Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent for the two months ending in December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the all items less food and energy index rose 0.6 percent in November and December, mainly due to higher costs for shelter. The food index advanced 1.1 percent, while the energy index fell 7.3 percent over the past two months. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 6.2 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.0 percent over the year. Food prices increased 14.9 percent during the same period. Energy prices rose 3.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, St. Louis, MO-IL, December 2019–December 2022

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Dec 2019	2.1	1.6
Feb 2020	2.1	1.8
Apr 2020	-0.6	0.4
Jun 2020	0.2	1.5
Aug 2020	0.8	1.8
Oct 2020	1.1	1.7
Dec 2020	1.2	2.2
Feb 2021	1.6	1.8
Apr 2021	5.4	4.8
Jun 2021	6.1	5.0
Aug 2021	6.6	5.2
Oct 2021	7.5	5.8
Dec 2021	8.3	6.3
Feb 2022	8.2	6.3
Apr 2022	8.4	5.7
Jun 2022	8.4	4.8
Aug 2022	7.5	5.3
Oct 2022	7.0	5.0
Dec 2022	6.2	5.0

Food prices increased 1.1 percent for the two months ending in December. The index for food at home (grocery store prices) advanced 1.7 percent, which was mainly due to an increase in prices for fruits and vegetables (+3.6 percent), other food at home (+1.5 percent), and dairy and related products (+4.2 percent). Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 14.9 percent. Prices for food at home rose 12.4 percent since a year ago, with all six major grocery store food group indexes contributing to the rise. The other food at home index (sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) contributed most to the increase at 17.2 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 18.8 percent over the same period.

The energy index decreased 7.3 percent for the two months ending in December. The decline was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.2 percent), but a fall in the prices paid for electricity also contributed (- 0.5 percent). An increase in the cost for natural gas service (+1.8 percent) partially offset the two-month decline.

From December 2021 to December 2022, energy prices advanced 3.8 percent. The increase was due to higher prices for electricity (+13.7 percent) and natural gas service (+11.2 percent). The rise was partially offset by a decline in the prices paid for gasoline (-5.8 percent) during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in November and December, after rising 0.9 percent in September and October. Higher prices for shelter (+2.0 percent), new vehicles (+0.9 percent) and recreation (+0.6 percent) were among the largest contributors to the rise. These increases were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.1 percent), medical care (-1.2 percent), public transportation, and household furnishings and operations (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.6 percent), recreation (+8.0 percent), medical care (+4.0 percent), and new vehicles (+10.0 percent). Partially offsetting these increases were declines in the prices paid for lodging away from home and used cars and trucks (-8.6 percent).

The February 2023 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

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, 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 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 St. Louis, MO-IL, area covered in this release includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois; and Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties and St. Louis City in Missouri.

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.