U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mountain-Plains Information Office

For release: Thursday, August 18, 2011 (PDF)

Contact information: (816) 285-7000 • BLSInfoKansasCity@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ro7

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI) FOR ST. LOUIS

Prices increased 3.3 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., metropolitan area rose 3.3 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was the largest over-the-year increase registered since 2005. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that over half of the advance was due to a 21.3-percent jump in energy costs. Higher prices for all items less food and energy (up 1.5 percent) and food (up 2.5 percent) also contributed to the overall increase.

Food

Food prices rose 2.5 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011 following a 0.5-percent increase in the same period one year ago. Within the food index, costs for food at home advanced 2.4 percent with prices increasing at a faster rate during the most recent half of the year. Prices for food away from home were up 2.5 percent over the year, but nearly the entire increase occurred in the first six months of the period.

Energy

The energy index advanced sharply, up 21.3 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011—the largest annual increase since 2006. A 29.3-percent jump in motor fuel prices, nearly all of which occurred in the most recent six-month period, was responsible for the majority of the increase in the energy component. Electricity prices also pushed energy costs up and recorded their largest over-the-year gain since 1986. Prices climbed 17.6 percent higher than they were in the first half of 2010 with a recent decline not enough to counter the jump that occurred during the earlier half of the year. Utility (piped) gas service costs rose 0.4 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011. Among the components of the index that contributed to the increase were shelter (1.7 percent) and apparel (3.6 percent). In contrast, the index for household furnishings and operations decreased 4.5 percent over the year.

The St. Louis CPI-U stood at 208.586 for the first half of 2011. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in 1982-84 cost $208.59 in the first 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 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 first half of 2011 was 209.150. The CPI-W increased 3.9 percent from the first half of 2010 to the first 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 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.

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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