The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City area rose 0.4 percent from August to October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent increase was due to advances in the energy and food indexes, up 2.4 and 1.3 percent, respectively. The all items less food and energy index was unchanged since August. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, two-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 2.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The all items less food and energy index advanced 1.9 percent since October 2011. The energy index and the food index also increased over the year, up 4.1 and 1.9 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.3 percent over the last two months. Food at home prices advanced 2.2 percent, reflecting price increases for various items including chicken, other fresh fruits, and pork. Food away from home prices were unchanged since August.

Over the year, the food index advanced 1.9 percent. Both components of the food index had price increases since October 2011—prices for food at home rose 2.5 percent and those for food away from home, 0.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, increased 2.4 percent from August to October. The recent rise was led by higher prices for electricity, which rose 3.9 percent over the last two months, counter to their usual seasonal pattern. Also contributing to the two-month advance in the energy index were a 1.4-percent increase in the gasoline index and a 0.3-percent increase in utility (piped) gas service prices.

The energy index advanced 4.1 percent since last October due to a 10.4-percent jump in gasoline prices. Lower prices for electricity (-1.8 percent) moderated the rise in the energy index. The utility (piped) gas service component—which has recorded uninterrupted 12-month declines for more than three and a half years—also posted lower prices over the last 12 months, down 3.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged from August to October. Widespread price increases were led by education and communication (0.9 percent) and apparel (1.8 percent). Offsetting these two-month advances were lower prices for shelter (-0.5 percent), particularly those for lodging away from home.

Since last October, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.9 percent, due largely to higher prices for shelter (2.3 percent), particularly those for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (1.8 percent). Price increases were widespread among the other components of the all items less food and energy group including apparel (6.6 percent), other goods and services (4.5 percent), and medical care (2.6 percent). A 1.4-percent decline in recreation prices moderated the advance in the all items less food and energy index since October 2011.

The December 2012 Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City is scheduled to be released January 16, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Table A. Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.7	2.0	0.9	3.7	1.0	-0.3	0.8	2.8	1.3	1.9	0.7	2.2
April	1.0	1.7	1.2	3.9	0.6	-0.9	0.4	2.6	1.0	2.5	0.8	2.0
June	0.9	1.6	2.1	5.1	1.0	-2.0	0.3	1.9	0.6	2.8	-0.2	1.3
August	0.7	1.1	0.0	4.4	1.0	-1.0	0.2	1.1	0.7	3.4	0.9	1.4
October	0.1	3.5	-1.4	2.8	-0.6	-0.1	0.0	1.7	-0.3	3.0	0.4	2.2
December	0.0	3.5	-3.1	-0.4	0.0	3.0	-0.2	1.4	-0.5	2.8

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 Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md., Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA), includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Aug. 2012	Sep. 2012	Oct. 2012	Oct. 2011	Aug. 2012	Sep. 2012
All items	239.557	-	240.537	2.2	0.4	-
Food and beverages	220.313	-	223.003	1.9	1.2	-
Food	219.976	-	222.853	1.9	1.3	-
Food at home	231.836	232.780	236.866	2.5	2.2	1.8
Food away from home	198.756	-	198.746	0.9	0.0	-
Alcoholic beverages	222.253	-	222.177	1.6	0.0	-
Housing	242.846	-	242.880	1.7	0.0	-
Shelter	293.571	291.954	292.228	2.3	-0.5	0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	269.607	271.459	271.854	2.0	0.8	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	299.612	300.225	300.618	1.8	0.3	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	299.612	300.225	300.618	1.8	0.3	0.1
Fuels and utilities	212.225	-	217.967	-0.8	2.7	-
Household energy	184.302	185.593	190.373	-1.2	3.3	2.6
Energy services (1)	190.794	191.082	196.278	-2.2	2.9	2.7
Electricity (1)	195.631	195.384	203.297	-1.8	3.9	4.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	173.903	175.349	174.449	-3.0	0.3	-0.5
Household furnishings and operations	122.693	-	122.720	0.1	0.0	-
Apparel	117.231	-	119.287	6.6	1.8	-
Transportation	221.643	-	223.280	4.2	0.7	-
Private transportation	221.254	-	222.309	4.5	0.5	-
Motor fuel	327.852	339.246	332.691	10.3	1.5	-1.9
Gasoline (all types)	323.715	334.931	328.345	10.4	1.4	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	324.481	335.502	328.654	10.3	1.3	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	314.386	326.503	321.275	10.8	2.2	-1.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	303.083	314.080	308.689	11.0	1.8	-1.7
Medical care	451.486	-	451.946	2.6	0.1	-
Recreation (5)	123.746	-	123.282	-1.4	-0.4	-
Education and communication (5)	126.424	-	127.586	1.2	0.9	-
Other goods and services	458.779	-	461.368	4.5	0.6	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	184.950	-	186.834	2.9	1.0	-
Commodities less food and beverages	163.035	-	164.508	3.6	0.9	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	206.690	-	209.755	5.5	1.5	-
Durables	113.719	-	113.229	-1.0	-0.4	-
Services	296.802	-	297.061	1.8	0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	230.537	-	231.527	2.1	0.4	-
All items less shelter	222.985	-	224.979	2.1	0.9	-
Commodities less food	165.350	-	166.788	3.5	0.9	-
Nondurables	216.160	-	219.110	3.8	1.4	-
Nondurables less food	207.743	-	210.663	5.3	1.4	-
Services less rent of shelter (2)	306.762	-	309.200	1.3	0.8	-
Services less medical care services	284.320	-	284.571	1.7	0.1	-
Energy	237.176	242.193	242.790	4.1	2.4	0.2
All items less energy	241.563	-	242.004	1.9	0.2	-
All items less food and energy	247.763	-	247.794	1.9	0.0	-
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) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. - Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

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