Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.8 percent for the two months ending in June 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 February 1990. The food index increased 2.8 percent over the past two months. The energy index jumped 22.6 percent in May and June, driving the majority of the rise. The all items less food and energy index rose 0.6 percent over the past two months, mainly due to increasing prices for shelter and new and used motor vehicles. (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 10.2 percent, matching December 1981’s percent increase. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.0 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 52.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline, while food prices advanced 11.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 2.8 percent for the two months ending in June. The index for food at home (grocery store prices) advanced 3.3 percent. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 2.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices jumped 11.2 percent, the largest increase in the index since June 1981. Prices for food at home jumped 12.9 percent since a year ago, mainly due to an increase in prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+15.0 percent) and other food at home (+14.0 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 9.5 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index jumped 22.6 percent for the two months ending in June, the largest bi-monthly increase since June 1995. The increase was mainly due to both higher prices for gasoline (+20.1 percent) and electricity (+33.0 percent). This increase was slightly offset by lower prices for natural gas service (-2.0 percent).

From June 2021 to June 2022, energy prices jumped 52.6 percent, the largest over the year increase since data for this series began in April 1978. The increase was largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+69.1 percent), but all energy components contributed to this historic rise. Prices paid for electricity jumped 36.2 percent, while prices for natural gas service increased 24.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in May and June, after rising 1.5 percent in March and April. Higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+1.3 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+2.2 percent), and medical care (+0.8 percent) were among the largest contributors to the rise. These increases were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-2.0 percent) and apparel (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.0 percent. Components most contributing to the increase included shelter (+5.2 percent), recreation (+16.8 percent), and new and used motor vehicles (+7.0 percent).

The August 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, September 13, 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 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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,
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, June 2022 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Apr. 2022	May 2022	Jun. 2022	Jun. 2021	Apr. 2022	May 2022
All items	256.668	-	263.874	10.2	2.8	-
All items (1967 = 100)	823.227	-	846.339
Food and beverages	265.970	-	273.001	10.7	2.6	-
Food	267.654	-	275.046	11.2	2.8	-
Food at home	258.372	265.785	266.856	12.9	3.3	0.4
Cereals and bakery products	297.324	-	315.069	14.9	6.0	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	296.508	-	305.163	15.0	2.9	-
Dairy and related products	205.870	-	215.627	13.3	4.7	-
Fruits and vegetables	312.896	-	315.936	6.5	1.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	315.191	-	324.526	13.3	3.0	-
Other food at home	225.435	-	233.221	14.0	3.5	-
Food away from home	272.205	-	278.266	9.5	2.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	230.648	-	232.211	3.8	0.7	-
Housing	244.726	-	253.555	7.7	3.6	-
Shelter	286.094	289.104	290.559	5.2	1.6	0.5
Rent of primary residence	284.275	285.370	285.944	5.3	0.6	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	266.687	267.778	270.141	5.1	1.3	0.9
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	266.687	267.778	270.141	5.1	1.3	0.9
Fuels and utilities	204.275	-	245.206	26.5	20.0	-
Household energy	177.931	225.118	225.111	34.7	26.5	0.0
Energy services	174.248	220.972	220.986	34.4	26.8	0.0
Electricity	170.519	226.764	226.778	36.2	33.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	175.368	171.925	171.932	24.3	-2.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	161.497	-	162.436	6.5	0.6	-
Apparel	178.859	-	176.391	5.6	-1.4	-
Transportation	236.608	-	248.651	23.1	5.1	-
Private transportation	235.566	-	251.729	23.6	6.9	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	107.032	-	109.398	7.0	2.2	-
New vehicles(1)	188.091	-	191.631	7.6	1.9	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	338.558	-	348.190	7.5	2.8	-
Motor fuel	336.999	366.729	404.164	69.4	19.9	10.2
Gasoline (all types)	335.869	365.117	403.521	69.1	20.1	10.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	340.990	371.391	410.915	70.5	20.5	10.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	359.772	387.730	426.561	63.4	18.6	10.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	356.515	381.684	418.041	58.4	17.3	9.5
Medical care	543.443	-	547.724	2.3	0.8	-
Recreation(3)	127.266	-	126.909	16.8	-0.3	-
Education and communication(3)	123.816	-	121.363	-1.4	-2.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,287.734	-	1,297.925	2.0	0.8	-
Other goods and services	440.354	-	445.069	3.5	1.1	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	205.111	-	213.895	14.9	4.3	-
Commodities less food and beverages	174.698	-	183.844	17.4	5.2	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	232.789	-	252.536	26.9	8.5	-
Durables	120.059	-	122.125	8.0	1.7	-
Services	309.687	-	315.474	7.3	1.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	245.935	-	254.256	12.7	3.4	-
All items less medical care	242.694	-	249.926	10.9	3.0	-
Commodities less food	176.870	-	185.873	16.9	5.1	-
Nondurables	249.556	-	263.032	18.0	5.4	-
Nondurables less food	232.187	-	250.802	25.3	8.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	332.627	-	339.962	9.7	2.2	-
Services less medical care services	285.114	-	290.784	7.9	2.0	-
Energy	247.728	287.636	303.819	52.6	22.6	5.6
All items less energy	261.263	-	263.563	6.8	0.9	-
All items less food and energy	260.045	-	261.484	6.0	0.6	-
(1) Indexes on an April 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.