Prices in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.1 percent for the two months ending in April 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that food prices rose 0.9 percent and energy costs were up 2.3 percent from February to April. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.3 percent due to advances in the indexes for shelter and new and used motor vehicles. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 6.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 7.6 percent over the year. Food prices rose 7.9 percent. Energy prices decreased 4.6 percent, largely the result of a decline in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, April 2020–April 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2020	-0.8	0.6
Jun 2020	0.5	1.3
Aug 2020	1.8	2.8
Oct 2020	0.5	0.9
Dec 2020	0.7	1.3
Feb 2021	0.8	0.2
Apr 2021	5.4	3.5
Jun 2021	5.4	3.8
Aug 2021	3.9	1.9
Oct 2021	5.5	3.5
Dec 2021	7.0	5.0
Feb 2022	7.5	6.2
Apr 2022	8.3	6.3
Jun 2022	9.7	6.1
Aug 2022	8.6	6.7
Oct 2022	8.5	6.2
Dec 2022	6.2	5.5
Feb 2023	7.0	6.8
Apr 2023	6.6	7.6

Food prices rose 0.9 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) rose 1.2 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 7.9 percent. Prices for food at home increased 7.6 percent since a year ago. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year. The index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) was up 14.0 percent and the index for cereals and bakery products increased 10.5 percent over the year. Prices for food away from home increased 8.3 percent.

The energy index increased 2.3 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.6 percent). Prices for electricity rose 5.1 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service declined 7.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 4.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-10.9 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 6.7 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service decreased 1.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (3.5 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (5.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-3.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 7.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (8.9 percent) and new vehicles (7.0 percent).

The June 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area is scheduled to be released on July 12, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Detroit 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, 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 6,000 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 atwww.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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, Core Based Statistical Area consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

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.