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15-2411-BOS
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston-Brockton-Nashua area edged up 0.7 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that the two-month increase was mainly due to higher prices paid by area consumers for energy, up 5.1 percent and medical care, up 4.9 percent. Lower prices for shelter, down 0.3 percent over two months, and prices paid for recreation, down 1.7 percent, partially offset this increase. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bimonthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)
Over the last 12 months the Boston CPI-U rose 0.8 percent. The increase was largely attributable to higher shelter and food prices, up 3.5 and 2.0 percent, respectively. (See chart 1.) Lower energy prices paid by area consumers, down 19.2 percent, partially offset the modest increase.
Food
Food prices were unchanged since September. A rise in the prices for food away from home (0.3 percent), or restaurant prices, was offset by a decrease in grocery store prices, also known as food at home, down 0.1 percent over the two month period.
From November 2014 to November 2015 the index for food rose 2.0 percent due to higher grocery store prices (+1.2 percent) and higher restaurant prices (+3.4 percent).
Energy
The energy index was up 5.1 percent over the two months, mainly due to increases in the prices paid for utility piped gas (+54.1 percent) and electricity (+8.4 percent) as utilities introduced winter rate schedules. Decreases in prices paid for gasoline (-6.6 percent) partially moderated the rise in the energy index. Area motorists paid $2.172 per gallon of gasoline in November.
Energy prices were down 19.2 percent from a year ago, attributable to lower gasoline prices, down 26.7 percent. Contributing to the decline were lower prices paid by area consumers for utility (piped) gas, down 16.0 percent from one year ago and electricity, down 4.6 percent over the same period.
All items less food and energy
The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.5 percent from September. Increases in the indexes for medical care (+4.9 percent) and education and communication (0.6 percent) led the advance but were partially offset by decreases in the indexes for recreation (-1.7 percent) and shelter (-0.3 percent).
Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.7 percent, with higher shelter costs, rising 3.5 percent from November 2014, being the main cause of this increase. This marked the 53rd consecutive annual increase in the local shelter index.
CPI-W
In November, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 257.124. The CPI-W was up 0.7 percent over two months and increased 0.5 percent over the year.
The January 2016 Consumer Price Index for Boston-Brockton-Nashua is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 19, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).
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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 change 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 https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf.
In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together withweights 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 Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Mass.-N.H.-Maine-Conn. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties and parts of Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts; parts of Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire; part of York County in Maine; and part of Windham County in Connecticut.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service (800) 877-8339.
Expenditure category | Indexes | Percent change from | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Historical data | Sep. 2015 | Oct. 2015 | Nov. 2015 | Nov. 2014 | Sep. 2015 | Oct. 2015 | |
All items | 256.643 | 258.407 | 0.8 | 0.7 | |||
All items (1967 = 100) | 745.940 | 751.066 | |||||
Food and beverages | 256.579 | 256.296 | 1.7 | -0.1 | |||
Food | 257.173 | 257.242 | 2.0 | 0.0 | |||
Food at home | 246.662 | 246.632 | 246.341 | 1.2 | -0.1 | -0.1 | |
Food away from home | 274.794 | 275.599 | 3.4 | 0.3 | |||
Alcoholic beverages | 253.893 | 249.978 | -1.7 | -1.5 | |||
Housing | 256.768 | 259.124 | 1.5 | 0.9 | |||
Shelter | 307.111 | 307.201 | 306.123 | 3.5 | -0.3 | -0.4 | |
Rent of primary residence (1) | 315.203 | 315.718 | 315.205 | 3.2 | 0.0 | -0.2 | |
326.383 | 327.227 | 327.738 | 4.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | ||
326.383 | 327.227 | 327.738 | 4.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | ||
Fuels and utilities | 220.976 | 249.237 | -11.1 | 12.8 | |||
Household energy | 181.690 | 179.747 | 209.264 | -12.9 | 15.2 | 16.4 | |
Energy services (1) | 185.573 | 183.148 | 220.257 | -8.2 | 18.7 | 20.3 | |
Electricity (1) | 220.402 | 218.187 | 238.965 | -4.6 | 8.4 | 9.5 | |
Utility (piped) gas service (1) | 116.755 | 114.016 | 179.878 | -16.0 | 54.1 | 57.8 | |
Household furnishings and operations | 129.254 | 128.426 | 1.0 | -0.6 | |||
Apparel | 146.410 | 148.361 | 0.0 | 1.3 | |||
Transportation | 184.307 | 183.772 | -7.5 | -0.3 | |||
Private transportation | 182.906 | 181.045 | -7.2 | -1.0 | |||
Motor fuel | 200.126 | 187.666 | 186.961 | -26.7 | -6.6 | -0.4 | |
Gasoline (all types) | 197.754 | 185.427 | 184.733 | -26.7 | -6.6 | -0.4 | |
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4) | 191.421 | 179.233 | 178.658 | -27.6 | -6.7 | -0.3 | |
211.864 | 199.652 | 198.423 | -25.2 | -6.3 | -0.6 | ||
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4) | 210.684 | 199.652 | 198.134 | -22.7 | -6.0 | -0.8 | |
Medical care | 606.668 | 636.328 | 6.6 | 4.9 | |||
Recreation (6) | 117.436 | 115.481 | 1.1 | -1.7 | |||
Education and communication (6) | 155.090 | 155.978 | 5.1 | 0.6 | |||
Other goods and services | 445.508 | 448.796 | 0.3 | 0.7 | |||
Commodity and service group | |||||||
Commodities | 188.975 | 187.504 | -2.7 | -0.8 | |||
Commodities less food and beverages | 153.430 | 151.385 | -6.1 | -1.3 | |||
Nondurables less food and beverages | 196.762 | 193.236 | -9.1 | -1.8 | |||
Durables | 110.940 | 110.293 | -0.8 | -0.6 | |||
Services | 317.564 | 322.437 | 3.0 | 1.5 | |||
Special aggregate indexes | |||||||
All items less shelter | 239.422 | 242.298 | -0.5 | 1.2 | |||
All items less medical care | 243.060 | 243.930 | 0.4 | 0.4 | |||
Commodities less food | 157.433 | 155.313 | -5.8 | -1.3 | |||
Nondurables | 225.614 | 223.742 | -3.2 | -0.8 | |||
Nondurables less food | 199.844 | 196.315 | -8.4 | -1.8 | |||
Services less rent of shelter (2) | 345.711 | 358.192 | 2.3 | 3.6 | |||
Services less medical care services | 297.920 | 300.798 | 2.4 | 1.0 | |||
Energy | 188.409 | 181.904 | 198.064 | -19.2 | 5.1 | 8.9 | |
All items less energy | 266.850 | 267.886 | 2.6 | 0.4 | |||
All items less food and energy | 269.289 | 270.523 | 2.7 | 0.5 | |||
Footnotes | |||||||
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. |
Last Modified Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2015