Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/	FOR RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880	8:30 A.M. ET
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte	Friday, February 20, 2009
(312) 353-1138

---

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
CINCINNATI-HAMILTON, OH-KY-IN
SECOND HALF 2008 SEMIANNUAL AVERAGES AND 2008 ANNUAL AVERAGES

Consumer prices in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area increased 1.5 percent during the second half of 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today.  The Cincinnati-Hamilton Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the second half of 2008 was 203.031 (1982-84=100).  This second half gain was less than the 1.9 percent increase recorded in the second half of 2007.

On an annual average basis, Cincinnati area consumers paid 3.9 percent more for retail goods and services in 2008 than in 2007.  Major contributing factors included increased costs for food and beverages, transportation, housing, and apparel.  The remaining consumer expenditure categories of medical care, education and communication, other goods and services, and recreation also rose, but with less effect on the overall index.

The food and beverages component gained 6.9 percent over the year.  This was the largest increase in this component since 1990 when prices for food and beverages rose 7.3 percent.  Grocery food prices (food at home index) rose 7.0 percent while the cost of food away from home (restaurant meals, vending machines, school cafeterias, and carryout) increased 7.8 percent.  Alcoholic beverage prices rose 4.7 percent over the year.

The transportation component increased 5.4 percent during 2008.  This change was largely due to increased gasoline prices, which rose 14.3 percent over the year.  During the previous annual period, gasoline prices in the Cincinnati area rose 8.1 percent.

The housing component rose 2.1 percent from 2007 to 2008.  This was the same as the 2.1-percent increase reported during the previous annual period. Among the three primary categories within this component, shelter costs rose 0.7 percent, costs for fuels and utilities increased 8.6 percent, and prices for household furnishings and operations rose 3.5 percent.  Within the fuels and utilities category, costs for electricity and utility (piped) gas increased 6.6 and 18.4 percent, respectively.

Apparel prices increased 10.7 percent in 2008.  This represented a substantial increase from the 2.2 and 0.8 percent increases recorded in 2007 and 2006, respectively.

The other goods and services component rose 4.2 percent in 2008 following a 3.3 percent increase in 2007.  The recreation component increased 3.1 percent in 2008 following a 1.9 percent increase in 2007.

Medical care costs increased 2.9 percent in 2008.  This was less than the increases of 4.9 and 8.1 percent during the prior two years.  The education and communication component gained 2.7 percent in 2008, less than the 3.5 percent increase in 2007. 

 

---

 ###

Scheduled release date for the First half 2009 CPI: Friday, August 14, 2009

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 Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati is (513) 684-2349.

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: February 20, 2009