Consumer Price Index (CPI) for St. Louis

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., metropolitan area rose 2.2 percent from the second half of 2011 to the second half of 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the increase was broad-based, with higher prices for shelter and food having the largest upward impact on the index. Costs for energy rose 1.2 percent, food prices were up 3.2 percent, and the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.1 percent.

Food

Food prices rose 3.2 percent from the second half of 2011 to the second half of 2012, with most of the increase occurring in the first half of the period. Costs for food at home were up 2.8 percent following an increase of 5.7 percent in the same period one year ago. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.2 percent over the year after rising 0.7 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011.

Energy

The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, increased 1.2 percent from the second half of 2011 to the second half of 2012 following a sharp advance of 14.2 percent in the same period one year ago. An increase of 3.3 percent in motor fuel prices had the greatest impact on the energy component, though rising costs for motor fuel in the earlier half of the period were partially offset by declines in the most recent six-month period. Electricity costs were up 0.8 percent from the second half of 2011, the smallest over-the-year gain since 2008. Prices for utility (piped) gas service declined 3.5 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent from the second half of 2011 to the second half of 2012. Higher costs for shelter, up 3.8 percent, led the advance. Other components that contributed to the increase included apparel (7.7 percent) and recreation (2.2 percent). In contrast, the index for household furnishings and operations decreased 2.0 percent over the year and education and communication costs were down 0.2 percent.

The St. Louis CPI-U stood at 215.614 for the second half of 2012. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in 1982-84 cost $215.61 in the second half of 2012. 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 metropolitan area indexes.

CPI-W

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., metropolitan area for the second half of 2012 was 215.904. The CPI-W increased 2.1 percent from the second half of 2011 to the second half of 2012.

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

The St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties in Illinois; and Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, Warren, and Washington Counties and St. Louis City in Missouri.

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