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News Release Information

24-497-DAL
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area – February 2024

Area prices rose 1.0 percent in January and February, up 3.5 percent over the year

Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.0 percent for the two months ending in February 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 rose 0.7 percent, largely driven by an increase in the index for medical care. The energy index advanced 4.2 percent in January and February, almost entirely due to a rise in gasoline prices. The index for food increased 0.7 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 rose 3.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.7 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 4.6 percent, while energy prices fell 2.2 percent over the same period. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.7 percent for the two months ending in February. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 0.9 percent, and prices for food at home (grocery store prices) rose 0.5 percent for the same period. The increase in the food at home index was mainly due to a rise in prices for dairy and related products (+6.9 percent). A decline in the index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-2.3 percent) partially offset the increase.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.6 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 6.0 percent since a year ago. Prices for food at home increased 3.6 percent, with the index for fruits and vegetables (+11.0 percent) contributing most to the rise.

Energy

The energy index advanced 4.2 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+7.8 percent). Prices for electricity rose 0.3 percent, while prices for natural gas service decreased 3.2 percent for the same period.

From February 2023 to February 2024, energy prices fell 2.2 percent. A decrease in the index for gasoline (-4.3 percent) contributed most to the decline, but a decrease in prices paid for electricity also contributed (-1.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 6.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for medical care (+2.8 percent) and apparel (+6.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for lodging away from home and used cars and trucks (-3.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+5.2 percent), rent of primary residence (+4.6 percent), and motor vehicle maintenance and repair. Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in recreation (-2.5 percent), lodging away from home, and medical care services.

The April 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday May 15, 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 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, February 2024 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group Indexes Percent change from -
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024
Feb.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

All items

270.133 - 272.772 3.5 1.0 -

All items (1967 = 100)

866.415 - 874.880      

Food and beverages

297.402 - 299.961 4.6 0.9 -

Food

300.316 - 302.465 4.6 0.7 -

Food at home

290.719 292.218 292.243 3.6 0.5 0.0

Cereals and bakery products

345.542 361.508 352.242 4.2 1.9 -2.6

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

306.157 309.434 307.817 -1.5 0.5 -0.5

Dairy and related products

228.622 238.311 244.494 6.2 6.9 2.6

Fruits and vegetables

369.441 371.377 366.451 11.0 -0.8 -1.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

358.988 353.174 350.873 1.8 -2.3 -0.7

Other food at home

256.183 250.501 256.435 1.9 0.1 2.4

Food away from home

305.509 - 308.301 6.0 0.9 -

Alcoholic beverages

240.040 - 246.216 3.5 2.6 -

Housing

269.126 - 268.579 4.2 -0.2 -

Shelter

325.642 325.295 325.035 4.9 -0.2 -0.1

Rent of primary residence

322.062 323.007 322.082 4.6 0.0 -0.3

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

305.266 306.607 305.426 5.2 0.1 -0.4

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

305.266 306.607 305.426 5.2 0.1 -0.4

Fuels and utilities

195.364 - 195.447 1.3 0.0 -

Household energy

165.745 166.154 165.260 -0.3 -0.3 -0.5

Energy services

162.527 162.956 162.057 -0.2 -0.3 -0.6

Electricity

153.722 154.226 154.226 -1.7 0.3 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service

188.529 188.449 182.420 6.0 -3.2 -3.2

Household furnishings and operations

156.569 - 155.716 0.9 -0.5 -

Apparel

179.401 - 191.392 5.8 6.7 -

Transportation

230.412 - 237.938 5.6 3.3 -

Private transportation

233.541 - 240.606 6.1 3.0 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

103.223 - 103.055 0.5 -0.2 -

New vehicles(1)

196.432 - 196.418 0.0 0.0 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

308.052 - 296.481 -1.8 -3.8 -

Motor fuel

235.437 238.109 253.505 -4.5 7.7 6.5

Gasoline (all types)

234.682 237.449 253.033 -4.3 7.8 6.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

234.928 237.782 254.154 -4.6 8.2 6.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

270.104 273.279 287.688 -1.9 6.5 5.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

277.625 280.279 293.478 -1.4 5.7 4.7

Medical care

533.090 - 547.940 0.1 2.8 -

Recreation(3)

127.545 - 128.590 -2.5 0.8 -

Education and communication(3)

120.235 - 120.056 -0.6 -0.1 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,317.503 - 1,322.779 1.7 0.4 -

Other goods and services

473.268 - 471.514 2.7 -0.4 -

Commodity and service group

Commodities

203.854 - 207.247 1.7 1.7 -

Commodities less food and beverages

161.958 - 165.440 0.4 2.1 -

Nondurables less food and beverages

210.403 - 220.527 1.5 4.8 -

Durables

114.663 - 114.076 -1.1 -0.5 -

Services

337.291 - 339.363 4.6 0.6 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

248.436 - 252.622 2.7 1.7 -

All items less medical care

256.875 - 259.020 3.8 0.8 -

Commodities less food

164.637 - 168.207 0.5 2.2 -

Nondurables

253.411 - 260.127 3.0 2.7 -

Nondurables less food

211.860 - 221.647 1.5 4.6 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

344.166 - 349.949 4.4 1.7 -

Services less medical care services

313.897 - 315.331 5.2 0.5 -

Energy

196.767 198.242 205.070 -2.2 4.2 3.4

All items less energy

281.218 - 283.278 3.8 0.7 -

All items less food and energy

277.855 - 279.897 3.7 0.7 -

(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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024