April 28, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Shelter inflation in 2002

Shelter costs rose 3.1 percent last year, after increasing 4.2 percent in 2001.

[Chart data—TXT]

The owners’ equivalent rent index increased 3.3 percent in 2002, following a 4.5-percent rise in 2001. The rent of primary residence index was up 3.1 percent, compared with a 4.7-percent increase in 2001.

Hotel and motel charges, which are included in shelter costs, remained unchanged in 2002, after decreasing 0.8 percent during the prior year. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, demand for hotels and motels decreased, especially in New York, Las Vegas, and Orlando. Since the attacks, hotel and motel charges, in general, never returned to previous levels, even though demand for lodging in popular vacation cities such as New York, Las Vegas, and Orlando did rebound in 2002.

These data are produced by the BLS Consumer Price Index program. Annual percent changes are December-to-December changes. Details on the calculation of rent of primary residence and of owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence are in Consumer Price Indexes for Rent and Rental Equivalence. For additional information on consumer price changes in 2002, see "Consumer prices up slightly more in 2002, led by energy and hospital services," by Todd Wilson, Monthly Labor Review, March 2003.

Related TED articles:

• Clothing prices fall again in 2002
• Another rise in medical care inflation
• Biggest drop in consumer durables prices since 1930s

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