Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in November 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that a 0.7- percent increase in the index for all items less food and energy was the leading factor in the rise, but higher prices for energy and 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 increased 7.5 percent, the largest rise since December 1981. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.5 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 40.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The food index advanced 4.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.4 percent for the two months ending in November. The index for food at home (grocery store prices) rose 1.1 percent, mainly due to price increases for other food at home and dairy and related products. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) decreased 0.4 percent.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 7.3 percent, mainly due to an increase in prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.4 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.9 percent for the two months ending in November. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+7.8 percent), but all components contributed to the rise. Prices for natural gas service jumped 10.2 percent, while prices for electricity advanced 0.4 percent for the two-month period.

Energy prices jumped 40.9 percent over the year, the largest increase since April 1980. This notable rise was driven largely by a surge in prices for gasoline (+70.1 percent), along with jumps in prices for electricity (+17.3 percent) and natural gas service (+26.9 percent) during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+1.3 percent), used cars and trucks (+5.2 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+2.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-3.8 percent) and apparel (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.5 percent, the largest rise since April 1991. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+4.8 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+22.2 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+6.4 percent).

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 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, November 2021 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Sep. 2021	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021	Nov. 2020	Sep. 2021	Oct. 2021
All items	254.950	-	257.394	7.5	1.0	-
All items (1967 = 100)	799.762	-	807.430
Food and beverages	277.090	-	277.691	4.1	0.2	-
Food	271.372	-	272.372	4.4	0.4	-
Food at home	227.629	228.620	230.157	7.3	1.1	0.7
Cereals and bakery products	271.802	-	272.939	5.0	0.4	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	286.399	-	285.855	18.4	-0.2	-
Dairy and related products	194.627	-	202.186	1.1	3.9	-
Fruits and vegetables	189.326	-	191.759	5.0	1.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	197.732	-	194.711	-0.2	-1.5	-
Other food at home	212.412	-	219.193	5.6	3.2	-
Food away from home	337.147	-	335.719	1.4	-0.4	-
Alcoholic beverages	352.513	-	347.338	0.6	-1.5	-
Housing	250.438	-	253.541	5.9	1.2	-
Shelter	279.353	281.780	281.895	4.8	0.9	0.0
Rent of primary residence	299.786	301.284	302.674	4.4	1.0	0.5
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	301.747	303.657	305.787	4.8	1.3	0.7
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	301.747	303.657	305.787	4.8	1.3	0.7
Fuels and utilities	279.500	-	285.413	13.7	2.1	-
Household energy	256.004	261.656	260.993	18.8	1.9	-0.3
Energy services	252.157	257.736	256.997	18.8	1.9	-0.3
Electricity	237.819	239.575	238.727	17.3	0.4	-0.4
Utility (piped) gas service	258.367	284.629	284.759	26.9	10.2	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	124.421	-	127.929	6.4	2.8	-
Apparel	112.431	-	111.627	6.9	-0.7	-
Transportation	227.806	-	234.651	23.9	3.0	-
Private transportation	234.919	-	243.078	25.8	3.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	123.996	-	127.134	22.2	2.5	-
New vehicles(1)	213.428	-	214.352	16.2	0.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	444.025	-	467.313	31.0	5.2	-
Motor fuel	267.382	278.777	288.409	70.2	7.9	3.5
Gasoline (all types)	265.838	277.070	286.563	70.1	7.8	3.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	255.800	266.979	276.285	72.1	8.0	3.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	281.951	292.374	302.024	61.7	7.1	3.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	282.864	291.913	300.632	55.9	6.3	3.0
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	686.457	-	700.688	4.6	2.1	-
Medical care	475.703	-	476.025	0.4	0.1	-
Recreation(3)	124.874	-	120.123	1.0	-3.8	-
Education and communication(3)	136.141	-	136.073	1.6	0.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,293.107	-	1,293.107	2.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services	466.952	-	480.558	9.4	2.9	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	189.689	-	192.749	12.0	1.6	-
Commodities less food and beverages	150.795	-	154.466	17.2	2.4	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	185.078	-	190.607	18.8	3.0	-
Durables	121.283	-	123.466	15.4	1.8	-
Services	318.530	-	320.379	4.9	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	244.249	-	246.656	9.0	1.0	-
All items less medical care	244.173	-	246.698	8.1	1.0	-
Commodities less food	155.814	-	159.326	16.3	2.3	-
Nondurables	226.873	-	230.358	10.7	1.5	-
Nondurables less food	192.652	-	197.692	17.1	2.6	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	369.995	-	370.498	5.0	0.1	-
Services less medical care services	301.198	-	303.088	5.5	0.6	-
Energy	262.656	271.185	275.638	40.9	4.9	1.6
All items less energy	259.068	-	260.725	5.4	0.6	-
All items less food and energy	256.868	-	258.619	5.5	0.7	-
(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.