Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in October 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the October increase was mainly influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy, but price increases in the food index also contributed. (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 7.5 percent. (See chart 1.)The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.8 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 31.2 percent, while food prices rose 6.8 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.3 percent for the two months ending in October. Prices for food at home advanced 1.3 percent, and prices for food away from home also rose 1.3 percent over the same period.

During the 12 months ending in October 2021, food prices rose 6.8 percent. Prices for food away from home jumped 11.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 3.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 6.0 percent for the two months ending in October. The decrease was almost entirely due to lower prices for electricity (-23.2 percent). Prices for gasoline increased 4.6 percent, while prices for natural gas service inched down 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 31.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+58.1 percent), but all components contributed. Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 13.2 percent, and prices for electricity rose 6.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in September and October, after rising 0.8 percent in July and August. Higher prices for shelter (+2.6 percent) and household furnishings and operations (+1.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+4.7 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+16.9 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+5.2 percent).

The December 2021 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

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 Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Aug. 2021	Sep. 2021	Oct. 2021	Oct. 2020	Aug. 2021	Sep. 2021
All items	250.237	-	251.624	7.5	0.6	-
All items (1967 = 100)	743.247	-	747.365
Food and beverages	280.034	-	283.363	6.4	1.2	-
Food	278.050	-	281.662	6.8	1.3	-
Food at home	252.002	252.798	255.299	3.4	1.3	1.0
Cereals and bakery products	225.636	-	224.977	2.6	-0.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	282.360	-	291.154	7.6	3.1	-
Dairy and related products	160.823	-	155.285	-0.9	-3.4	-
Fruits and vegetables	371.903	-	375.072	-3.6	0.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	182.032	-	181.974	2.7	0.0	-
Other food at home	250.653	-	256.994	6.0	2.5	-
Food away from home	321.284	-	325.420	11.4	1.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	270.423	-	270.494	2.6	0.0	-
Housing	243.609	-	244.947	5.3	0.5	-
Shelter	283.586	284.588	291.043	4.7	2.6	2.3
Rent of primary residence	263.420	265.033	266.549	3.8	1.2	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	295.429	296.118	297.713	2.9	0.8	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	295.429	296.118	297.713	2.9	0.8	0.5
Fuels and utilities	257.818	-	227.009	8.8	-11.9	-
Household energy	229.223	229.587	192.001	8.9	-16.2	-16.4
Energy services	231.895	232.269	193.124	8.5	-16.7	-16.9
Electricity	243.915	244.551	187.282	6.3	-23.2	-23.4
Utility (piped) gas service	168.848	168.688	168.744	13.2	-0.1	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	129.496	-	131.987	5.2	1.9	-
Apparel	131.589	-	132.589	0.8	0.8	-
Transportation	221.073	-	221.913	20.0	0.4	-
Private transportation	226.491	-	227.573	21.5	0.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	113.093	-	111.691	16.9	-1.2	-
New vehicles(1)	236.783	-	229.176	11.0	-3.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	426.601	-	420.436	26.0	-1.4	-
Motor fuel	278.684	276.273	291.637	58.1	4.6	5.6
Gasoline (all types)	274.256	271.855	286.991	58.1	4.6	5.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	264.098	261.761	276.641	59.4	4.7	5.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	325.379	322.670	338.165	50.9	3.9	4.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	279.747	277.590	289.700	47.3	3.6	4.4
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	576.931	-	576.931	8.9	0.0	-
Medical care	495.017	-	492.227	5.4	-0.6	-
Recreation(3)	119.283	-	119.899	2.3	0.5	-
Education and communication(3)	148.100	-	149.619	3.9	1.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,290.590	-	1,295.548	2.7	0.4	-
Other goods and services	331.563	-	334.224	5.9	0.8	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	205.511	-	207.421	11.1	0.9	-
Commodities less food and beverages	167.951	-	169.259	14.0	0.8	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	219.230	-	225.677	16.4	2.9	-
Durables	117.865	-	116.404	11.7	-1.2	-
Services	296.803	-	297.756	5.3	0.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	240.956	-	240.104	8.8	-0.4	-
All items less medical care	237.938	-	239.514	7.7	0.7	-
Commodities less food	172.264	-	173.544	13.4	0.7	-
Nondurables	249.906	-	254.871	10.8	2.0	-
Nondurables less food	224.077	-	230.054	15.0	2.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	318.421	-	311.920	5.8	-2.0	-
Services less medical care services	277.514	-	278.807	5.1	0.5	-
Energy	252.712	251.847	237.496	31.2	-6.0	-5.7
All items less energy	253.604	-	256.484	5.9	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	249.579	-	252.347	5.8	1.1	-
(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.