24-2548-PHIWednesday, December 11, 2024
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Area prices were down 0.2 percent over the past 2 months, up 2.7 percent from a year ago.
Prices in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.2 percent over the 2 months ending in November 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the November dip was mostly due to a 2.7-percent decrease in the energy index, in large part due to lower gasoline prices. For the same period, the all items less food and energy index fell 0.1 percent while the food index rose 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)
Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U index advanced 2.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Leading the increase was the all items less food and energy index, up 3.0 percent. Food prices rose 2.8 percent while energy prices were down 1.5 percent over the year, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)
Food
Food prices increased 0.1 percent for the 2-month period ending in November. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home were up 0.6 percent, and prices were down 0.4 percent for food at home in the same period. Leading the decrease in the grocery index were prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs declining 1.9 percent, the largest decrease since March 2023. This was followed by other food at home (-0.4 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-0.9 percent). An increase in prices for fruits and vegetables (+0.9 percent), dairy and related products (+0.9 percent) and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+0.3 percent) slightly lessened the decline of prices in the food at home index.
Over the year, food prices advanced 2.8 percent, with prices for food away from home up 3.2 percent. Prices for food at home were up 2.4 percent, due to all grocery categories reporting rising prices. Within food at home, the 7.6-percent increase in the nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials index was just shy of the year high of 7.7 percent recorded in May. Prices for the cereals and bakery products index increased 7.0 percent.
Energy
The energy index fell 2.7 percent for the 2 months ending in November, with lower prices across all index categories. The decrease was mainly due to declining prices for gasoline, down 3.5 percent. Prices for electricity fell 3.1 percent, and prices for utility (piped) gas service declined 0.3 percent for the same period.
Energy prices decreased 1.5 percent over the year. The decline in the energy index was largely due to lower prices for gasoline, down 6.8 percent. Offsetting the energy index decline were higher prices for electricity and natural gas service, up 5.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
All items less food and energy
In the latest 2-month period, the index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.1 percent. The overall index decline was led by lower prices for apparel (-6.6 percent), shelter (-0.2 percent), and other goods and services (-0.6 percent). The shelter index declined for the first time since May 2021, mainly due to decreased prices for the rent of primary residence index, down 0.2 percent (also the first decline since May 2021), and lodging away from home. The owners’ equivalent rent of residences index partially tempered the overall index as it rose 0.1 percent. Also counterbalancing the all items less food and energy index were higher prices for recreation and household furnishings and operations, both rising 0.7 percent, and rising prices for public transportation.
For the year ending in November, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the rise were higher prices for shelter (+3.4 percent), recreation (+7.1) and medical care (+2.5 percent). Within the shelter index, the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index was up 3.5 percent and the index for rent of primary residence advanced 3.7 percent. Tempering the overall index in part were price declines in the apparel index (-3.2 percent), and the new and used motor vehicles index (-1.0 percent). The decline in new and used motor vehicles was due to decreasing prices for used cars and trucks, down -2.4 percent, continuing the trend of consecutive price decreases that started in November 2022. New vehicle prices declined -1.0 percent. The household furnishings and operations index decreased 0.9 percent in the same period.
The January 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2025.
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 Consumer Price Index for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is published bi-monthly. The set of components and sub-aggregates published for regional and metropolitan indexes is more limited than at the U.S. city average level; these indexes are byproducts of the national CPI program. Each local index has a much smaller sample size than the national or regional indexes and is, therefore, subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error. As a result, local-area indexes are more volatile than the national or regional indexes. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of Jefferson in West Virginia.
Refer to the national CPI news release technical note or the Handbook of Methods for more information.
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