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Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.0 percent for the 2 months ending in April 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and gasoline, both of which are index sub-components. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.7 percent while the energy index increased 6.0 percent. The food index advanced 0.5 percent in the same period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.) (See table A.)
Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 2.9 percent, mostly due to a 2.8-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. The energy index increased 5.6 percent and the food index was up 2.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)
FoodFood prices increased 0.5 percent for the 2 months ending in April 2024. The food away from home index increased 0.6 percent. The food at home index rose 0.3 percent due to higher prices for fruits and vegetables (up 1.6 percent), nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (up 1.5 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (up 0.4 percent). Tempering the food index increase were declines in other food at home prices (down 0.7 percent) and dairy and related products (down 0.6 percent).
Over the year, the food index rose 2.2 percent as prices for food away from home were up 3.6 percent. The food at home index increased 1.2 percent due to higher prices for fruits and vegetables (up 4.1 percent – the largest increase since October 2022), nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (up 2.3 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (up 1.9 percent). In the same period, prices for dairy and related products and other food at home declined -3.1 percent and -0.2 percent respectively.
EnergyIn the two months ending in April, the energy index increased 6.0 percent. The April energy index increase was mainly due to rising prices for gasoline, up 11.5 percent, marking the largest bi-monthly increase since June 2022. The electricity index advanced 1.8 percent while prices for utility (piped) gas service were down 4.5 percent.
From April 2023 to April 2024 the energy index gained 5.6 percent. The increase was largely due to a rise in prices for gasoline, up 4.0 percent. Contributing to the overall energy index rise was the utility (piped) gas service index, up 19.0 percent (the first index increase since the first quarter of 2023) and the electricity index, up 5.5 percent.
All items less food and energyThe index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent in the two months ending in April 2024, reflecting increases throughout the categories within the index. The shelter index was up 0.4 percent—within shelter, rent of primary residence increased 0.2 percent, the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index was up 0.1 percent, and lodging away from home prices also rose. The new and used motor vehicles index contributed to the rise (up 0.9 percent) as prices for used cars and trucks increased 0.4 percent. The medical care index increased 0.6 percent due to increasing prices for medical care services. Countering the rises were lower prices for household furnishings and operations (down 1.7 percent), education and communication (down 0.6 percent) and apparel (down 0.9 percent).
Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.8 percent, led by a 4.6-percent increase in the shelter index and, within shelter, a 4.4 percent rise in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and a 4.9 percent rise in the rent of primary residence index. The rise in the other goods and services index was 7.0 percent. Within the new and used motor vehicles index (down 2.9 percent), prices for used cars and trucks declined 6.0 percent while new vehicle prices decreased 1.3 percent. Other indexes declined and tempered the overall index, including household furnishings and operations (down 5.3 percent) and medical care (down 2.1 percent).
Month | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2-month | 12-month | 2-month | 12-month | 2-month | 12-month | 2-month | 12-month | 2-month | 12-month | |
February | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 9.3 | 1.2 | 6.1 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
April | -0.1 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 9.1 | 0.7 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 2.9 |
June | -0.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 10.6 | 0.2 | 2.8 | ||
August | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 4.5 | 0.1 | 10.2 | 0.5 | 3.1 | ||
October | 0.6 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 6.3 | 0.7 | 8.4 | -0.2 | 2.2 | ||
December | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 8.0 | -0.1 | 6.3 | -0.3 | 2.1 |
The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2024.
The Consumer Price Index for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is published bi-monthly. 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 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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, 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000. Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.
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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s counties, as well as Baltimore City, in Maryland.
Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.
