Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were up 3.0 percent for the two months ending in March 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that this was the largest bi-monthly change in the all items index since April 1980. The food index increased 3.9 percent, and the energy index rose 14.6 percent in February and March. The all items less food and energy index rose 1.7 percent over the past two months, mainly due to increases in the categories for shelter, apparel, and medical care. (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 9.0 percent, the largest percent increase since December 1981. The index for all items less food and energy increased 6.5 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 37.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline, while food prices advanced 9.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 3.9 percent for the two months ending in March, the largest bi-monthly rise in the index since February 1977. The index for food at home (grocery store prices)advanced 5.3 percent, partly due to price increases for fruits and vegetables. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 2.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 9.8 percent, the largest increase for the index since April 1981. Prices for food at home jumped 13.7 percent, mainly due to an increase in prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Food away from home advanced 5.5 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index rose 14.6 percent for the two months ending in March. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+27.6 percent), but all components contributed to the rise. Prices paid for natural gas service rose 6.6 percent, while prices for electricity advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

From March 2021 to March 2022, energy prices jumped 37.4 percent. This rise was mainly driven by the surge in prices for gasoline (+48.2 percent), but jumps in electricity (+26.3 percent) and natural gas service (+23.4 percent) prices during the past year also contributed.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (+1.7 percent), apparel (+5.1 percent), medical care (+1.4 percent) and new vehicles (+2.9 percent) were among the largest contributors to the rise. These increases were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-1.6 percent), other goods and services (-2.6 percent) and used cars and trucks (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 6.5 percent, the largest advance since February 1984. Components most contributing to the increase included shelter (+6.7 percent), used cars and trucks (+34.3 percent), medical care (+3.4 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+6.6 percent).

The May 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Friday, June 10, 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods,
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, March 2022 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022	Mar. 2022	Mar. 2021	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022
All items	261.499	-	269.347	9.0	3.0	-
All items (1967 = 100)	820.308	-	844.927
Food and beverages	285.464	-	296.052	8.5	3.7	-
Food	280.109	-	290.933	9.8	3.9	-
Food at home	238.012	242.209	250.567	13.7	5.3	3.5
Cereals and bakery products	278.610	-	286.711	10.2	2.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	294.710	-	306.135	22.1	3.9	-
Dairy and related products	205.043	-	214.372	8.1	4.5	-
Fruits and vegetables	205.056	-	225.090	13.5	9.8	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	198.551	-	208.721	4.7	5.1	-
Other food at home	226.510	-	237.991	13.8	5.1	-
Food away from home	343.163	-	350.266	5.5	2.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	355.507	-	360.966	-5.4	1.5	-
Housing	257.655	-	261.709	7.9	1.6	-
Shelter	285.456	288.498	290.198	6.7	1.7	0.6
Rent of primary residence	305.775	309.921	311.352	7.0	1.8	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	308.174	310.282	310.877	5.2	0.9	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	308.174	310.282	310.877	5.2	0.9	0.2
Fuels and utilities	293.489	-	296.973	18.6	1.2	-
Household energy	271.165	273.291	275.561	25.9	1.6	0.8
Energy services	267.062	269.030	270.835	25.8	1.4	0.7
Electricity	251.886	253.161	252.975	26.3	0.4	-0.1
Utility (piped) gas service	274.126	279.474	292.147	23.4	6.6	4.5
Household furnishings and operations	131.913	-	133.698	6.6	1.4	-
Apparel	112.325	-	118.002	7.5	5.1	-
Transportation	236.484	-	261.079	23.3	10.4	-
Private transportation	244.646	-	269.546	23.7	10.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	129.920	-	133.749	19.2	2.9	-
New vehicles(1)	209.784	-	215.920	5.2	2.9	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	490.895	-	486.841	34.3	-0.8	-
Motor fuel	281.848	303.332	359.843	48.4	27.7	18.6
Gasoline (all types)	280.011	301.193	357.251	48.2	27.6	18.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	269.615	290.642	345.326	49.0	28.1	18.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	296.707	315.511	371.590	46.3	25.2	17.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	296.352	313.344	366.574	42.1	23.7	17.0
Medical care	486.962	-	493.586	3.4	1.4	-
Recreation(3)	122.876	-	124.091	1.3	1.0	-
Education and communication(3)	136.620	-	134.493	-0.4	-1.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,294.866	-	1,296.393	1.9	0.1	-
Other goods and services	489.226	-	476.290	6.5	-2.6	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	196.020	-	207.504	13.5	5.9	-
Commodities less food and beverages	156.159	-	167.064	16.4	7.0	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	190.913	-	215.015	20.1	12.6	-
Durables	126.173	-	127.478	12.6	1.0	-
Services	325.405	-	330.489	6.8	1.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	251.097	-	260.564	10.4	3.8	-
All items less medical care	250.467	-	258.376	9.6	3.2	-
Commodities less food	161.145	-	172.102	15.4	6.8	-
Nondurables	233.841	-	252.839	14.1	8.1	-
Nondurables less food	198.328	-	221.970	18.0	11.9	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	377.559	-	382.944	6.7	1.4	-
Services less medical care services	307.619	-	312.523	7.2	1.6	-
Energy	277.559	289.180	318.040	37.4	14.6	10.0
All items less energy	265.048	-	270.139	6.9	1.9	-
All items less food and energy	262.498	-	266.862	6.5	1.7	-
(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.