U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mid-Atlantic Information Office

For release: Thursday, August 18, 2011 PLS-4807

Technical information: (215) 597-3282 • BLSInfoPhiladelphia@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ro3
Media contact: (215) 861-5600 • BLSMediaPhiladelphia@bls.gov

Consumer Price Index, Pittsburgh – First Half 2011 (PDF)

Local Prices up 3.8 Percent Over the Year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Pittsburgh area rose 3.8 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent 12-month advance was the largest since the second half of 2008. The rise in the all items index was due to increases in the indexes for all items less food and energy (2.3 percent), energy (14.9 percent) and food (4.4 percent). The 12-month advance in the all items less food and energy index reflected higher prices for shelter and medical care, among others, while the increase in the energy index was largely due to higher prices for gasoline. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Chart 1. 12-month percent change in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), Pittsburgh, first half 2008 to first half 2011 (not seasonally adjusted)

Food

Food prices rose 4.4 percent since the first half of 2010. The over-the-year advance was due largely to higher prices for food at home, up 5.7 percent. The food away from home index also increased since last year, rising 3.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index jumped 14.9 percent since the first half of 2010. The recent advance in energy prices was due mainly to a rise in gasoline prices, up 27.3 percent over the last 12 months. Electricity prices also rose over the last year, up 3.4 percent. Partially offsetting these advances were lower prices for utility (piped) gas service, down 6.0 percent from their year-ago levels. The utility gas service index has posted uninterrupted over-the-year decreases since the first half of 2009.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent from a year ago. Within this grouping, price increases were led by shelter (1.2 percent), particularly owners’ equivalent of primary residence (1.3 percent), and medical care (5.2 percent). Higher prices for apparel (4.6 percent) also contributed to the 12-month increase in the all items less food and energy index.

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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 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 Pittsburgh, Pa., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods, Pittsburgh, PA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
Expenditure category	Historical data	1st Half 2010	2nd Half 2010	1st Half 2011	1st Half 2010	2nd Half 2010
All items		214.470	216.345	222.651	3.8	2.9

Food and beverages		220.437	223.649	229.365	4.1	2.6
Food		220.195	223.596	229.801	4.4	2.8
Food at home		216.892	219.750	229.224	5.7	4.3
Food away from home		225.633	230.649	232.882	3.2	1.0
Alcoholic beverages		222.532	223.383	222.964	0.2	-0.2

Housing		213.438	213.267	217.093	1.7	1.8
Shelter		234.171	234.237	237.067	1.2	1.2
Rent of primary residence (1)		201.240	202.116	205.888	2.3	1.9
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)		230.998	230.735	234.032	1.3	1.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)		230.998	230.735	234.032	1.3	1.4
Fuels and utilities		234.080	233.255	(R) 241.508	3.2	3.5
Household energy		222.685	218.478	(R) 230.295	3.4	5.4
Energy services (1) (3)		219.195	213.544	(R) 218.894	-0.1	2.5
Electricity (1)		175.802	171.601	181.717	3.4	5.9
Utility (piped) gas service (1)		242.789	235.764	(R) 228.191	-6.0	-3.2
Household furnishings and operations		145.269	145.488	147.909	1.8	1.7

Apparel		147.317	150.399	154.110	4.6	2.5

Transportation		167.709	171.559	186.540	11.2	8.7
Private transportation		168.299	172.283	186.970	11.1	8.5
Motor fuel		245.995	249.627	313.151	27.3	25.4
Gasoline (all types)		248.823	252.442	316.742	27.3	25.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)		245.513	248.968	314.252	28.0	26.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)		266.405	270.206	336.983	26.5	24.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)		243.518	247.821	303.780	24.7	22.6

Medical care		388.146	395.875	408.278	5.2	3.1

Recreation (6)		112.782	111.304	113.494	0.6	2.0

Education and communication (6)		137.715	141.222	140.412	2.0	-0.6

Other goods and services		377.989	381.923	388.186	2.7	1.6

Commodity and service group
Commodities		186.836	189.161	198.434	6.2	4.9
Commodities less food and beverages		167.493	169.347	180.225	7.6	6.4
Nondurables less food and beverages		210.810	213.227	232.659	10.4	9.1
Durables		121.494	122.755	124.823	2.7	1.7
Services		244.880	246.430	250.396	2.3	1.6

Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		205.662	207.295	213.305	3.7	2.9
All items less shelter		209.464	212.194	219.995	5.0	3.7
Commodities less food		169.697	171.518	182.016	7.3	6.1
Nondurables		215.976	218.789	231.498	7.2	5.8
Nondurables less food		211.576	213.887	231.986	9.6	8.5
Services less rent of shelter (2)		261.891	265.481	270.861	3.4	2.0
Services less medical care services		233.966	235.196	238.806	2.1	1.5
Energy		239.420	238.574	(R) 275.169	14.9	15.3
All items less energy		214.097	215.923	219.789	2.7	1.8
All items less food and energy		213.831	215.379	218.835	2.3	1.6
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series converted to a geometric means estimator in January 1999. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) This index series was formerly titled Gas (piped) and electricity. (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. (R) Revised.
Note: Index applies to a 6-month period as a whole, not to any specific date.

Last Modified Date: August 19, 2011