Consumer Price Index, Washington-Baltimore – March 2012

Area Prices Up 1.3 Percent Since January; 2.8 Percent Over the Year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Baltimore area rose 1.3 percent from January to March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the two-month rise reflected increases in the indexes for all items less food and energy (0.9 percent) and energy (6.6 percent). The food index was nearly unchanged since January, inching up 0.1 percent. Higher prices for apparel led the increase in the all items less food and energy group over the last two months. (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 rose 2.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Prices advanced for all items less food and energy (2.7 percent), food (2.7 percent), and energy (3.3 percent) since March 2011. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index inched up 0.1 percent from January to March, due mainly to higher prices for food away from home (0.2 percent). The food at home component was unchanged over the last two months, as higher prices for items including ham were offset by lower prices for others such as cheese and related products.

Over the year, the food index rose 2.7 percent. The recent increase reflected higher prices for food at home (2.8 percent) and for food away from home (2.7 percent) since last March.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, advanced 6.6 percent since January, due almost entirely to a 13.0-percent jump in gasoline prices. Electricity prices were also higher over the last two months, up 0.5 percent. Moderating the rise in the energy index were lower prices for utility (piped) gas, which dropped 8.9 percent since January.

Energy prices increased 3.3 percent since March 2011, due to an 8.9-percent advance in gasoline prices. Prices for both electricity and utility (piped) gas service declined over the year, down 3.4 and 7.2 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent from January to March, reflecting a seasonal advance in apparel prices (8.4 percent). Also contributing to the overall advance were bimonthly price increases for shelter and medical care, up 0.7 and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Over the last 12 months, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent. The advance was led by higher shelter prices, up 2.7 percent since March 2011. Higher prices for medical care (4.5 percent) and apparel (6.2 percent) also contributed to the rise in the all items less food and energy index over the year.

The May 2012 Consumer Price Index for Washington-Baltimore is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Table A. Washington-Baltimore CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index (not seasonally adjusted)
Month	2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012
Month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.5	2.9	0.8	4.9	-0.7	1.0	0.3	2.6	1.0	2.3	0.4	2.7
March	1.5	4.1	1.3	4.7	0.7	0.4	0.4	2.3	1.2	3.0	1.3	2.8
May	0.8	3.2	1.1	5.0	0.5	-0.2	0.2	1.9	1.0	3.9
July	1.1	2.9	1.7	5.7	1.1	-0.9	0.0	0.8	0.1	4.1
September	0.2	3.4	0.0	5.5	0.1	-0.8	0.5	1.3	-0.1	3.4
November	0.4	4.5	-2.5	2.5	-0.2	1.6	0.1	1.6	-0.1	3.3

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 Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes the District of Columbia; Baltimore City and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and Washington in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson in West Virginia.

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 and percent changes for selected periods, Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va. (December 1997=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from-
Expenditure category	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012	Mar. 2011	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012
All items (1)	148.163	-	150.074	2.8	1.3	-
Food and beverages (1)	147.872	-	148.051	2.7	0.1	-
Food (1)	149.583	-	149.696	2.7	0.1	-
Food at home	145.286	145.686	145.300	2.8	0.0	-0.3
Food away from home (2)	152.073	-	152.324	2.7	0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages (2)	125.037	-	125.997	3.1	0.8	-
Housing (1)	156.488	-	157.095	1.9	0.4	-
Shelter	164.367	165.058	165.535	2.7	0.7	0.3
Rent of primary residence (1) (3)	180.902	181.404	181.993	3.6	0.6	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (3)	164.455	164.972	165.427	2.4	0.6	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (3)	164.446	164.962	165.415	2.4	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	177.029	-	174.704	-2.2	-1.3	-
Household energy	173.765	173.638	171.070	-3.9	-1.6	-1.5
Energy services (3)	164.167	163.885	161.355	-4.5	-1.7	-1.5
Electricity (3)	167.754	168.811	168.514	-3.4	0.5	-0.2
Utility (piped) gas service (3)	134.341	130.557	122.441	-7.2	-8.9	-6.2
Household furnishings and operations	93.831	-	93.258	-1.0	-0.6	-
Apparel (1)	95.280	-	103.281	6.2	8.4	-
Transportation (1)	148.342	-	154.154	4.6	3.9	-
Private transportation	148.268	-	154.078	4.9	3.9	-
Motor fuel	283.177	299.550	319.539	8.9	12.8	6.7
Gasoline (all types)	282.560	299.148	319.364	8.9	13.0	6.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)	287.826	305.319	326.394	9.1	13.4	6.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4)	278.227	293.748	312.451	8.4	12.3	6.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)	277.923	292.156	311.059	8.5	11.9	6.5
Medical care (1)	158.094	-	160.779	4.5	1.7	-
Recreation	114.540	-	115.491	-0.2	0.8	-
Education and communication	140.745	-	140.261	2.3	-0.3	-
Other goods and services (1)	172.465	-	174.324	3.5	1.1	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	129.001	-	132.382	3.2	2.6	-
Commodities less food and beverages	118.350	-	123.292	3.4	4.2	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	149.739	-	160.476	5.4	7.2	-
Durables	84.965	-	84.300	0.0	-0.8	-
Services	160.756	-	161.619	2.5	0.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care (1)	147.549	-	149.412	2.6	1.3	-
All items less shelter	139.954	-	142.208	2.8	1.6	-
Commodities less food	118.737	-	123.535	3.4	4.0	-
Nondurables	148.078	-	153.483	4.1	3.7	-
Nondurables less food	147.692	-	157.697	5.3	6.8	-
Services less rent of shelter	157.520	-	158.019	2.3	0.3	-
Services less medical care services	161.066	-	161.764	2.4	0.4	-
Energy (1)	219.843	226.936	234.265	3.3	6.6	3.2
All items less energy	142.735	-	143.897	2.7	0.8	-
All items less food and energy (1)	142.550	-	143.884	2.7	0.9	-
Footnotes (1) For Washington-Baltimore, indexes on a November 1996=100 base. (2) For Washington-Baltimore, indexes on a November 1997=100 base. (3) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. - Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.