Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in September 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that a 6.2-percent increase in the index for energy was the leading factor in the rise, but higher prices for food 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 advanced 5.9 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.2 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 29.6 percent, while food prices increased 5.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.3 percent for the two months ending in September. Prices for food at home (groceries) increased 1.3 percent. Food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) also advanced 1.3 percent.

Over the year, food prices increased 5.7 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 6.6 percent, mainly due to an increase in prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Prices for food away from home rose 4.7 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 6.2 percent for the two months ending in September. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (+14.1 percent). Prices for gasoline advanced 1.0 percent, and prices for utility (piped) gas service advanced 2.9 percent during the same period.

Energy prices surged 29.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+47.5 percent). The indexes for electricity and utility (piped) gas service both jumped, 15.0 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively, during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (+0.8 percent), apparel (+6.0 percent), and education and communication (+0.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.1 percent), household furnishings and operations (-2.5 percent) and medical care (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+4.4 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+17.5 percent) and other goods and services (+5.9 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in recreation (-1.9 percent) and medical care (-0.3 percent).

The November 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Friday, December 10, 2021.

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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise.

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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods,
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, September 2021 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Sep. 2021	Sep. 2020	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021
All items	253.319	-	254.950	5.9	0.6	-
All items (1967 = 100)	794.647	-	799.762
Food and beverages	273.869	-	277.090	5.7	1.2	-
Food	267.864	-	271.372	5.7	1.3	-
Food at home	224.736	225.815	227.629	6.6	1.3	0.8
Cereals and bakery products	264.637	-	271.802	5.2	2.7	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	276.029	-	286.399	18.2	3.8	-
Dairy and related products	202.407	-	194.627	-2.8	-3.8	-
Fruits and vegetables	189.293	-	189.326	4.1	0.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	193.600	-	197.732	2.7	2.1	-
Other food at home	212.037	-	212.412	3.3	0.2	-
Food away from home	332.712	-	337.147	4.7	1.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	353.515	-	352.513	5.6	-0.3	-
Housing	247.315	-	250.438	4.7	1.3	-
Shelter	277.107	278.263	279.353	4.4	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence	297.134	298.136	299.786	3.9	0.9	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	299.308	299.700	301.747	4.3	0.8	0.7
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	299.308	299.700	301.747	4.3	0.8	0.7
Fuels and utilities	257.894	-	279.500	10.7	8.4	-
Household energy	228.414	244.167	256.004	15.2	12.1	4.8
Energy services	224.731	240.367	252.157	15.3	12.2	4.9
Electricity	208.395	224.699	237.819	15.0	14.1	5.8
Utility (piped) gas service	251.117	258.008	258.367	17.4	2.9	0.1
Household furnishings and operations	127.657	-	124.421	0.8	-2.5	-
Apparel	106.021	-	112.431	3.4	6.0	-
Transportation	231.233	-	227.806	18.7	-1.5	-
Private transportation	236.646	-	234.919	19.2	-0.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	126.799	-	123.996	17.5	-2.2	-
New vehicles(1)	213.344	-	213.428	12.7	0.0	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	467.846	-	444.025	24.0	-5.1	-
Motor fuel	264.808	265.935	267.382	47.5	1.0	0.5
Gasoline (all types)	263.223	264.381	265.838	47.5	1.0	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	253.276	254.374	255.800	48.8	1.0	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	278.945	280.418	281.951	42.3	1.1	0.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	280.193	281.520	282.864	37.5	1.0	0.5
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	686.457	-	686.457	2.0	0.0	-
Medical care	481.860	-	475.703	-0.3	-1.3	-
Recreation(3)	124.290	-	124.874	-1.9	0.5	-
Education and communication(3)	135.314	-	136.141	1.7	0.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,276.539	-	1,293.107	2.3	1.3	-
Other goods and services	463.615	-	466.952	5.9	0.7	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	188.399	-	189.689	9.2	0.7	-
Commodities less food and beverages	150.198	-	150.795	11.4	0.4	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	181.214	-	185.078	11.5	2.1	-
Durables	123.154	-	121.283	11.4	-1.5	-
Services	316.567	-	318.530	4.1	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	242.906	-	244.249	6.8	0.6	-
All items less medical care	242.212	-	244.173	6.5	0.8	-
Commodities less food	155.246	-	155.814	11.2	0.4	-
Nondurables	223.237	-	226.873	8.4	1.6	-
Nondurables less food	189.011	-	192.652	11.0	1.9	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	368.836	-	369.995	3.7	0.3	-
Services less medical care services	298.607	-	301.198	4.6	0.9	-
Energy	247.396	255.939	262.656	29.6	6.2	2.6
All items less energy	258.483	-	259.068	4.4	0.2	-
All items less food and energy	256.714	-	256.868	4.2	0.1	-
(1) Indexes on a February 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 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.