The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo., metropolitan area increased 3.6 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that higher costs for motor fuel, food, and shelter had the largest upward impact on the index. Energy costs rose 20.3 percent and food prices were up 5.0 percent. Excluding food and energy, prices were 1.8 percent higher over the year.

Food

Food prices were up 5.0 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011 following a 1.1-percent increase in the same period one year ago. The rise was led by a 6.6-percent advance in prices for food at home, much of which occurred in the first half of the period. Costs for food away from home rose 3.5 percent over the year.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, climbed 20.3 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011, the largest over-the-year increase since 2005. A 28.4-percent advance in motor fuel prices, nearly all of which occurred in the first six months of the period, was largely responsible for the increase in the energy component. Within household energy, utility (piped) gas service costs turned up 14.2 percent following a 5.4-percent decline in the same period one year ago. Electricity prices rose 4.7 percent and also contributed to the increase.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.8 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011. Among the components of the index that contributed to the increase were shelter (1.5 percent), medical care (2.1 percent), and apparel (2.7 percent).

The Denver CPI-U stood at 221.521 for the second half of 2011. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 during the 1982-84 base period cost $221.52 during the second half of 2011. Because metropolitan area CPI data are not adjusted for seasonal price variation, consumers and businesses should be cautious in drawing conclusions about long-term retail price trends from short-term changes in the area indexes.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo., metropolitan area for the second half of 2011 was 211.960. The CPI-W increased 4.1 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011.

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 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 areas; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo., Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Weld Counties in Colorado.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the Mountain-Plains Information Office at (816) 285-7000 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

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