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News Release Information

24-275-DAL
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area – January 2024

Area prices rose 0.9 percent in December and January, up 5.3 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), rose 0.9 percent for the two months ending in January 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.1 percent, largely driven by increases in the indexes for shelter and recreation. The energy index fell 0.2 percent, almost entirely due to a decline in gasoline prices. The food index experienced no change over the two-month period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 5.3 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 6.2 percent over the year, while food prices rose 4.4 percent. Energy prices fell 1.7 percent, entirely due to a decline in the price of gasoline. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged for the two months ending in January. A decline in prices for food at home (-0.3 percent) was entirely offset by a rise in prices for food away from home (+0.3 percent). The largest contributor to the decline in the food at home index came from the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index (-0.6 percent).  

Over the year, food prices increased 4.4 percent. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 7.3 percent. The index for food at home (grocery store prices) rose 2.2 percent since a year ago, with all six major grocery store food group indexes contributing.

Energy

The energy index fell 0.2 percent for the two months ending in January. The decrease was primarily due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.0 percent), but the index for electricity also contributed, declining 0.1 percent. Partially offsetting the decrease in the energy index, prices for natural gas service rose 2.2 percent over the two-month period.

From January 2023 to January 2024, energy prices fell 1.7 percent, entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.2 percent). Partially offsetting the decline, the index for electricity rose 2.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 1.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (+4.0 percent), medical care services, and owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-2.7 percent), medical care commodities, and education and communication (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 6.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.8 percent), rent of primary residence (+5.6 percent), and recreation (+7.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases for medical care commodities, household furnishings and operations (-2.2 percent), and used cars and trucks (-2.9 percent).

The March 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.


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, TX, 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, January 2024 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and GroupIndexesPercent change from -
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Jan.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023

All items

293.591-296.1215.30.9-

All items (1967 = 100)

920.977-928.916   

Food and beverages

330.905-330.9194.20.0-

Food

326.628-326.6194.40.0-

Food at home

271.296272.425270.5502.2-0.3-0.7

Cereals and bakery products

319.794321.861321.0095.50.4-0.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

315.749320.490313.9190.4-0.6-2.1

Dairy and related products

233.324233.516230.5190.3-1.2-1.3

Fruits and vegetables

236.564236.938237.2512.40.30.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

234.968236.877234.8902.70.0-0.8

Other food at home

266.360264.838264.9842.7-0.50.1

Food away from home

411.228-412.6507.30.3-

Alcoholic beverages

379.649-379.9631.50.1-

Housing

297.795-300.2535.50.8-

Shelter

335.035337.176337.7466.80.80.2

Rent of primary residence

357.718359.000360.6225.60.80.5

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

359.360360.878361.1866.80.50.1

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

359.360360.878361.1866.80.50.1

Fuels and utilities

329.146-330.2212.10.3-

Household energy

308.096309.691309.0212.00.3-0.2

Energy services

304.305305.986305.3162.10.3-0.2

Electricity

284.233284.593284.0062.2-0.1-0.2

Utility (piped) gas service

328.278336.533335.5891.62.2-0.3

Household furnishings and operations

137.671-139.499-2.21.3-

Apparel

115.837-118.1802.52.0-

Transportation

267.901-272.0749.01.6-

Private transportation

274.533-279.6349.61.9-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

131.138-127.620-3.1-2.7-

New vehicles(1)

225.384-224.490-0.6-0.4-

Used cars and trucks(1)

441.252-424.370-2.9-3.8-

Motor fuel

264.708251.233261.559-6.5-1.24.1

Gasoline (all types)

261.939248.956259.205-6.2-1.04.1

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

251.058238.295248.437-6.6-1.04.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

283.074270.754280.609-4.4-0.93.6

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

287.323275.732284.837-3.7-0.93.3

Medical care

505.217-508.257-0.30.6-

Recreation(3)

131.071-136.2507.04.0-

Education and communication(3)

136.548-134.8142.8-1.3-

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,454.659-1,493.44912.12.7-

Other goods and services

517.124-519.2994.90.4-

Commodity and service group

Commodities

206.293-205.2090.1-0.5-

Commodities less food and beverages

155.733-154.458-2.1-0.8-

Nondurables less food and beverages

196.155-193.546-2.0-1.3-

Durables

122.928-122.309-2.4-0.5-

Services

377.547-383.6418.21.6-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

274.512-276.8874.40.9-

All items less medical care

283.158-285.6575.80.9-

Commodities less food

161.093-159.832-2.0-0.8-

Nondurables

256.008-254.5231.5-0.6-

Nondurables less food

204.227-201.745-1.7-1.2-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

432.412-443.79910.22.6-

Services less medical care services

361.671-366.9378.91.5-

Energy

288.019282.440287.574-1.7-0.21.8

All items less energy

299.532-302.3665.90.9-

All items less food and energy

295.399-298.6936.21.1-

(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: Tuesday, February 13, 2024