U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

New England Information Office

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston-Brockton-Nashua area rose 0.4 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that during the two-month period ending March 2013, increasing prices for energy and all items less food and energy were partly offset by lower food costs. (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 1.5 percent. The increase was largely attributable to gains in the all items less food and energy index, which rose 1.8 percent. (See chart 1.) Food prices rose 1.7 percent over the year and the energy index decreased 1.8 percent.

Food

Food prices decreased 0.3 percent in March, due mainly to lower grocery prices, which declined by 0.6 percent. Restaurant prices, also known as food away from home, edged up 0.1 percent.

From March 2012 to March 2013, the index for food increased 1.7 percent. Higher restaurant prices (2.7 percent) led the increase, while grocery store prices rose 1.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 3.1 percent in March. Gasoline prices rose by 24 cents over the two months to an average of $3.730 per gallon. Electricity prices fell 1.7 percent and utility (piped) gas edged up 0.1 percent.

Energy prices were 1.8 percent lower than a year ago. Though the cost of utility (piped) gas rose 3.5 percent over the year, that increase was more than offset by lower prices for electricity (-3.4 percent) and gasoline (-1.2 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in March, as increases were recorded in shelter (0.3 percent), medical care (0.6 percent), and apparel (1.4 percent). Partially offsetting these increases was a decline in recreation (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.8 percent. Shelter was the largest contributor, rising 1.7 percent from March 2012 to March 2013. The indexes for medical care (3.5 percent) and education and communication (2.4 percent) also rose.

CPI-W

In March, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 252.352. The CPI-W rose 0.5 percent over two months and increased 1.4 percent over the year.

The May 2013 Consumer Price Index for Boston-Brockton-Nashua is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, June 18, 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.

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Ma.-N.H.-Maine-Conn., (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Mar. 2012	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013
All items		249.957		250.835	1.5	0.4
All items (1967 = 100)		726.508		729.058
Food and beverages		247.438		246.851	1.7	-0.2
Food		247.857		247.025	1.7	-0.3
Food at home		238.768	240.441	237.264	1.0	-0.6	-1.3
Food away from home		263.004		263.316	2.7	0.1
Alcoholic beverages		245.720		248.230	2.0	1.0
Housing		242.103		242.504	1.5	0.2
Shelter		280.871	280.773	281.725	1.7	0.3	0.3
Rent of primary residence (1)		291.256	290.577	291.119	1.9	0.0	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2) (3)		299.346	298.802	299.233	1.6	0.0	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2) (3)		299.346	298.802	299.233	1.6	0.0	0.1
Fuels and utilities		247.886		247.049	-1.0	-0.3
Household energy		209.282	209.622	208.446	-2.3	-0.4	-0.6
Energy services (1)		189.887	188.717	188.069	-0.7	-1.0	-0.3
Electricity (1)		184.939	182.971	181.866	-3.4	-1.7	-0.6
Utility (piped) gas service (1)		191.935	192.042	192.124	3.5	0.1	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		130.509		130.116	3.2	-0.3
Apparel		143.391		145.386	-1.8	1.4
Transportation		205.191		209.694	1.7	2.2
Private transportation		203.144		208.034	0.9	2.4
Motor fuel		296.289	318.269	315.925	-1.2	6.6	-0.7
Gasoline (all types)		292.730	314.545	312.241	-1.2	6.7	-0.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)		290.172	312.893	309.995	-1.7	6.8	-0.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)		299.176	318.596	318.343	-0.2	6.4	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)		286.886	305.164	304.125	0.1	6.0	-0.3
Medical care		583.772		587.466	3.5	0.6
Recreation (6)		115.586		114.023	-0.9	-1.4
Education and communication (6)		146.644		146.176	2.4	-0.3
Other goods and services		428.657		428.513	1.1	0.0
Commodity and service group
Commodities		195.186		196.868	0.7	0.9
Commodities less food and beverages		167.138		169.765	0.1	1.6
Nondurables less food and beverages		221.264		226.650	-0.2	2.4
Durables		114.402		114.621	0.6	0.2
Services		298.473		298.552	2.0	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		240.420		241.316	1.4	0.4
All items less medical care		236.956		237.738	1.3	0.3
Commodities less food		170.262		172.896	0.2	1.5
Nondurables		233.040		235.524	0.8	1.1
Nondurables less food		221.524		226.696	0.0	2.3
Services less rent of shelter (2)		335.232		334.341	2.3	-0.3
Services less medical care services		279.070		278.921	1.9	-0.1
Energy		245.342	254.700	253.038	-1.8	3.1	-0.7
All items less energy		254.011		254.227	1.8	0.1
All items less food and energy		255.747		256.162	1.8	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) This index series underwent a change in composition in January 2010. The expenditure class now includes weight from secondary residences, and has been re-titled "Owners' equivalent rent of residences." The item stratum "Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence" excludes secondary residences. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.