The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Dallas-Fort Worth rose 0.2 percent in June and July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that a 0.2-percent rise in the index for all items less food and energy was the biggest contributor, although a 0.2-percent rise in food prices also played a role. Partially countering these increases, energy prices declined 0.6 percent in June and July. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bimonthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

During the year ended in July 2017, the all items CPI-U rose 1.9 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent during the latest 12-month period.(See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

Food prices rose 0.2 percent in June and July, after being essentially unchanged (-0.1 percent) in April and May. The increase reflected the combined effects of a 0.3-percent rise in prices for food away from home and a 0.2-percent rise in prices for food at home (grocery stores).

From July 2016 to July 2017, food prices rose 0.5 percent. The two components of the index registered opposing movements with prices for food away from home increasing 1.7 percent, while prices for food at home fell 0.8 percent.

The energy index declined 0.6 percent in June and July, following an increase of 2.1 percent in April and May. The decrease was the result of a 3.3-percent decline in motor fuel prices. In contrast, natural gas costs rose 11.7 percent, while the price of electricity was unchanged.

During the year ended in July 2017, the energy index rose 2.5 percent. Higher prices for motor fuel (6.2 percent) and natural gas (8.5 percent) were primarily responsible for the annual increase, as electricity costs fell 3.1 percent during the period.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in June and July after increasing 0.7 in April and May. The biggest contributor to the latest advance was higher costs for shelter, up 1.7 percent. The shelter movement reflected a rise of 2.4 percent in owners’ equivalent rent, the largest bimonthly increase since June and July 1993, as well as an increase of 1.3 percent in renters’ costs. In contrast, prices for apparel (-6.6 percent) and recreation (-0.7 percent) each declined.

From July 2016 to July 2017, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.0 percent. The largest contributor was a 6.3-percent increase in shelter costs, resulting from a rise of 6.9 percent in renters’ costs and 6.5 percent in owners’ equivalent rent. Partially countering these increases, prices declined over the year for three components, education and communication (-4.7 percent), apparel (-4.6 percent), and recreation (-2.1 percent).

The September 2017 Consumer Price Index for All Items for Dallas-Fort Worth is scheduled to be released Friday, October 13, 2017.

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 Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Henderson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant Counties.

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.