Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.6 percent for the two months ending in January 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that a 1.5-percent increase in the index for all items less food and energy was the leading factor in the rise, but higher prices for food 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 7.8 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent over the year, while energy prices jumped 31.8 percent. Food prices rose 6.0 percent annually, the largest rise since September 2008. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 2.8 percent for the two months ending in January. The index for food at home increased 3.4 percent, mainly due to price increases for fruits and vegetables. The index for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 2.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 6.0 percent. The index for food at home jumped 10.5 percent, mainly due to an increase in prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. The index for food away from home increased 1.4 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in January, mainly due to higher prices for electricity (+5.5 percent). Partially offsetting this increase, declines in prices for both gasoline (-2.3 percent) and natural gas service (-3.7 percent) occurred for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 31.8 percent over the year, with all energy components contributing. This rise was largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+42.8 percent), but jumps in prices for electricity (+23.4 percent) and natural gas service (+15.5 percent) also occurred during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent in December and January, after rising 0.7 percent in October and November. Higher prices for shelter (+1.3 percent), medical care (+2.3 percent), and used cars and trucks (+5.0 percent) contributed most to the rise.  Lower prices for new vehicles (-2.1 percent) partially offset these increases in the bi-monthly period.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included shelter (+5.7 percent), used cars and trucks (+39.6 percent), and other goods and services (+13.0 percent).

The March 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.

Technical Note

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, 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 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 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 2022 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022	Jan. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021
All items	257.394	-	261.499	7.8	1.6	-
All items (1967 = 100)	807.430	-	820.308
Food and beverages	277.691	-	285.464	6.0	2.8	-
Food	272.372	-	280.109	6.0	2.8	-
Food at home	230.157	232.792	238.012	10.5	3.4	2.2
Cereals and bakery products	272.939	-	278.610	6.8	2.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	285.855	-	294.710	20.2	3.1	-
Dairy and related products	202.186	-	205.043	4.4	1.4	-
Fruits and vegetables	191.759	-	205.056	10.1	6.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	194.711	-	198.551	1.5	2.0	-
Other food at home	219.193	-	226.510	9.8	3.3	-
Food away from home	335.719	-	343.163	1.4	2.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	347.338	-	355.507	6.3	2.4	-
Housing	253.541	-	257.655	6.8	1.6	-
Shelter	281.895	284.089	285.456	5.7	1.3	0.5
Rent of primary residence	302.674	304.618	305.775	4.9	1.0	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	305.787	307.270	308.174	5.3	0.8	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	305.787	307.270	308.174	5.3	0.8	0.3
Fuels and utilities	285.413	-	293.489	16.0	2.8	-
Household energy	260.993	262.882	271.165	22.1	3.9	3.2
Energy services	256.997	258.873	267.062	22.1	3.9	3.2
Electricity	238.727	240.120	251.886	23.4	5.5	4.9
Utility (piped) gas service	284.759	288.880	274.126	15.5	-3.7	-5.1
Household furnishings and operations	127.929	-	131.913	5.7	3.1	-
Apparel	111.627	-	112.325	8.4	0.6	-
Transportation	234.651	-	236.484	18.6	0.8	-
Private transportation	243.078	-	244.646	19.6	0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	127.134	-	129.920	19.0	2.2	-
New vehicles(1)	214.352	-	209.784	4.2	-2.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	467.313	-	490.895	39.6	5.0	-
Motor fuel	288.409	277.101	281.848	42.9	-2.3	1.7
Gasoline (all types)	286.563	275.321	280.011	42.8	-2.3	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	276.285	264.989	269.615	43.6	-2.4	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	302.024	292.658	296.707	40.5	-1.8	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	300.632	292.304	296.352	36.5	-1.4	1.4
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	700.688	-	-	-	-	-
Medical care	476.025	-	486.962	3.2	2.3	-
Recreation(3)	120.123	-	122.876	2.1	2.3	-
Education and communication(3)	136.073	-	136.620	1.5	0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,293.107	-	1,294.866	2.1	0.1	-
Other goods and services	480.558	-	489.226	13.0	1.8	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	192.749	-	196.020	10.9	1.7	-
Commodities less food and beverages	154.466	-	156.159	14.0	1.1	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	190.607	-	190.913	14.9	0.2	-
Durables	123.466	-	126.173	13.0	2.2	-
Services	320.379	-	325.405	6.2	1.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	246.656	-	251.097	9.0	1.8	-
All items less medical care	246.698	-	250.467	8.2	1.5	-
Commodities less food	159.326	-	161.145	13.6	1.1	-
Nondurables	230.358	-	233.841	10.0	1.5	-
Nondurables less food	197.692	-	198.328	14.1	0.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	370.498	-	377.559	6.5	1.9	-
Services less medical care services	303.088	-	307.619	6.5	1.5	-
Energy	275.638	270.973	277.559	31.8	0.7	2.4
All items less energy	260.725	-	265.048	6.2	1.7	-
All items less food and energy	258.619	-	262.498	6.3	1.5	-
(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.