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News Release Information

22-1843-KAN
Tuesday, September 13, 2022

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

Consumer Price Index, St. Louis area – August 2022

Area prices rose 0.2 percent in July and August, up 7.5 percent over the year

Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.2 percent for the two months ending in August 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the energy index decreased 11.8 percent, and the food index rose 2.1 percent in July and August. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.3 percent over the past two months, primarily due to higher costs for medical care and owners’ equivalent rent.  (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. The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.3 percent over the year. Energy prices advanced 21.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price for gasoline, while food prices rose 13.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 2.1 percent for the two months ending in August. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.5 percent, and prices for food at home declined 0.1 percent for the same period. The decrease in the index for food at home was mainly due to a decline in the price of fruits and vegetables (-2.9 percent) and dairy and related products (-1.9 percent). This decrease was almost entirely offset by rising prices for cereals and bakery products (+3.4 percent) and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+2.0 percent).

Over the year, the food index advanced 13.5 percent. Prices for food at home rose 12.1 percent since a year ago, mainly due to an increase in the other food at home index (+17.1 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 15.8 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index declined 11.8 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was almost entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-21.8 percent), but prices for electricity also decreased (-1.4 percent). An increase in the cost for natural gas service (+2.8 percent) partially offset the two-month decline.

From August 2021 to August 2022, energy prices rose 21.0 percent, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+27.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service and electricity both increased, 24.6 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively, during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.3 percent in July and August, after rising 0.2 percent in May and June. Higher prices for medical care (+4.8 percent), owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+1.6 percent), and apparel (+5.6 percent), were partially offset by lower prices for public transportation, motor vehicle parts and equipment, and lodging away from home.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.3 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+5.9 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+8.3 percent) and medical care (+5.0 percent).

The October 2022 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 10, 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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 -
Jun.
2022
Jul.
2022
Aug.
2022
Aug.
2021
Jun.
2022
Jul.
2022

All items

268.513-268.9797.50.2-

All items (1967 = 100)

797.530-798.913   

Food and beverages

309.732-315.79112.82.0-

Food

309.198-315.58313.52.1-

Food at home

282.687285.459282.49212.1-0.1-1.0

Cereals and bakery products

242.156-250.34511.03.4-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

297.989-298.6135.80.2-

Dairy and related products

184.807-181.25312.7-1.9-

Fruits and vegetables

416.860-404.6868.8-2.9-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

207.092-211.16216.02.0-

Other food at home

293.723-293.52717.1-0.1-

Food away from home

352.868-372.17715.85.5-

Alcoholic beverages

281.209-282.9144.60.6-

Housing

255.870-258.5376.11.0-

Shelter

294.896296.834298.8965.41.40.7

Rent of primary residence

267.661270.209271.7433.21.50.6

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

307.995310.737312.8595.91.60.7

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

307.995310.737312.8595.91.60.7

Fuels and utilities

286.197-286.03010.9-0.1-

Household energy

262.380261.952261.88014.2-0.20.0

Energy services

265.246264.846265.20114.40.00.1

Electricity

278.303275.191274.30812.5-1.4-0.3

Utility (piped) gas service

204.696208.323210.43324.62.81.0

Household furnishings and operations

135.157-135.9034.90.6-

Apparel

134.428-141.9527.95.6-

Transportation

258.339-241.2219.1-6.6-

Private transportation

264.145-246.8359.0-6.6-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

122.293-122.4638.30.1-

New vehicles(1)

251.786-255.8958.11.6-

Used cars and trucks(1)

457.539-458.4427.50.2-

Motor fuel

453.380419.359355.84027.7-21.5-15.1

Gasoline (all types)

445.608411.597348.61427.1-21.8-15.3

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

430.740397.027335.66827.1-22.1-15.5

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

516.956485.966416.66328.1-19.4-14.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

435.168411.412355.64027.1-18.3-13.6

Medical care

496.301-519.8905.04.8-

Recreation(3)

126.519-127.3236.70.6-

Education and communication(3)

150.691-151.1872.10.3-

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,306.803-1,331.5893.21.9-

Other goods and services

357.199-360.8208.81.0-

Commodity and service group

Commodities

229.931-227.19210.5-1.2-

Commodities less food and beverages

189.139-183.5329.3-3.0-

Nondurables less food and beverages

265.524-250.39414.2-5.7-

Durables

122.641-122.9444.30.2-

Services

309.480-313.0355.51.1-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

261.547-260.8258.2-0.3-

All items less medical care

257.199-256.3657.7-0.3-

Commodities less food

193.325-187.8729.1-2.8-

Nondurables

288.659-283.49113.4-1.8-

Nondurables less food

268.112-254.05513.4-5.2-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

331.768-334.9175.20.9-

Services less medical care services

291.474-292.7705.50.4-

Energy

346.735332.299305.78121.0-11.8-8.0

All items less energy

266.165-269.9676.51.4-

All items less food and energy

259.299-262.7035.31.3-

(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: Tuesday, September 13, 2022