The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area rose 1.3 percent in February and March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that a 7.9-percent advance in the energy index accounted for nearly two-thirds of the overall increase. Higher prices were also reported for all items less food and energy (0.5 percent) and food (0.6 percent). (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, short-term changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

For the year ended in March 2013, the all items CPI-U rose 1.8 percent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Since May 2012, annual rates of increase have ranged from 1.3 percent to 2.3 percent, below the annual rates experienced throughout most of 2011. During the previous 12 months, prices for all items less food and energy rose at a 2.0-percent pace. (See chart 1.)

Food

Local food prices were up 0.6 percent in February and March after increasing 0.5 percent in December and January. Among the two components of the index, prices for food away from home increased 0.8 percent while prices for food at home (grocery stores) rose 0.6 percent. Within the grocery group, higher prices were registered for a host of items, including snacks, soups, and frozen foods.

From March 2012 to March 2013, the food index was up 2.3 percent, reflecting the combined effects of a 2.1-percent price rise at grocery stores and a 2.6-percent price rise for food away from home. Annual increases in food prices have been 3.0 percent or less since March 2012.

Energy

The energy index climbed 7.9 percent in February and March following a 1.8-percent increase in December and January. The increase was almost entirely the result of a 12.8-percent surge in gasoline prices, though higher electricity costs, up 1.5 percent, also contributed. Natural gas prices fell 4.8 percent in February and March.

Despite the recent increases, total energy costs slipped 0.3 percent over the year. Higher electricity prices (up 5.3 percent) were countered by annual declines in gasoline (-3.0 percent) and natural gas (-0.3 percent) costs.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in February and March, after registering little change in the previous bimonthly period. A 9.8-percent advance in apparel prices was responsible for most of the increase. Higher prices were most notable for women’s clothing, reflecting in part the introduction of new spring and summer lines. Smaller contributing factors included higher prices for shelter and medical care. Offsetting a portion of these increases, recreation costs fell 1.0 percent during the bimonthly period, due in part to lower prices for televisions.

From March 2012 to March 2013, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent, slightly slower than the 2.2- to 2.4-percent annual rates experienced throughout 2012. The leading factor in the current gain was a 3.6-percent advance in shelter costs. In contrast, over-the-year price declines were registered for apparel and recreation, down 3.0 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.

Next Release Date: The May 2013 Consumer Price Index for All Items for Dallas-Fort Worth will be released on June 18, 2013.

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 Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Henderson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant Counties.

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.

Last Modified Date: April 16, 2013

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