Prices in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.0 percent over the 2 months ending in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the March increase was due to a 0.8-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index, in large part due to higher prices for shelter and public transportation. For the same period, the energy index and food index rose, up 6.1 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U index advanced 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The all items less food and energy index was mostly responsible for the total increase as it rose 3.5 percent, marking a year since it began to surpass the all items index. Food prices were up 2.5 percent and energy prices were up 4.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, March 2021–March 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2021	2.6	2.0
May 2021	3.8	3.2
Jul 2021	4.4	3.6
Sep 2021	4.5	3.7
Nov 2021	5.8	4.4
Jan 2022	6.0	4.8
Mar 2022	7.3	6.0
May 2022	7.5	5.7
Jul 2022	7.5	5.6
Sep 2022	6.5	5.6
Nov 2022	5.6	4.9
Jan 2023	4.4	3.6
Mar 2023	3.7	4.0
May 2023	3.1	3.9
Jul 2023	1.8	2.9
Sep 2023	3.3	3.6
Nov 2023	2.8	3.3
Jan 2024	3.6	4.6
Mar 2024	3.4	3.5

Food prices advanced 0.1 percent for the 2-month period ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 0.5 percent, and prices for food at home were down 0.3 percent in the same period. Within the food at home index, prices decreased 3.2 percent for dairy and related products, the largest decline since November 2020 (-4.0 percent). Also declining were prices for fruits and vegetables (-1.5 percent); meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-0.4 percent); and other food at home (-0.2 percent). Slightly offsetting the reduction in prices for the grocery index was an increase in prices for cereals and bakery products (+2.5 percent); and prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+1.1 percent).

Over the year, food prices increased 2.5 percent with prices for food away from home rising 4.7 percent. For the same period, prices for food at home rose 1.0 percent. For the grocery index, rising prices in the other food at home index (+3.4 percent) and the nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials index (+3.7 percent) led the advance. The increase in grocery prices was moderated by the sixth consecutive bi-monthly price decrease for the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, down 1.6 percent. Also tempering the grocery index was the dairy and related products index, down -1.5 percent, continuing a trend of declines that started in July 2023.

The energy index rose 6.1 percent for the 2 months ending in March. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+10.7 percent). Prices for electricity increased 2.1 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 1.7 percent in the same period.

Energy prices increased 4.1 percent over the year, ending a year of consecutive monthly declines in the index. The advance in the energy index was largely due to higher prices for gasoline, up 3.7 percent. Prices for electricity rose 4.0 percent. The utility (piped) gas service index advanced 8.1 percent—the first 12-month percent increase after a year of monthly declines that ranged from 27.1 percent to 11.2 percent.

In the latest 2-month period, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent. The overall index rise was led by higher prices for shelter (+1.2 percent), apparel (+4.5 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+0.7 percent), and public transportation. Within the shelter index, increases were reported in prices for lodging away from home, owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+ 0.6 percent), and rent of primary residence (+ 0.8 percent). Prices for used cars and trucks (+ 1.3 percent) contributed to the new and used motor vehicles index rise while new vehicle prices decreased 0.3 percent. Slightly offsetting the all items less food and energy index were declines in the medical care index (-0.6 percent, driven by lower prices for medical care commodities).

For the year ending in March, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.5 percent, leading the rise were shelter (+4.7 percent) and medical care (+3.7 percent) prices. In the shelter index, owners’ equivalent rent of residences was up 5.7 percent and the index for rent of primary residence advanced 3.2 percent. The only price declines were in apparel (-1.8 percent), new and used motor vehicles (-0.3 percent—the first decline in the index since July 2020), and public transportation.

The May 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on June 12, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of Jefferson in West Virginia.

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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Mar. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024
All items		309.961		313.108	3.4	1.0
Food and beverages		305.996		306.162	2.4	0.1
Food		315.228		315.426	2.5	0.1
Food at home		293.032	292.989	292.197	1.0	-0.3	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products		382.719	391.491	392.478	1.5	2.5	0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		309.491	306.276	308.305	-1.6	-0.4	0.7
Dairy and related products		292.009	292.509	282.607	-1.5	-3.2	-3.4
Fruits and vegetables		306.901	303.898	302.184	0.6	-1.5	-0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		262.073	265.815	264.948	3.7	1.1	-0.3
Other food at home		246.399	245.650	245.938	3.4	-0.2	0.1
Food away from home		346.199		347.858	4.7	0.5
Alcoholic beverages		219.942		219.852	0.5	0.0
Housing		324.023		327.768	4.2	1.2
Shelter		386.317	388.582	390.880	4.7	1.2	0.6
Rent of primary residence		415.673	418.175	419.086	3.2	0.8	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		399.138	400.501	401.478	5.7	0.6	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		399.138	400.501	401.478	5.7	0.6	0.2
Fuels and utilities		282.437		286.345	4.5	1.4
Household energy		221.222	220.022	225.471	4.3	1.9	2.5
Energy services		226.100	224.136	230.674	5.0	2.0	2.9
Electricity		250.127	249.813	255.439	4.0	2.1	2.3
Utility (piped) gas service		163.484	158.174	166.265	8.1	1.7	5.1
Household furnishings and operations		132.114		133.076	0.8	0.7
Apparel		157.929		165.085	-1.8	4.5
Transportation		265.530		271.791	3.2	2.4
Private transportation		277.586		282.679	3.7	1.8
New and used motor vehicles(3)		126.032		126.967	-0.3	0.7
New vehicles(1)		229.099		228.478	-0.9	-0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		389.743		394.714	-1.4	1.3
Motor fuel		295.940	309.504	327.587	3.7	10.7	5.8
Gasoline (all types)		291.629	305.003	322.860	3.7	10.7	5.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		283.288	296.984	315.198	3.8	11.3	6.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		307.900	318.173	333.022	3.9	8.2	4.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		324.220	334.525	348.768	3.8	7.6	4.3
Medical care		534.928		531.637	3.7	-0.6
Recreation(3)		128.950		129.382	1.6	0.3
Education and communication(3)		166.418		166.142	1.3	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,669.910		1,688.272	6.5	1.1
Other goods and services		522.206		528.631	7.6	1.2
Commodity and service group
Commodities		212.623		214.297	0.5	0.8
Commodities less food and beverages		167.081		169.217	-0.9	1.3
Nondurables less food and beverages		218.136		224.771	1.4	3.0
Durables		119.120		118.523	-3.2	-0.5
Services		397.245		401.770	5.0	1.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		278.330		280.875	2.6	0.9
All items less medical care		299.471		302.900	3.3	1.1
Commodities less food		169.257		171.304	-0.9	1.2
Nondurables		260.914		264.396	2.0	1.3
Nondurables less food		217.695		223.652	1.3	2.7
Services less rent of shelter(2)		422.033		426.549	5.4	1.1
Services less medical care services		384.013		388.696	5.0	1.2
Energy		260.849	265.746	276.662	4.1	6.1	4.1
All items less energy		317.800		320.135	3.3	0.7
All items less food and energy		319.534		322.223	3.5	0.8
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.