at home

214.505213.577215.4600.90.40.9

Cereals and bakery products

259.877-260.9613.20.4-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

241.507-245.2610.81.6-

Dairy and related products

200.033-196.393-1.4-1.8-

Fruits and vegetables

182.640-186.218-7.52.0-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

195.038-195.5647.30.3-

Other food at home

207.664-206.2363.7-0.7-

Food away from home

331.141-338.3277.02.2-

Alcoholic beverages

345.310-334.4113.0-3.2-

Housing

239.360-241.2232.60.8-

Shelter

268.961270.003270.0062.60.40.0

Rent of primary residence

289.780291.412291.6274.00.60.1

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

291.643292.528292.5853.40.30.0

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

291.643292.528292.5853.40.30.0

Fuels and utilities

250.978-252.9860.20.8-

Household energy

219.687223.059222.1650.01.1-0.4

Energy services

216.323219.681218.7900.11.1-0.4

Electricity

203.544203.458204.108-3.20.30.3

Utility (piped) gas service

224.452246.960237.31621.35.7-3.9

Household furnishings and operations

120.184-124.7444.73.8-

Apparel

104.399-103.592-5.3-0.8-

Transportation

189.428-199.436-1.35.3-

Private transportation

193.181-204.560-0.15.9-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

104.007-109.1754.65.0-

New vehicles(1)

184.465-201.3231.09.1-

Used cars and trucks(1)

356.593-351.60010.2-1.4-

Motor fuel

169.463180.192197.281-8.016.49.5

Gasoline (all types)

168.423179.069196.095-7.916.49.5

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

160.573171.122187.795-7.917.09.7

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

186.767196.038211.175-8.113.17.7

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

192.842201.360217.146-8.512.67.8

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

670.134-684.830-9.42.2-

Medical care

474.016-472.0412.0-0.4-

Recreation(3)

118.929-120.294-1.41.1-

Education and communication(3)

133.996-134.6031.50.5-

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,260.350-1,268.745-1.40.7-

Other goods and services

439.330-433.0571.0-1.4-

Commodity and service group

Commodities

172.047-176.7870.92.8-

Commodities less food and beverages

131.798-136.993-0.93.9-

Nondurables less food and beverages

160.422-166.158-4.33.6-

Durables

107.009-111.6693.24.4-

Services

305.283-306.5341.90.4-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

226.384-230.2850.91.7-

All items less medical care

228.244-231.4141.51.4-

Commodities less food

136.946-141.843-0.73.6-

Nondurables

208.098-212.502-0.12.1-

Nondurables less food

168.799-173.776-3.72.9-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

352.905-354.4270.80.4-

Services less medical care services

287.396-288.8371.70.5-

Energy

195.571202.614210.657-3.97.74.0

All items less energy

247.458-249.5251.90.8-

All items less food and energy

245.101-246.9711.60.8-

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: Wednesday, February 10, 2021