Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.6 percent for the two months ending in October 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the energy index decreased 12.7 percent in September and October, largely driven by a decline in the prices paid for electricity. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.5 percent over the past two months, the increase was primarily due to higher costs for shelter. The food index rose 1.3 percent. (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 7.6 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.9 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 13.2 percent, while energy prices increased 5.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

 

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, October 2019–October 2022

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Dec 2021	6.6	4.9
Feb 2022	7.8	6.5
Apr 2022	8.5	6.9
Jun 2022	10.2	6.0
Aug 2022	9.5	7.0
Oct 2022	7.6	6.9

Food prices increased 1.3 percent for the two months ending in October. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 1.5 percent. Prices for food at home (grocery store prices) advanced 1.2 percent over the two-month period. The increase in the index for food at home was mainly due to increases in the cost of other food at home (+2.6 percent). Prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials declined (-0.9 percent) for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 13.2 percent. Prices for food at home rose 14.3 percent since a year ago, with the largest contribution coming from an increase in the other food at home category (+16.3 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 12.2 percent over the past 12 months.

The energy index declined 12.7 percent for the two months ending in October. The decrease within this index was led by lower prices for electricity (-19.5 percent), followed by gasoline (-9.6 percent). Prices for natural gas service (-1.5 percent) also contributed to the decline.

From October 2021 to October 2022, energy prices rose 5.0 percent. Higher prices for gasoline (+9.1 percent) and natural gas service (+47.8 percent) both contributed to the rise. Partially offsetting the increase, prices for electricity decreased 8.5 percent during the same period.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.5 percent in the latest two-month period. Among the components contributing most to the increase were shelter (+1.5 percent), public transportation, and recreation (+1.6 percent). These increases were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-6.2 percent), motor vehicle maintenance and repair, and medical care commodities.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 6.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+7.9 percent), recreation (+11.7 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+5.2 percent). Slightly offsetting the increases was a decline in the index for education and communication (-3.5 percent).

The December 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, January 12, 2023.

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.