Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.1 percent for the two months ending in October 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy, but advances in the energy index and food index 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 increased 6.1 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent over the year, the largest rise since February 2016. Energy prices jumped 38.5 percent, while food prices rose 5.6 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, October 2018–October 2021

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Oct 2018	2.2	1.6
Dec 2018	2.3	2.1
Feb 2019	0.9	2.0
Apr 2019	1.8	1.7
Jun 2019	0.8	1.2
Aug 2019	1.4	2.1
Oct 2019	0.9	2.0
Dec 2019	1.0	1.8
Feb 2020	1.5	1.8
Apr 2020	-1.3	0.2
Jun 2020	-0.2	0.8
Aug 2020	-0.2	0.3
Oct 2020	-0.1	0.3
Dec 2020	0.7	0.7
Feb 2021	1.0	0.0
Apr 2021	4.5	2.8
Jun 2021	4.6	3.1
Aug 2021	5.3	3.5
Oct 2021	6.1	3.7

Food

Food prices increased 2.7 percent for the two months ending in October. Within the two components of the index, prices for food at home increased 3.4 percent, while prices for food away from home increased 2.1 percent for the same period.

During the 12 months ending in October 2021, food prices rose 5.6 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.9 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 5.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.8 percent for the two months ending in October. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (+6.8 percent). Prices for gasoline increased 3.8 percent, while prices for natural gas service were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 38.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+59.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity jumped 22.1 percent, and prices for natural gas service jumped 16.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.5 percent in September and October, after rising 0.3 percent in July and August. Higher prices for new vehicles (+5.3 percent), owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (+0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for alcoholic beverages (-5.7 percent), other goods and services (-1.4 percent) and used cars and trucks (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (+17.4 percent), household furnishings and operations (+10.2 percent) and shelter (+1.3 percent).

The December 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 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 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.