Consumer Price Index, Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, CMSA – March 2012

The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 1.3 percent from January to March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that the index for food increased 0.8 percent and the index for energy was 5.5 percent higher over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy was up 0.8 percent. Within this last group, increasing prices for shelter and apparel contributed to the index’s rise over the two-month period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the past 12 months the Cleveland area all items CPI-U advanced 2.6 percent. The energy index rose 0.7 percent with gasoline and electricity prices rising as utility (piped) gas service prices fell over the year. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent over the year.

Food

Food prices increased 0.8 percent from January to March following a 0.7 percent increase over the previous bi-monthly period. Of the food index’s two components, food at home rose 0.2 percent while food away from home increased 1.6 percent. From March 2011 to March 2012, the index for food advanced 3.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index was 5.5 percent higher from January to March after rising 0.3 percent from November to January. Prices for gasoline increased 12.8 percent over the latest bi-monthly period. From January to March electricity prices were unchanged as prices for utility (piped) gas services declined 7.2 percent.

The energy index rose 0.7 percent over the year. Gasoline prices were 9.8 percent higher and prices for electricity increased 2.8 percent. In contrast, prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 27.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was up 0.8 percent from January to March. Increasing prices for shelter (1.0 percent) and apparel (7.9 percent) contributed to the index’s rise.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent and was largely attributed to higher prices for apparel (11.1 percent), medical care (4.0 percent), and shelter (0.9 percent).

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The May 2012 Consumer Price Index for Cleveland is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2012, 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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32percent 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 25,000 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 Cleveland-Akron, Ohio consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties in Ohio.

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 Midwest Information Office at (312) 353-1880 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Midwest Information Office, Suite 960, 230 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60604

www.bls.gov/ro5 | Telephone: 1-312-353-1880 | Contact Midwest Region (R05)