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News Release Information

22-1505-PHI
Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson – June 2022

Area prices were up 2.6 percent over the past 2 months, up 10.6 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.6 percent for the 2 months ending in June 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that this was the largest such increase in almost 15 years and was largely due to a 1.7 percent increase in the all items less food and energy index. The energy index rose 13.5 percent since April, while the food index increased 1.8 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 10.6 percent, the largest over-the-year increase since January 1981.  It was mostly due to a series-high 7.9-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index due in part to significantly higher prices for shelter. The energy index and the food index also rose over the year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.8 percent for the 2 months ending in June. The food at home index was up 2.0 percent, the largest such increase in the more than 24-year history of that series. Among the rising grocery prices was a 5.9 percent increase for other food at home and 6.1 percent for cereal and bakery products. The food at home price increase was tempered by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-1.8 percent) as well as fruits and vegetables (-1.9 percent). The food away from home index increased 1.6 percent in June 2022 following declines in February and April.

Over the year, the food index rose 12.3 percent as prices were up for both food at home (13.6 percent), and food away from home (8.8 percent); this was the largest 12-month increase in the history of the series which began in 1999. The food at home index was led by a 15.2 percent rise in prices for other food at home - the highest since that series began publication in 2018. Other than the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, each of the major grocery categories increased more than at any time since they began in 2018.

Energy

The energy index advanced 13.5 percent for the 2 months ending in June (see table 1.) The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (25.7 percent). Prices for electricity decreased 5.3 percent, the first decline in nearly a year, while prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 16.3 percent for the same period, the highest rise in nearly 6 years.

Energy prices jumped 40.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (64.6 percent – the largest 12-month rise since the series began in 1999). Prices paid for electricity were up 8.7 percent, although that was the smallest such increase in 2022. The utility (piped) gas service index was up 30.2 percent during the past year, the largest increase in over 5 years.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent in the latest 2-month period. Higher prices for shelter (2.3 percent) contributed to the increase as the indexes for owners’ equivalent rent of residences and rent of primary residence both rose, up 2.2 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. The new and used motor vehicle index rose 3.4 percent, the first increase this calendar year; higher prices for new vehicles (up 2.4 percent) contributed to the increase. Small declines were noted in the indexes for recreation, other goods and services, and household furnishings and operations.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 7.9 percent and accounted for over 60 percent of the increase in the all items index. Components contributing to the rise included shelter (6.9 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (21.8 percent). The 12-month increase in shelter prices is the largest over-the-year increase for the shelter index since January 2007 while the new and used motor vehicles rise was the smallest since August. An increase in the medical care index (6.8 percent) also contributed to the general rise although several of the other categories posted more moderate increases compared with their trends of the past year

The August 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2022.


Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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, 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s counties, as well as Baltimore City, in Maryland.

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, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)
Expenditure categoryIndexesPercent change from
Historical
data
Apr.
2022
May
2022
Jun.
2022
Jun.
2021
Apr.
2022
May
2022

All items

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0
290.688 298.27310.62.6 

Food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF
304.719 310.32211.71.8 

Food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF1
305.462 311.07312.31.8 

Food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF11
274.684281.455280.05813.62.0-0.5

Cereals and bakery products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF111
330.254 350.50117.26.1 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF112
290.066 284.70511.3-1.8 

Dairy and related products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEFJ
262.871 268.54311.72.2 

Fruits and vegetables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF113
330.492 324.19511.7-1.9 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF114
193.023 197.60014.22.4 

Other food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF115
241.348 255.50815.25.9 

Food away from home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEFV
344.597 350.1408.81.6 

Alcoholic beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAF116
289.919 295.3403.11.9 

Housing(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH
285.464 290.5917.51.8 

Shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH1
334.945338.293342.6986.92.31.3

Rent of primary residence

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHA
380.335382.789391.0627.62.82.2

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHC
350.827352.487358.6896.02.21.8

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHC01
350.827352.487358.6896.02.21.8

Fuels and utilities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH2
265.371 266.14914.80.3 

Household energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH21
234.265244.098235.05916.70.3-3.7

Energy services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHF
246.008252.190241.63612.3-1.8-4.2

Electricity

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHF01
228.261231.215216.0798.7-5.3-6.5

Utility (piped) gas service

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEHF02
230.983251.120268.73530.216.37.0

Household furnishings and operations

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAH3
133.354 132.2436.4-0.8 

Apparel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAA
122.238 126.8710.63.8 

Transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAT
271.552 292.49326.57.7 

Private transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAT1
275.965 298.39630.48.1 

New and used motor vehicles(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETA
134.702 139.319 3.4 

New vehicles(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETA01
264.693 270.982 2.4 

Used cars and trucks(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETA02
360.365 371.8518.03.2 

Motor fuel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETB
340.330391.144427.54465.025.69.3

Gasoline (all types)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETB01
332.226381.451417.65964.625.79.5

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESS47014
337.465388.862425.58166.026.19.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESS47015
351.702394.960434.62257.723.610.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESS47016
330.431368.943405.24454.622.69.8

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESETE
      

Medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAM
474.977 481.5276.81.4 

Recreation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAR
136.484 135.4166.4-0.8 

Education and communication(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAE
159.343 160.1513.00.5 

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESEEB
1,300.471 1,304.2472.50.3 

Other goods and services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAG
489.310 483.1355.7-1.3 

Commodity and service group

Commodities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAC
223.430 233.45217.64.5 

Commodities less food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESACL11
184.474 195.03820.85.7 

Nondurables less food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESANL11
231.343 255.77825.110.6 

Durables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAD
132.367 134.69317.31.8 

Services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAS
356.112 361.6096.71.5 

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0L2
274.867 282.47512.72.8 

All items less medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0L5
281.574 289.21811.02.7 

Commodities less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESACL1
188.129 198.70520.25.6 

Nondurables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESAN
265.366 281.59518.36.1 

Nondurables less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESANL1
234.814 258.42723.710.1 

Services less rent of shelter(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESASL2RS
393.427 395.9386.50.6 

Services less medical care services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESASL5
344.143 349.4896.61.6 

Energy(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0E
290.118318.564329.42840.713.53.4

All items less energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0LE
292.464 297.3568.41.7 

All items less food and energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS35ESA0L1E
290.424 295.2187.91.7 

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a March 1978=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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2022