Prices in the greater Portland area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.1 percent in the first half of 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that this latest six-month increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and medical care, but partially offset by lower prices for gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, six-month-to-six-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the past 12 months, the CPI-U rose 1.3 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices fell 14.4 percent, mainly due to an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent in the first half of 2015. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 1.5 percent for the past six months. Prices for food at home increased 0.5 percent for the same period. 

For the year ending in the first half of 2015, food prices rose 3.6 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.4 percent during the past 12 months, and prices for food at home increased 3.3 percent.

Energy

Energy prices fell 12.6 percent since the second half of 2014. A drop in gasoline prices (-22.5 percent) offset higher prices for natural gas service and electricity (0.8 percent each).

Energy prices dropped 14.4 percent over the year, largely due to a decrease on gasoline prices (-25.0 percent). Prices for electricity moved up 0.7 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 1.7 percent during the same period.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent from the second half of 2014 to the first half of 2015. Among the index components, price increases were recorded for medical care (3.1 percent), shelter (2.3 percent), and apparel (1.0 percent). In contrast, prices declined for education and communication (-1.4 percent), household furnishings and operations (-0.4 percent), and other goods and services (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.6 percent. Prices increased for shelter (5.1 percent), medical care (5.1 percent), and apparel (2.0 percent). Partially offsetting the increases were lower prices for alcoholic beverages (-1.6 percent) and education and communication (-0.7 percent).

Table A. Portland CPI-U semi-annual and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	Semi-annual	Annual	Semi-annual	Annual	Semi-annual	Annual	Semi-annual	Annual	Semi-annual	Annual	Semi-annual	Annual
First Half	0.1	1.6	1.8	2.6	1.2	2.5	1.3	2.2	1.0	2.6	0.1	1.3
Second Half	0.8	0.9	1.3	3.1	0.9	2.1	1.5	2.8	1.2	2.3

The second half of 2015 Consumer Price Index for Portland is scheduled to be released mid-January 2016.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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 Portland-Salem, OR, WA metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Clackamas, Columbia, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington, and Yamhill Counties in the State of Oregon and Clark County in the State of Washington.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Portland-Salem, OR-WA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Semiannual average indexes			Percent change to 1st half 2015 from-
	1st half 2014	2nd half 2014	1st half 2015	1st half 2014	2nd half 2014
Expenditure category
All items	239.751	242.679	242.976	1.3	0.1
All items (1967=100)	701.889	710.462	711.334	-	-
Food and beverages	225.641	231.522	232.798	3.2	0.6
Food	227.401	233.825	235.511	3.6	0.7
Food at home	213.328	219.350	220.348	3.3	0.5
Food away from home	249.125	256.078	259.985	4.4	1.5
Alcoholic beverages	209.176	209.062	205.775	-1.6	-1.6
Housing	231.548	236.783	241.505	4.3	2.0
Shelter	268.974	276.248	282.733	5.1	2.3
Rent of primary residence	267.855	275.558	282.054	5.3	2.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1)	280.762	287.642	294.635	4.9	2.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1)	280.762	287.642	294.635	4.9	2.4
Fuels and utilities	257.502	259.356	261.482	1.5	0.8
Household energy	208.833	208.499	209.669	0.4	0.6
Energy services	255.323	255.710	257.691	0.9	0.8
Electricity	298.351	298.193	300.443	0.7	0.8
Utility (piped) gas service	166.438	167.798	169.206	1.7	0.8
Household furnishings and operations	104.905	105.624	105.230	0.3	-0.4
Apparel	124.700	125.834	127.149	2.0	1.0
Transportation	242.858	237.213	220.578	-9.2	-7.0
Private transportation	245.511	241.753	223.573	-8.9	-7.5
Motor fuel	315.835	305.276	236.809	-25.0	-22.4
Gasoline (all types)	318.419	307.919	238.707	-25.0	-22.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular (2)	316.695	306.226	236.265	-25.4	-22.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (2) (3)	268.829	259.803	203.349	-24.4	-21.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium (2)	291.450	282.174	222.462	-23.7	-21.2
Medical care	504.334	513.925	529.893	5.1	3.1
Recreation (4)	110.231	109.679	110.166	-0.1	0.4
Education and communication (4)	115.807	116.664	114.984	-0.7	-1.4
Other goods and services	468.845	472.044	470.858	0.4	-0.3
Commodity and service group
All Items	239.751	242.679	242.976	1.3	0.1
Commodities	181.550	182.562	178.573	-1.6	-2.2
Commodities less food & beverages	159.936	158.647	152.218	-4.8	-4.1
Nondurables less food & beverages	200.948	199.795	189.034	-5.9	-5.4
Durables	116.571	115.187	113.046	-3.0	-1.9
Services	298.488	303.328	307.892	3.2	1.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	227.874	230.520	230.190	1.0	-0.1
All items less shelter	229.690	230.794	228.285	-0.6	-1.1
Commodities less food	161.621	160.378	154.070	-4.7	-3.9
Nondurables	212.258	214.540	209.650	-1.2	-2.3
Nondurables less food	200.455	199.385	189.217	-5.6	-5.1
Services less rent of shelter (1)	343.621	344.944	346.259	0.8	0.4
Services less medical care services	283.101	287.979	292.427	3.3	1.5
Energy	259.747	254.520	222.367	-14.4	-12.6
All items less energy	241.399	245.176	247.944	2.7	1.1
All items less food and energy	245.815	249.113	252.108	2.6	1.2
Footnotes (1) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (2) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (3) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available.