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Consumer Price Index: 2019 in review

January 16, 2020

From 2018 to 2019, consumer prices for all items rose 2.3 percent. Over that period, food prices increased 1.8 percent, a slightly larger percentage increase than the 12-month increase of 1.6 percent in 2018. Food at home prices increased 0.7 percent in 2019, continuing a trend of modest increases, as prices rose 0.6 percent in 2018 and 0.9 percent in 2017.

12-month percent change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, selected items, not seasonally adjusted
Item Dec. 2018 to Dec. 2019 Dec. 2017 to Dec. 2018 Dec. 2016 to Dec. 2017 Dec. 2015 to Dec. 2016

Tobacco and smoking products

5.5% 3.4% 6.5% 3.6%

Medical care

4.6 2.0 1.8 4.1

Energy

3.4 -0.3 6.9 5.4

Shelter

3.2 3.2 3.2 3.6

Food away from home

3.1 2.8 2.5 2.3

Prescription drugs

3.0 -0.6 2.8 6.2

Hospital services

3.0 3.7 5.1 4.4

Dairy and related products

2.4 -0.1 -0.5 -1.3

All items

2.3 1.9 2.1 2.1

All items less food and energy

2.3 2.2 1.8 2.2

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

2.3 -0.4 2.8 -5.4

Education

2.1 2.6 2.0 2.7

Food

1.8 1.6 1.6 -0.2

Airline fares

1.7 -2.6 -4.0 -4.7

Recreation

1.5 1.2 1.5 0.8

Personal care

1.5 1.8 0.9 1.7

Physicians' services

1.4 0.6 -1.8 3.8

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

1.0 1.4 0.0 -0.9

Household furnishings and operations

1.0 2.1 -0.8 -1.1

Food at home

0.7 0.6 0.9 -2.0

Communication

0.7 -1.8 -4.9 -2.6

Alcoholic beverages

0.5 1.8 1.4 1.4

Other food at home

0.3 0.2 0.5 -0.3

Cereals and bakery products

0.3 1.7 -0.6 -0.7

New vehicles

0.1 -0.3 -0.5 0.3

Motor vehicle insurance

0.0 4.6 7.9 7.0

Electricity

-0.4 1.1 2.6 0.7

Used cars and trucks

-0.7 1.4 -1.0 -3.5

Apparel

-1.2 -0.1 -1.6 -0.1

Fruits and vegetables

-1.3 1.6 1.5 -2.4

Utility (piped) gas service

-3.5 2.3 4.7 7.8

Prices for five of the six major grocery store food groups increased from 2018 to 2019. Prices for dairy and related products rose 2.4 percent from 2018 to 2019 after falling 0.1 percent from 2017 to 2018. Similarly, prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 2.3 percent in 2019 after falling in 2018. Prices for nonalcoholic beverages rose 1.0 percent in 2019, after a 1.4-percent increase in 2018. Prices for cereals and bakery products and for other food at home rose 0.3 percent in 2019.

Prices for fruits and vegetables fell 1.3 percent in 2019, after rising in 2018 and 2017. Prices for fresh fruits and for fresh vegetables declined from 2018 to 2019.

Energy prices rose 3.4 percent in 2019, after falling slightly in 2018. Gasoline prices rose 7.9 percent from 2018 to 2019 after falling 2.1 percent from 2017 to 2018. Prices for fuel oil rose 4.6 percent in 2019. These price increases more than offset price declines in the other major energy component indexes. Natural gas prices fell 3.5 percent in 2019, after rising in each of the prior 3 years. The price of electricity declined 0.4 percent from 2018 to 2019. The price of electricity last declined from 2014 to 2015.

Medical care prices rose 4.6 percent in 2019, well above a 2.0-percent increase in 2018 and the largest over-the-year increase since 2007. Prescription drug prices rose 3.0 percent from 2018 to 2019, after falling 0.6 percent from 2017 to 2018. Prices for hospital services rose 3.0 percent from 2018 to 2019, while prices for physicians' services increased 1.4 percent.

These data are from the Consumer Price Index program and are not seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "Consumer Price Index — December 2019." We also have more charts on consumer prices.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Consumer Price Index: 2019 in review at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/consumer-price-index-2019-in-review.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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