Midwest Information office

Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/	FOR RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880	8:30 A.M. ET
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte	Thursday, August 14, 2008
(312) 353-1138

Consumer Price Index for Energy and Food Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI CMSA July 2008

Energy prices in the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint metropolitan area gained 1.0 percent in July, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.  This contrasts with a decline of 2.9 percent in July 2007.  Over the past 12 months, Detroit area energy costs jumped 24.1 percent after edging up a modest 0.2 percent in the 12-month period ended in July 2007.

According to Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa in Chicago, almost all of the July increase in the energy index was due to higher costs for utility (piped) gas service, more commonly called natural gas, which jumped 4.4 percent over the month.  Among other energy related categories, electricity costs gained 0.5 percent while gasoline prices were virtually unchanged, edging up 0.1 percent.

Over the past 12 months, gasoline prices gained 33.7 percent, a much larger jump than the 1.0 percent gain in the 12-month period ending in July 2007 but in-line with the 31.1 percent July-July increase reported in 2006.  The natural gas index advanced 19.1 percent for the year after declining 1.3 percent from July 2006 to July 2007. The electricity index rose 4.0 percent during the recent 12-month period, after declining 1.2 percent during the same period in 2007.

The food at home index (grocery food items) was 0.6 percent higher in July.  The increase compares with a drop of 1.4 percent in July 2007.  During the past year, the food at home index advanced 3.8 percent, a similar increase to the 3.1 annual gain noted in July 2007.

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Scheduled release date for the August 2008 CPI: Tuesday, September 16, 2008

CPI HOTLINE SERVICE PROVIDES LATEST INDEXES 24 HOURS A DAY

The all items CPI-U and CPI-W for the U.S. City Average, and the Detroit area are available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the Bureau's CPI Hotline service. This recorded message also provides percent changes from the prior period and from a year earlier, as well as the scheduled release date for the next CPI issuance. The Hotline number in Detroit is (313) 226-7558. 

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CPI

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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 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. Prices are collected in 87 urban areas across the country from about 50,000 housing units and approximately 23,000 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. Prices of food, fuels, and a few other items are obtained every month in all 87 locations. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the three largest geographic areas and every other month in other areas. Prices of most goods and services are obtained by personal visits of the Bureau's trained representatives.

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. Separate indexes are also published by size of city, by region of the country, for cross-classifications of regions and population-size classes, and for 27 local areas. Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices among cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

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/homch17_a.htm. 

 

Last Modified Date: August 14, 2008