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Prices of energy commodities down 24.2 percent since November 2014

December 17, 2015

Over the 12 months ending November 2015, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted). Prices of energy commodities, which includes gasoline, propane, and kerosene, decreased 24.2 percent; these commodities had a relative importance of 3.7 in the overall CPI-U, in other words they accounted for that percentage of consumer spending.

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), 12-month percent change and relative importance, U.S. city average, by expenditure category, November 2015
Category Percent change, November 2014 to November 2015 Relative importance

All items

0.5 100.000

Food at home

0.3 8.365

Food away from home

2.7 5.887

Energy commodities

-24.2 3.676

Energy services

-2.8 3.674

Household furnishings and supplies

-1.4 3.283

Apparel

-1.5 3.447

Transportation commodities less motor fuel

0.0 5.651

Medical care commodities

2.5 1.780

Recreation commodities

-2.6 1.951

Education and communication commodities

-3.3 0.592

Alcoholic beverages

0.4 1.010

Other goods

1.2 1.629

Shelter

3.2 33.228

Water and sewer and trash collection services

4.0 1.247

Household operations

2.6 0.860

Medical care services

3.1 6.017

Transportation services

2.3 5.658

Recreation services

2.4 3.787

Education and communication services

1.8 6.479

Other personal services

2.9 1.782

Note: Relative importance data are for October 2015.

Other energy components also experienced declines over the year; the fuel oil index fell 31.4 percent and the index for natural gas decreased 11.7 percent. The electricity index declined slightly over the past 12 months, falling 0.2 percent.

The food at home index, which has a relative importance of 8.4, increased 0.3 percent over the past 12 months, its smallest 12-month increase since the period ending June 2010. The indexes for dairy and related products and for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs have declined over the last 12 months. The index for food away from home increased 2.7 percent over the last 12 months.

The shelter index, which includes rent and owners’ equivalent rent of residences and has a relative importance value of 33.2 percent, rose 3.2 percent over the last year. 

The medical care services index (relative importance 6.0 percent) increased 3.1 percent over the past 12 months.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see “Consumer Price Index — November 2015” (HTML) (PDF). Relative importance data used in the November 2015 CPI-U are for October 2015.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Prices of energy commodities down 24.2 percent since November 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/prices-of-energy-commodities-down-24-point-2-percent-since-november-2014.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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