The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston-Brockton-Nashua area was unchanged in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that during the two-month period ending January 2013, increasing food prices were offset by lower energy prices and the all items less food and energy index was unchanged. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bimonthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months the Boston CPI-U rose 1.7 percent. The increase was largely attributable to gains in the all items less food and energy index, which rose 2.0 percent. (See chart 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.9 percent in January, due mainly to higher grocery prices, which increased by 1.3 percent. Restaurant prices, also known as food away from home, were up 0.4 percent.

From January 2012 to January 2013, the index for food increased 1.1 percent. Higher restaurant prices (2.2 percent) led the increase, while grocery store prices rose 0.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased by 1.6 percent in January, as lower gasoline prices were partly offset by increasing electricity costs. Gasoline prices fell by 16 cents over the two months to an average of $3.489 per gallon. Electricity prices rose 2.9 percent and utility (piped) gas edged up 0.1 percent.

Energy prices were 0.5 percent lower than a year ago. Though the cost of gasoline rose 1.6 percent over the year, that increase was more than offset by lower prices for utility (piped) gas (-4.2 percent) and electricity (-1.3 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in January. Increases in recreation (1.5 percent) and medical care (1.3 percent) were offset by lower prices for apparel (-7.4 percent) and shelter (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent. Shelter was the largest contributor, rising 1.9 percent from January 2012 to January 2013. The indexes for medical care (2.7 percent) and education and communication (2.1 percent) also rose.

CPI-W

In January, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 251.024. The CPI-W was unchanged over two months and increased 1.6 percent over the year.

The March 2013 Consumer Price Index for Boston-Brockton-Nashua is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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 Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Mass.-N.H.-Maine-Conn. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties and parts of Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts; parts of Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire; part of York County in Maine; and part of Windham County in Connecticut.

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.

 

Last Modified Date: February 21, 2013