BLS - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

09/14/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/14/2021 09:35

Consumer Price Index, St. Louis – August 2021

News Release Information

21-1649-KAN
Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Area prices up 1.0 percent in July and August, up 6.6 percent from a year ago

Prices in the St. Louis area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in August 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the August increase was mainly influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy, but price increases for the food index and energy index 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 rose 6.6 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.2 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 23.3 percent, while food prices rose 5.7 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.5 percent for the two months ending in August. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.8 percent, while prices for food at home rose 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 5.7 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 9.9 percent, and prices for food at home rose 2.5 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.8 percent for the two months ending in August. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+3.3 percent), but all energy subcomponents contributed to the rise. Prices for natural gas service increased 0.6 percent, and prices for electricity rose 0.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 23.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+46.3 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 14.7 percent, and prices for electricity increased 4.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in July and August. Higher prices for medical care (+3.5 percent), shelter (+0.6 percent), and new vehicles (+4.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.0 percent) and other goods and services (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.2 percent. Components driving the increase included new and used motor vehicles (+19.8 percent), shelter (+4.4 percent) and medical care (+4.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in recreation (-0.9 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-1.3 percent).

The October 2021 Consumer Price Index for the St. Louis area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on August 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in August 2021 was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed. While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at https://www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.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 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/cpiand 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 St. Louis, MO-IL, area covered in this release includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois; and Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties and St. Louis City in Missouri.

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.

Item and Group Indexes Percent change from -
Jun.
2021 		Jul.
2021 		Aug.
2021 		Aug.
2020 		Jun.
2021 		Jul.
2021

All items

247.777 - 250.237 6.6 1.0 -

All items (1967 = 100)

735.939 - 743.247

Food and beverages

276.077 - 280.034 5.3 1.4 -

Food

273.837 - 278.050 5.7 1.5 -

Food at home

248.635 251.131 252.002 2.5 1.4 0.3

Cereals and bakery products

217.073 - 225.636 1.2 3.9 -

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

278.350 - 282.360 4.7 1.4 -

Dairy and related products

157.618 - 160.823 -2.8 2.0 -

Fruits and vegetables

386.500 - 371.903 -0.1 -3.8 -

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

176.959 - 182.032 2.9 2.9 -

Other food at home

244.473 - 250.653 4.3 2.5 -

Food away from home

315.685 - 321.284 9.9 1.8 -

Alcoholic beverages

269.506 - 270.423 1.8 0.3 -

Housing

241.904 - 243.609 4.7 0.7 -

Shelter

281.873 282.576 283.586 4.4 0.6 0.4

Rent of primary residence

263.084 262.986 263.420 3.3 0.1 0.2

Owners' equivalent rent of residences

294.207 294.194 295.429 2.7 0.4 0.4

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence

294.207 294.194 295.429 2.7 0.4 0.4

Fuels and utilities

256.083 - 257.818 7.5 0.7 -

Household energy

228.273 228.684 229.223 7.1 0.4 0.2

Energy services

230.930 231.340 231.895 7.0 0.4 0.2

Electricity

243.103 243.248 243.915 4.3 0.3 0.3

Utility (piped) gas service

167.784 168.589 168.848 14.7 0.6 0.2

Household furnishings and operations

127.831 - 129.496 3.3 1.3 -

Apparel

131.668 - 131.589 3.4 -0.1 -

Transportation

217.792 - 221.073 19.1 1.5 -

Private transportation

221.524 - 226.491 19.9 2.2 -

New and used motor vehicles

111.286 - 113.093 19.8 1.6 -

New vehicles

227.711 - 236.783 14.2 4.0 -

Used cars and trucks

428.902 - 426.601 32.4 -0.5 -

Motor fuel

269.958 275.921 278.684 46.4 3.2 1.0

Gasoline (all types)

265.513 271.484 274.256 46.3 3.3 1.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular

255.639 261.437 264.098 47.2 3.3 1.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade

314.880 321.737 325.379 42.7 3.3 1.1

Gasoline, unleaded premium

271.348 276.894 279.747 37.8 3.1 1.0

Motor vehicle insurance

576.931 - 576.931 -1.3 0.0 -

Medical care

478.199 - 495.017 4.8 3.5 -

Recreation

120.537 - 119.283 -0.9 -1.0 -

Education and communication

147.793 - 148.100 2.9 0.2 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare

1,271.500 - 1,290.590 2.3 1.5 -

Other goods and services

334.602 - 331.563 2.8 -0.9 -

Commodity and service group

Commodities

202.741 - 205.511 10.1 1.4 -

Commodities less food and beverages

165.750 - 167.951 13.0 1.3 -

Nondurables less food and beverages

217.726 - 219.230 12.0 0.7 -

Durables

115.633 - 117.865 14.0 1.9 -

Services

294.559 - 296.803 4.5 0.8 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less shelter

238.188 - 240.956 7.5 1.2 -

All items less medical care

236.155 - 237.938 6.7 0.8 -

Commodities less food

170.086 - 172.264 12.4 1.3 -

Nondurables

247.202 - 249.906 8.2 1.1 -

Nondurables less food

222.613 - 224.077 10.9 0.7 -

Services less rent of shelter

315.578 - 318.421 4.6 0.9 -

Services less medical care services

276.729 - 277.514 4.2 0.3 -

Energy

248.306 251.183 252.712 23.3 1.8 0.6

All items less energy

251.281 - 253.604 5.3 0.9 -

All items less food and energy

247.535 - 249.579 5.2 0.8 -

- Data not available.