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News Release Information

17-986-SAN
Friday, July 14, 2017

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Consumer Price Index, Portland – First Half 2017

Area prices were up 2.5 percent over the past six months, up 4.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Portland Area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 2.5 percent in the first half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the six-month increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, six-month-to-six-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 4.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices advanced 10.5 percent, largely the result of a jump in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.0 percent in the first half of 2017. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 2.9 percent, but prices for food at home decreased 0.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.1 percent. Prices for food away from home moved up 4.2 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home moved down 1.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 4.3 percent since the second half of 2016. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (7.7 percent). Electricity prices increased 0.6 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 1.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 10.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (19.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 2.4 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 2.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy moved up 2.7 percent in the latest six-month period. Higher prices for shelter (4.3 percent) and medical care (3.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-1.9 percent) and apparel (-1.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (8.2 percent) and to a lesser extent medical care (2.4 percent) and recreation (2.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-1.4 percent) and apparel (-1.3 percent).

Table A. Portland CPI-U semi-annual and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)
Month201220132014201520162017
Semi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnual

First Half

1.22.51.32.21.02.60.11.30.71.72.54.4

Second Half

0.92.11.52.81.22.31.01.11.82.6  

The Second Half 2017 Consumer Price Index for the Portland-Salem, OR is scheduled to be released in mid-January 2018.

Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision for 2018

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As part of the new sample, the index for this area will be discontinued. The first indexes using the new structure will be published in February 2018. Additional information on the geographic revision is available at: www.bls.gov/cpi/additional-resources/geographic-revision-2018.htm.


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 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/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 Portland-Salem, OR, WA metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Clackamas, Columbia, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington, and Yamhill Counties in the State of Oregon and Clark County in the State of Washington.

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 for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Portland-Salem, OR-WA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
1st half 2017 from-
1st half
2016
2nd half
2016
1st half
2017
1st half
2016
2nd half
2016

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

247.143251.710258.0554.42.5

All items (1967=100)

723.531736.903755.477--

Food and beverages

232.297232.822235.5311.41.2

Food

234.485234.769237.0741.11.0

Food at home

217.569215.919214.855-1.2-0.5

Food away from home

261.834265.226272.9424.22.9

Alcoholic beverages

210.728213.679220.4674.63.2

Housing

254.357262.228271.9556.93.7

Shelter

301.740312.818326.3758.24.3

Rent of primary residence

302.277314.295327.6288.44.2

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)

314.407325.023339.1757.94.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)

314.407325.023339.1757.94.4

Fuels and utilities

257.600262.894265.7033.11.1

Household energy

202.297204.951205.8321.70.4

Energy services

248.908251.943252.4291.40.2

Electricity

294.026299.251301.1292.40.6

Utility (piped) gas service

156.704155.421153.186-2.2-1.4

Household furnishings and operations

105.882105.048106.0240.10.9

Apparel

126.307126.708124.727-1.3-1.6

Transportation

213.566219.120228.2576.94.2

Private transportation

214.429223.478230.2497.43.0

Motor fuel

195.237215.924232.40319.07.6

Gasoline (all types)

197.111217.892234.57919.07.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular(2)

193.746214.414230.67719.17.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(2)(3)

170.250188.367203.47619.58.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(2)

188.269207.417224.01719.08.0

Medical care

536.015531.392548.7622.43.3

Recreation(4)

107.822109.339110.3042.30.9

Education and communication(4)

114.347114.882112.746-1.4-1.9

Other goods and services

467.414474.017474.7241.60.1
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All Items

247.143251.710258.0554.42.5

Commodities

174.372175.305177.2021.61.1

Commodities less food & beverages

146.300147.438148.9401.81.0

Nondurables less food & beverages

178.594181.847184.6073.41.5

Durables

111.463110.644110.948-0.50.3

Services

320.472328.749339.6286.03.3
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

234.220239.088244.9674.62.5

All items less shelter

226.027227.889231.2462.31.5

Commodities less food

148.582149.794151.5172.01.2

Nondurables

204.134205.991208.7042.21.3

Nondurables less food

180.026183.230186.3103.51.7

Services less rent of shelter(1)

349.313353.409360.2503.11.9

Services less medical care services

305.090313.836324.0346.23.2

Energy

198.429210.410219.35910.54.3

All items less energy

254.398258.442264.6684.02.4

All items less food and energy

260.086264.916271.9764.62.7

Footnotes
(1) Index is on a December 1982=100 base.
(2) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(3) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

- Data not available.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 14, 2017