Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 1.5 percent for the two months ending in December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the energy index decreased 10.6 percent in November and December, largely driven by a decline in prices paid for gasoline. The all items less food and energy index fell 0.7 percent over the past two months, the first decline since December 2020. The food index declined 0.5 percent over the same period. (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 5.3 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.2 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 11.9 percent, while energy prices fell 4.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of electricity. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.5 percent for the two months ending in December. The index for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) decreased 1.2 percent, while food at home (grocery store prices) advanced 0.2 percent over the two-month period. The increase in the index for food at home was led by an increase in the cost of nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+1.9 percent), but partially offset by a decline in prices for fruits and vegetables (-2.6 percent).

Over the year, food prices advanced 11.9 percent. The index for food at home increased 14.9 percent since a year ago, along with food away from home (+9.0 percent). The other food at home index (which includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils) contributed most to the rise in the index for food at home (+17.2 percent), but all six major grocery store food group categories contributed to the rise.

Energy

The energy index declined 10.6 percent in November and December. The decrease within this index was entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-14.6 percent) and electricity (-8.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 0.1 percent over the two-month period.

From December 2021 to December 2022, energy prices fell 4.3 percent. Lower prices for electricity (-12.3 percent) and gasoline (-6.5 percent) both contributed to the decrease. Partially offsetting the decline, prices for natural gas service increased 47.8 percent during the same period.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Among the components contributing most to the decrease were household furnishings and operations (-4.7 percent), used cars and trucks (-5.2 percent) and public transportation. These decreases were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (+1.4 percent) and education and communication (+1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+8.4 percent), recreation (+9.8 percent), and motor vehicle maintenance and repair. Partly offsetting the increases were price declines for used cars and trucks (-8.2 percent), household furnishings and operations (-2.0 percent), and apparel (-3.4 percent).

The February 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

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 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.

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,
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, December 2022 (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from -
	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2021	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022
All items	262.423	-	258.588	5.3	-1.5	-
All items (1967 = 100)	841.685	-	829.385
Food and beverages	284.407	-	283.135	11.6	-0.4	-
Food	286.780	-	285.299	11.9	-0.5	-
Food at home	277.562	279.414	278.062	14.9	0.2	-0.5
Cereals and bakery products	344.725	-	347.936	29.5	0.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	305.397	-	307.852	10.1	0.8	-
Dairy and related products	229.092	-	230.616	14.0	0.7	-
Fruits and vegetables	319.946	-	311.564	6.4	-2.6	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	340.071	-	346.543	17.3	1.9	-
Other food at home	246.359	-	246.033	17.2	-0.1	-
Food away from home	290.871	-	287.280	9.0	-1.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	238.439	-	240.206	6.0	0.7	-
Housing	254.637	-	254.294	5.7	-0.1	-
Shelter	297.914	300.019	302.222	8.4	1.4	0.7
Rent of primary residence	294.716	297.307	300.010	9.1	1.8	0.9
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	279.328	281.127	282.942	8.2	1.3	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	279.328	281.127	282.942	8.2	1.3	0.6
Fuels and utilities	219.074	-	207.099	-2.8	-5.5	-
Household energy	194.556	176.290	182.193	-3.1	-6.4	3.3
Energy services	190.602	172.216	178.379	-3.5	-6.4	3.6
Electricity	179.002	157.142	164.449	-12.3	-8.1	4.6
Utility (piped) gas service	227.909	227.963	228.040	47.8	0.1	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	162.379	-	154.699	-2.0	-4.7	-
Apparel	178.805	-	170.299	-3.4	-4.8	-
Transportation	230.606	-	217.325	4.6	-5.8	-
Private transportation	231.527	-	219.524	3.1	-5.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	106.620	-	103.067	-2.9	-3.3	-
New vehicles(1)	195.660	-	194.569	4.9	-0.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	325.969	-	309.027	-8.2	-5.2	-
Motor fuel	283.036	272.915	242.145	-5.4	-14.4	-11.3
Gasoline (all types)	280.399	270.037	239.358	-6.5	-14.6	-11.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	283.048	272.547	240.610	-7.1	-15.0	-11.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	308.640	296.376	267.984	-3.4	-13.2	-9.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	311.539	300.547	275.078	-1.5	-11.7	-8.5
Medical care	549.628	-	539.785	0.9	-1.8	-
Recreation(3)	129.565	-	129.457	9.8	-0.1	-
Education and communication(3)	119.835	-	120.986	-2.7	1.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,289.077	-	1,296.728	0.1	0.6	-
Other goods and services	448.477	-	436.566	0.8	-2.7	-
Commodity and service group
Commodities	206.001	-	199.626	3.1	-3.1	-
Commodities less food and beverages	168.858	-	160.758	-1.9	-4.8	-
Nondurables less food and beverages	220.802	-	206.460	-0.5	-6.5	-
Durables	118.393	-	114.807	-3.2	-3.0	-
Services	320.194	-	318.748	6.7	-0.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	249.303	-	242.220	3.9	-2.8	-
All items less medical care	248.364	-	244.804	5.7	-1.4	-
Commodities less food	171.338	-	163.442	-1.6	-4.6	-
Nondurables	252.623	-	244.735	6.1	-3.1	-
Nondurables less food	221.413	-	208.068	-0.1	-6.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	341.310	-	332.810	4.8	-2.5	-
Services less medical care services	295.309	-	294.565	7.3	-0.3	-
Energy	233.926	219.078	209.158	-4.3	-10.6	-4.5
All items less energy	269.105	-	267.360	6.2	-0.6	-
All items less food and energy	265.978	-	264.190	5.2	-0.7	-
(1) Indexes on an April 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.