Expenditure category | Indexes | Percent change from | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Historical data | Feb. 2024 | Mar. 2024 | Apr. 2024 | Apr. 2023 | Feb. 2024 | Mar. 2024 | |
All items | 311.665 | 314.927 | 2.9 | 1.0 | |||
Food and beverages | 332.618 | 334.322 | 2.2 | 0.5 | |||
Food | 332.960 | 334.533 | 2.2 | 0.5 | |||
Food at home | 294.220 | 288.536 | 295.231 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.3 | |
Cereals and bakery products | 354.733 | 358.599 | 356.107 | 0.6 | 0.4 | -0.7 | |
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs | 303.496 | 287.512 | 304.794 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 6.0 | |
Dairy and related products | 273.842 | 268.420 | 272.168 | -3.1 | -0.6 | 1.4 | |
Fruits and vegetables | 322.779 | 314.923 | 327.954 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 4.1 | |
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1) | 218.795 | 220.021 | 222.027 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.9 | |
Other food at home | 277.371 | 273.661 | 275.533 | -0.2 | -0.7 | 0.7 | |
Food away from home | 386.610 | 389.064 | 3.6 | 0.6 | |||
Alcoholic beverages | 324.002 | 327.278 | 3.4 | 1.0 | |||
Housing(1) | 314.707 | 315.437 | 3.6 | 0.2 | |||
Shelter | 369.096 | 368.568 | 370.629 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | |
Rent of primary residence | 427.393 | 426.604 | 428.090 | 4.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | |
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2) | 389.251 | 388.959 | 389.615 | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | |
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2) | 389.251 | 388.959 | 389.615 | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | |
Fuels and utilities | 314.421 | 316.699 | 6.1 | 0.7 | |||
Household energy | 279.405 | 283.254 | 281.950 | 5.9 | 0.9 | -0.5 | |
Energy services | 300.268 | 304.587 | 304.068 | 6.5 | 1.3 | -0.2 | |
Electricity | 281.687 | 286.139 | 286.657 | 5.5 | 1.8 | 0.2 | |
Utility (piped) gas service | 249.190 | 248.676 | 237.953 | 19.0 | -4.5 | -4.3 | |
Household furnishings and operations | 137.707 | 135.372 | -5.3 | -1.7 | |||
Apparel | 132.010 | 130.783 | -2.3 | -0.9 | |||
Transportation | 273.769 | 288.677 | 5.0 | 5.4 | |||
Private transportation | 277.548 | 294.092 | 4.9 | 6.0 | |||
New and used motor vehicles(3) | 134.534 | 135.678 | -2.9 | 0.9 | |||
New vehicles(1) | 277.563 | 276.662 | -1.3 | -0.3 | |||
Used cars and trucks(1) | 316.727 | 317.998 | -6.0 | 0.4 | |||
Motor fuel | 289.623 | 302.487 | 321.875 | 3.9 | 11.1 | 6.4 | |
Gasoline (all types) | 282.419 | 295.325 | 314.762 | 4.0 | 11.5 | 6.6 | |
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4) | 285.196 | 298.657 | 318.877 | 3.9 | 11.8 | 6.8 | |
307.073 | 319.423 | 337.972 | 4.5 | 10.1 | 5.8 | ||
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4) | 295.014 | 305.911 | 322.709 | 5.4 | 9.4 | 5.5 | |
Medical care | 503.122 | 506.083 | -2.1 | 0.6 | |||
Recreation | 145.163 | 145.806 | 2.8 | 0.4 | |||
Education and communication(3) | 164.812 | 163.859 | 2.7 | -0.6 | |||
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1) | 1,384.338 | 1,384.338 | 5.2 | 0.0 | |||
Other goods and services | 543.992 | 546.212 | 7.0 | 0.4 | |||
Commodity and service group | |||||||
Commodities | 231.538 | 233.808 | 0.7 | 1.0 | |||
Commodities less food and beverages | 186.604 | 189.021 | 0.1 | 1.3 | |||
Nondurables less food and beverages | 234.477 | 239.859 | 2.4 | 2.3 | |||
Durables | 133.083 | 133.249 | -2.9 | 0.1 | |||
Services | 389.966 | 394.200 | 4.4 | 1.1 | |||
Special aggregate indexes | |||||||
All items less shelter | 290.555 | 294.577 | 2.1 | 1.4 | |||
All items less medical care | 302.152 | 305.436 | 3.3 | 1.1 | |||
Commodities less food | 190.762 | 193.208 | 0.2 | 1.3 | |||
Nondurables | 279.492 | 283.142 | 2.4 | 1.3 | |||
Nondurables less food | 239.231 | 244.465 | 2.4 | 2.2 | |||
Services less rent of shelter(2) | 426.610 | 434.756 | 4.2 | 1.9 | |||
Services less medical care services | 379.890 | 383.710 | 5.4 | 1.0 | |||
Energy(1) | 294.516 | 303.056 | 312.155 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 3.0 | |
All items less energy | 315.013 | 317.180 | 2.7 | 0.7 | |||
All items less food and energy | 312.358 | 314.623 | 2.8 | 0.7 | |||
Footnotes |
Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024