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Thursday, February 21, 2013
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Consumer Price Index, Anchorage – Second Half 2012
Area prices up 0.7 percent over the past six months, up 2.0 percent from a year ago
Prices in the greater Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent in the second half of 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that this latest six-month period increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)
Over the past 12 months, the CPI-U rose 2.0 percent. (See chart 1.) Energy prices declined 2.0 percent, mainly due to a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.5 percent over the year.
Food
Food prices declined 0.3 percent in the second half of 2012. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home edged down 0.1 percent for the past six months. Prices for food away from home were virtually unchanged for the same period.
For the year ending in the second half of 2012, food prices rose 1.4 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 1.0 percent during the past 12 months, and prices for food away from home increased 2.1 percent.
Energy
Energy prices decreased 5.9 percent since the first half of 2012. Lower prices for electricity (-6.9 percent), gasoline (-5.9 percent), and natural gas service (-5.3 percent) all contributed to the decrease.
Energy prices declined 2.0 percent over the year. The decreases were influenced by declines in electricity prices (-5.8 percent), natural gas service prices (-1.4 percent) and gasoline prices (-0.8 percent).
All items less food and energy
The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent from the first half of 2012 to the second half of 2012. Among the index components, increases were recorded for apparel (8.1 percent), shelter (2.3 percent), and medical care (1.6 percent). Education and communication was the only major expenditure category to post a semi-annual decline (-0.8 percent) among the all items less food and energy index.
Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.5 percent. Prices increased for medical care (4.4 percent), apparel (4.1 percent), and shelter (4.0 percent). In contrast, lower prices were recorded for and education and communication (-1.1 percent) and recreation (-0.2 percent).
| Month | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-annual | Annual | Semi-annual | Annual | Semi-annual | Annual | Semi-annual | Annual | Semi-annual | Annual | Semi-annual | Annual | |
First Half |
0.8 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.6 | -0.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 2.5 |
Second Half |
2.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
CPI-W
In the second half of 2012, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 204.607, up 0.5 percent. The CPI-W increased 1.8 percent over the year.
The first half of 2013 Consumer Price Index for Anchorage is scheduled to be released August 15, 2013.
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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 26,000 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 Anchorage, AK. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Anchorage Borough in the State of Alaska.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.
Please click
here for a text formatted copy of the table issued with this release.
Last Modified Date: February 21, 2013
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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 26,000 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 Anchorage, AK. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Anchorage Borough in the State of Alaska.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.
Please click here for a text formatted copy of the table issued with this release.
Last Modified Date: February 21, 2013