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April, 2001, Vol. 124, No. 4

Consumer inflation higher in 2000

Todd Wilson

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for All Items for the U.S. city average increased 3.4 percent in 2000, up from a 2.7-percent rise during 1999.¹  The acceleration mainly reflects increases in charges for shelter, energy (household fuels and motor fuel), and medical care services. Shelter costs also rose more in 2000 than in 1999; within the shelter component (which represents about 30 percent of the CPI), increases in the indexes for rent of primary residence and owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence each accelerated. Energy prices continued to rise. Within the energy component (which represents 7 percent of the CPI), double-digit increases were reported for natural gas, fuel oil, and gasoline. Medical care service charges (which represent about 5 percent of the CPI), also accelerated.

Higher increases in charges for services and energy commodities were partially offset by stable prices for commodities excluding food and energy, which increased a modest 0.6 percent last year. Prices decreased for many commodities, including computers, household appliances, new trucks, and clothing. Commodities generally are subject to greater global competition than are services and, in recent years, have tended to have lower price increases, compared with services.

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Footnotes

1 Annual percent changes are calculated from December to December.

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Consumer Price Index

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