Consumer Price Index, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington – August 2021

Area prices up 0.6 percent since June; up 4.6 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington increased 0.6 percent from June to August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the recent increase was the smallest of 2021 and was due largely to an increase in the all items less food and energy index (0.5 percent). The energy index and the food index also increased over the 2-month period, up 2.4 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Across the subcomponents of the major category of all items less food and energy and the overall food group, there were a number of indexes where prices declined since June. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 4.6 percent. (See chart 1and table A.) The over-the-year rise was due largely to an increase in the all items less food and energy index (4.1 percent). The energy index and the food index also increased since August 2020, up 19.3 and 1.7 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 0.2 percent over the last 2 months following 2-month increases of 1.4 and 1.2 percent in April and June, respectively. Prices for food away from home rose 1.0 percent since June, while those for food at home decreased 0.5 percent after increases of 1.2 percent in April and 2.2 percent in June. Within the food at home component, prices were lower for items such as breakfast cereal and rice, pasta, cornmeal; while prices were higher for pork chops and eggs.

Over the year, the food index increased 1.7 percent, the fastest rate of 2021 so far. Prices for food away from home rose just 3.1 percent, the smallest over-the-year increase since an identical rise in December 2019, and those for food at home were up 0.5 percent, reversing the trend for much of 2021 where the price index was lower than the previous year.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, increased 2.4 percent since June. The 2-month increase reflected a 3.4-percent rise in gasoline prices. Prices were also higher for utility (piped) gas service, up 4.3 percent, and electricity, up 0.5 percent since June.

Over the year, the energy index advanced 19.3 percent, led by a 37.0-percent jump in gasoline prices, in line with exceptionally high increases in April and June. Prices were also higher for electricity, up 1.4 percent - the largest 12-month increase since an extremely high change of 29.7 percent in January 2020, and for utility (piped) gas service, up 3.2 percent over the year following declines that began in December 2019.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.5 percent from June to August. Higher prices for shelter (0.8 percent) and new vehicles (2.2 percent) were moderated by lower prices for medical care (-1.5 percent) and public transportation.

Since August 2020, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.1 percent. Prices were higher for new and used motor vehicles (24.7 percent, below the record increase in June), particularly those for used cars and trucks (32.3 percent following a record 45.3 percent jump in June), along with prices for household furnishings and operations (12.4 percent).

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.7	2.1	0.4	0.5	0.8	1.5	1.0	2.6	0.8	1.0
April	0.0	1.3	0.9	1.4	1.3	1.9	-1.3	-0.1	1.2	3.5
June	-0.3	0.7	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.1	0.6	0.1	1.9	4.9
August	0.5	1.4	0.3	1.7	0.5	2.3	0.8	0.4	0.6	4.6
October	0.0	0.8	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.9	0.0	0.8
December	-0.1	0.8	-0.7	1.0	-0.3	2.4	0.0	1.1

The Consumer Price Index for October 2021 is scheduled to be released Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 8:30 am (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is published bi-monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 5,000 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Aug. 2020	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021
All items		270.499		272.044	4.6	0.6
All items (1967 = 100)		781.455		785.921
Food and beverages		251.504		252.028	1.7	0.2
Food		252.233		252.659	1.7	0.2
Food at home		252.121	250.363	250.781	0.5	-0.5	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		329.566		322.289	-1.4	-2.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		295.828		300.504	8.7	1.6
Dairy and related products		204.327		203.588	-1.6	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables		275.783		257.132	-5.5	-6.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		170.638		171.953	0.9	0.8
Other food at home		221.028		226.513	-0.8	2.5
Food away from home		246.195		248.717	3.1	1.0
Alcoholic beverages		238.375		240.393	3.1	0.8
Housing		277.690		280.380	3.3	1.0
Shelter		344.373	347.101	347.168	1.7	0.8	0.0
Rent of primary residence		324.064	325.402	326.468	2.6	0.7	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences		354.398	355.378	355.879	0.8	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence		354.398	355.378	355.879	0.8	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities		212.873		215.703	5.3	1.3
Household energy		171.720	175.400	174.345	6.0	1.5	-0.6
Energy services		180.200	182.987	183.051	1.9	1.6	0.0
Electricity		182.050	182.671	182.882	1.4	0.5	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service		164.267	171.503	171.250	3.2	4.3	-0.1
Household furnishings and operations		128.208		130.320	12.4	1.6
Apparel		107.951		109.781	2.3	1.7
Transportation		238.189		239.394	17.5	0.5
Private transportation		243.756		246.861	19.4	1.3
New and used motor vehicles		123.972		124.773	24.7	0.6
New vehicles		207.562		212.134	20.8	2.2
Used cars and trucks		367.957		366.567	32.3	-0.4
Motor fuel		285.626	291.477	295.323	37.0	3.4	1.3
Gasoline (all types)		282.217	288.004	291.875	37.0	3.4	1.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular		278.607	284.539	288.299	37.6	3.5	1.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade		289.291	294.165	298.758	34.1	3.3	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium		284.908	289.415	293.654	33.6	3.1	1.5
Motor vehicle insurance		653.356		658.517	-7.2	0.8
Medical care		572.833		564.402	0.0	-1.5
Recreation		128.137		127.160	0.8	-0.8
Education and communication		134.206		136.208	2.1	1.5
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		1,069.904		1,089.373	3.9	1.8
Other goods and services		586.000		595.343	5.5	1.6
Commodity and service group
Commodities		197.900		199.563	9.6	0.8
Commodities less food and beverages		167.075		169.139	15.2	1.2
Nondurables less food and beverages		200.359		203.469	9.9	1.6
Durables		125.249		126.361	21.6	0.9
Services		343.547		344.964	1.9	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		246.213		247.338	6.1	0.5
All items less medical care		257.717		259.685	5.1	0.8
Commodities less food		169.919		171.995	14.7	1.2
Nondurables		227.075		228.937	5.3	0.8
Nondurables less food		202.663		205.717	9.4	1.5
Services less rent of shelter		350.318		350.286	2.1	0.0
Services less medical care services		325.736		327.553	1.9	0.6
Energy		212.878	217.342	218.066	19.3	2.4	0.3
All items less energy		279.097		280.330	3.7	0.4
All items less food and energy		286.441		287.838	4.1	0.5

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