Mid-Atlantic Information Office

Consumer Price Index, Washington-Baltimore – March 2011 (PDF)

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Baltimore area rose 1.2 percent from January to March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent increase largely reflected higher energy prices (8.0 percent); advances in the indexes for all items less food and energy (0.6 percent) and food (0.9 percent) also contributed to the overall rise. The two-month increase in the energy index was dominated by higher gasoline prices. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, two-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Since March 2010, prices increased for all items less food and energy (2.0 percent), energy (13.0 percent), and food (3.6 percent). (See table 1.)

Food

Since January, the food index advanced 0.9 percent, led by a 1.2-percent increase in prices for food at home. Within the food at home group, higher prices for various items including tomatoes, canned fruits and vegetables, and other meats were partially offset by lower prices for items such as uncooked ground beef and frozen fruits and vegetables. Prices for food away from home increased 0.4 percent since January.

The food index advanced 3.6 percent since March 2010. Over the year, prices for food at home increased 4.5 percent and those for food away from home rose 2.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, advanced 8.0 percent since January. A 13.6-percent rise in gasoline prices dominated the two-month increase in the energy index; prices also rose for fuel oil and electricity (0.5 percent) from January to March. During the same period, utility (piped) gas service prices fell 1.3 percent.

The energy index advanced 13.0 percent since March 2010 due almost entirely to a 28.6-percent jump in gasoline prices. Lower prices for electricity (-5.3 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (-5.8 percent) moderated the 12-month increase in the energy index.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent from January to March. The two-month increase was led by an advance in prices for shelter (0.8 percent), particularly owners’ equivalent rent of residences (0.7 percent). Moderating the overall increase were bimonthly declines in several categories including household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent. Higher prices for shelter (3.1 percent), particularly owners’ equivalent rent of residences (3.3 percent), led the 12-month advance. Household furnishings and operations prices fell 5.1 percent—the largest decline since the inception of the index. A 2.0-percent decrease in recreation prices also helped to moderate the over-the-year increase in the all items less food and energy index.

The May 2011 Consumer Price Index for Washington-Baltimore is scheduled to be released on June 15, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Table A. Washington-Baltimore CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2006		2007		2008		2009		2010		2011
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.7	4.1	0.5	2.9	0.8	4.9	-0.7	1.0	0.3	2.6	1.0	2.3
March	0.4	3.3	1.5	4.1	1.3	4.7	0.7	0.4	0.4	2.3	1.2	3.0
May	1.6	4.2	0.8	3.2	1.1	5.0	0.5	-0.2	0.2	1.9
July	1.5	4.6	1.1	2.9	1.7	5.7	1.1	-0.9	0.0	0.8
September	-0.4	2.8	0.2	3.4	0.0	5.5	0.1	-0.8	0.5	1.3
November	-0.7	3.1	0.4	4.5	-2.5	2.5	-0.2	1.6	0.1	1.6

 

Technical Note

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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 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 4,000 housing units and approximately 25,000 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 (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 www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

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-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes the District of Columbia; Baltimore City and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and Washington in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson in West Virginia.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number:  1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va. (December 1997=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jan. 2011	Feb. 2011	Mar. 2011	Mar. 2010	Jan. 2011	Feb. 2011
All items (1)	144.327	-	146.044	3.0	1.2	-
Food and beverages (1)	143.053	-	144.113	3.5	0.7	-
Food (1)	144.485	-	145.722	3.6	0.9	-
Food at home	139.673	139.765	141.396	4.5	1.2	1.2
Food away from home (2)	147.665	-	148.291	2.5	0.4	-
Alcoholic beverages (2)	122.994	-	122.261	2.7	-0.6	-
Housing (1)	153.243	-	154.133	1.7	0.6	-
Shelter	159.827	160.425	161.109	3.1	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence (1) (3)	174.913	175.561	175.691	2.3	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (3)	160.431	160.923	161.503	3.3	0.7	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (3)	160.430	160.922	161.507	3.3	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities	177.361	-	178.647	-2.4	0.7	-
Household energy	176.446	176.933	177.966	-3.9	0.9	0.6
Energy services (3) (4)	168.661	168.725	168.972	-5.4	0.2	0.1
Electricity (3)	173.564	174.178	174.464	-5.3	0.5	0.2
Utility (piped) gas service (3)	133.665	131.892	131.980	-5.8	-1.3	0.1
Household furnishings and operations	95.733	-	94.208	-5.1	-1.6	-
Apparel (1)	93.460	-	97.225	1.7	4.0	-
Transportation (1)	141.461	-	147.362	9.7	4.2	-
Private transportation	141.077	-	146.945	9.3	4.2	-
Motor fuel	258.188	260.691	293.364	28.7	13.6	12.5
Gasoline (all types)	258.088	260.240	293.218	28.6	13.6	12.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular (5)	262.505	264.946	299.046	29.3	13.9	12.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (5)	255.089	256.692	288.290	27.1	13.0	12.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium (5)	254.377	255.680	286.730	26.9	12.7	12.1
Medical care (1)	153.378	-	153.795	3.4	0.3	-
Recreation	114.755	-	115.757	-2.0	0.9	-
Education and communication	137.539	-	137.099	1.6	-0.3	-
Other goods and services (1)	169.330	-	168.386	0.6	-0.6	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	125.513	-	128.316	4.2	2.2	-
Commodities less food and beverages	115.567	-	119.273	4.7	3.2	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	144.470	-	152.299	9.0	5.4	-
Durables	84.641	-	84.299	-2.1	-0.4	-
Services	156.702	-	157.627	2.4	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care (1)	143.769	-	145.559	3.0	1.2	-
All items less shelter	136.469	-	138.397	3.0	1.4	-
Commodities less food	116.003	-	119.505	4.6	3.0	-
Nondurables	143.077	-	147.400	6.2	3.0	-
Nondurables less food	142.737	-	149.810	8.5	5.0	-
Services less rent of shelter	154.067	-	154.531	1.5	0.3	-
Services less medical care services	156.988	-	157.993	2.3	0.6	-
Energy (1)	210.039	211.436	226.880	13.0	8.0	7.3
All items less energy	139.281	-	140.110	2.2	0.6	-
All items less food and energy (1)	139.337	-	140.105	2.0	0.6	-
Footnotes (1) For Washington-Baltimore, indexes on a November 1996=100 base. (2) For Washington-Baltimore, indexes on a November 1997=100 base. (3) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (4) This index series was formerly titled Gas (piped) and electricity. (5) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. - Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

 

Last Modified Date: April 15, 2011