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News Release Information

21-867-KAN
Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Consumer Price Index, St. Louis – April 2021

Area prices up 2.1 percent over the past two months, up 5.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the St. Louis 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 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the April increase was most influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy, though higher prices for energy were another major factor. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 5.4 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent over the year, as food prices increased 0.9 percent. Energy prices jumped 23.6 percent during the previous 12 months. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.3 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 1.1 percent, while prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 0.9 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 3.1 percent, while prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 9.9 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline, up 16.3 percent, but prices for natural gas service also jumped, up 11.2 percent. In contrast, prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices surged 23.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (47.0 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service also jumped, up 14.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (6.8 percent) and shelter (1.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent. Components contributing the most to the increase included shelter (4.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (13.5 percent). The 0.2-percent decrease in prices for other goods and services did little to slow the advance.

The June 2021 Consumer Price Index for St. Louis is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on April 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in April 2021 was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed. While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at https://www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.


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 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 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 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 St. Louis, MO-IL, area covered in this release includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois; and Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties and St. Louis City in Missouri.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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 and percent changes for selected periods,
St. Louis, MO-IL (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and GroupIndexesPercent change from -
Feb.
2021
Mar.
2021
Apr.
2021
Apr.
2020
Feb.
2021
Mar.
2021

All items

237.018-242.0225.42.1-

All items (1967 = 100)

703.982-718.845   

Food and beverages

266.897-267.7721.30.3-

Food

263.996-264.8600.90.3-

Food at home

246.403243.976245.728-0.7-0.30.7

Cereals and bakery products

219.808-221.770-0.20.9-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

263.171-262.5610.5-0.2-

Dairy and related products

154.807-159.984-9.63.3-

Fruits and vegetables

396.586-378.871-3.3-4.5-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

177.135-177.8922.10.4-

Other food at home

244.072-245.2351.60.5-

Food away from home

293.493-296.8503.11.1-

Alcoholic beverages

268.087-268.9774.90.3-

Housing

231.725-234.7394.01.3-

Shelter

275.314275.591278.9514.01.31.2

Rent of primary residence

256.277256.684256.7992.40.20.0

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

289.961290.372291.7602.40.60.5

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

289.961290.372291.7602.40.60.5

Fuels and utilities

215.767-221.3476.12.6-

Household energy

179.564180.700186.3065.83.83.1

Energy services

181.253182.000187.8005.63.63.2

Electricity

179.490179.565179.5031.50.00.0

Utility (piped) gas service

151.771153.576168.73214.511.29.9

Household furnishings and operations

124.365-124.3352.50.0-

Apparel

133.411-132.5457.5-0.6-

Transportation

191.500-207.29417.58.2-

Private transportation

195.062-209.96117.27.6-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

96.793-103.37313.56.8-

New vehicles(1)

217.504-223.0858.42.6-

Used cars and trucks(1)

322.511-364.32421.613.0-

Motor fuel

217.741251.433253.37946.616.40.8

Gasoline (all types)

214.186247.160249.04647.016.30.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

205.660237.415239.38548.216.40.8

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

258.595298.258298.41740.415.40.1

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

223.748256.968258.14337.815.40.5

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

535.116-577.51017.07.9-

Medical care

478.977-479.2501.70.1-

Recreation(3)

122.357-124.9493.42.1-

Education and communication(3)

146.235-146.9303.70.5-

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,266.622-1,266.6220.60.0-

Other goods and services

334.102-335.147-0.20.3-

Commodity and service group

Commodities

190.480-195.8957.12.8-

Commodities less food and beverages

153.122-159.80110.74.4-

Nondurables less food and beverages

205.000-215.02213.34.9-

Durables

104.886-108.9188.33.8-

Services

284.875-289.6374.41.7-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

225.733-231.3086.12.5-

All items less medical care

224.898-230.1045.82.3-

Commodities less food

157.708-164.25910.44.2-

Nondurables

236.134-241.7626.52.4-

Nondurables less food

210.716-220.06812.54.4-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

302.413-308.4444.92.0-

Services less medical care services

266.421-271.5814.71.9-

Energy

197.712213.297217.31823.69.91.9

All items less energy

243.904-247.6834.21.5-

All items less food and energy

240.531-244.7284.81.7-

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on an 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) Index on a December 1993=100.

- Data not available.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2021