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News Release Information

16-1444-CHI
Friday, July 15, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Consumer Price Index, Minneapolis-St. Paul — First Half 2016

Local prices rose 1.5 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area rose 1.5 percent from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that the all items less food and energy index was 2.5 percent higher compared to its first half 2015 level as price increases were noted for several categories: shelter, medical care, and recreation. Food prices rose 0.8 percent over the year while the index for energy fell 8.5 percent. (See chart 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.8 percent from their first half 2015 levels. Within the food category, the index for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 3.1 percent over the year while prices for food at home (groceries) were 1.0 percent lower.

Energy

The energy index decreased 8.5 percent from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2016. Within the energy category, the indexes for gasoline and utility (piped) gas service declined 15.1 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, over the year. The index for electricity rose 5.9 percent compared to its first half 2015 level.

All items less food and energy

The all items less food and energy index increased 2.5 percent over the year. Among the index’s components, higher costs were recorded for shelter (4.0 percent), medical care (3.7 percent), and recreation (2.9 percent).

The second half 2016 Consumer Price Index for Minneapolis-St. Paul is scheduled to be released in January 2017.


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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.-Wis. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington, and Wright Counties and Pierce and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
1st half 2016 from-
1st half
2015
2nd half
2015
1st half
2016
1st half
2015
2nd half
2015

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

229.374231.760232.7771.50.4

All items (1967=100)

720.816728.311731.506--

Food and beverages

269.800272.282271.8830.8-0.1

Food

258.628261.487260.7850.8-0.3

Food at home

250.130252.407247.678-1.0-1.9

Food away from home

271.699275.526280.2513.11.7

Alcoholic beverages

371.538368.029372.3570.21.2

Housing

207.453209.754213.2682.81.7

Shelter

238.532242.483248.0794.02.3

Rent of primary residence (1)

241.790245.933250.3123.51.8

Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)

248.032252.307258.2244.12.3

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)

248.032252.307258.2244.12.3

Fuels and utilities

199.068198.092200.0780.51.0

Household energy

181.137177.839178.871-1.30.6

Energy services (1)

184.380181.648182.471-1.00.5

Electricity (1)

237.679243.625251.6365.93.3

Utility (piped) gas service (1)

139.447128.061121.781-12.7-4.9

Household furnishings and operations

122.957121.526119.599-2.7-1.6

Apparel

133.291137.800127.054-4.7-7.8

Transportation

196.981198.554191.730-2.7-3.4

Private transportation

179.202181.630175.422-2.1-3.4

Motor fuel

193.152194.019163.836-15.2-15.6

Gasoline (all types)

193.562194.835164.347-15.1-15.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)

194.863195.629164.382-15.6-16.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)

197.470199.182171.425-13.2-13.9

Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)

232.817237.912204.187-12.3-14.2

Medical care

492.003495.139510.2523.73.1

Recreation (5)

121.481122.565124.9932.92.0

Education and communication (5)

136.597138.004138.1921.20.1

Other goods and services

359.731363.260367.1752.11.1
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All Items

229.374231.760232.7771.50.4

Commodities

184.388185.166180.860-1.9-2.3

Commodities less food & beverages

145.657145.813140.436-3.6-3.7

Nondurables less food & beverages

187.283188.881176.940-5.5-6.3

Durables

107.992106.987106.328-1.5-0.6

Services

268.972272.786278.7253.62.2
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

217.557219.912220.3011.30.2

All items less shelter

226.501228.203227.2360.3-0.4

Commodities less food

153.762153.839148.547-3.4-3.4

Nondurables

226.432228.443221.450-2.2-3.1

Nondurables less food

199.726201.109189.720-5.0-5.7

Services less rent of shelter (2)

318.114321.785328.2203.22.0

Services less medical care services

249.919253.713258.4233.41.9

Energy

189.981188.764173.911-8.5-7.9

All items less energy

236.798239.567242.1592.31.1

All items less food and energy

233.674236.431239.5082.51.3

Footnotes
(1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

- Data not available.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 15, 2016