Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/	FOR RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880	7:30 A.M. CT
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte	Friday, February 20, 2009
(312) 353-1138

---

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
MILWAUKEE-RACINE, WI
SECOND HALF 2008 SEMIANNUAL AVERAGES AND 2008 ANNUAL AVERAGES

Retail prices in the Milwaukee-Racine area were up 1.1 percent in the second half of 2008 compared with their levels in the first half of 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The second half 2008 Milwaukee-Racine all items Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was 204.103 (1982-84=100).  By comparison, retail prices gained 1.5 percent in the second half of 2007 and 0.7 percent in the second half of 2006.

On an annual average basis, Milwaukee area consumers paid 4.6 percent more for goods and services in 2008 than in 2007.  Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa stated that most of this increase was attributed to higher prices for housing, transportation, and food and beverages.  Gains with lesser impact were noted in other goods and services, apparel, medical care, recreation, and education and communication.  None of the eight major consumer expenditure categories experienced an over-the-year decline.

The housing component rose 3.9 percent during 2008.  A smaller gain of 1.5 percent was recorded in 2007.  Among the three primary categories that make up the housing component, shelter prices increased 2.9 percent, costs for fuels and utilities rose 11.6 percent and prices for household furnishings and operations increased 2.2 percent.  Within the fuels and utilities category, electricity costs rose 8.2 percent while prices for utility (piped) gas service rose 15.3 percent.

The transportation component increased 6.9 percent in 2008, more than the 3.5 percent increase in 2007.  Higher gasoline prices were the primary contributor to this annual increase, rising 14.4 percent over the year.  In 2007, gasoline prices in the Milwaukee area rose 7.2 percent.

The food and beverages component posted an annual gain of 4.8 percent, more than the 3.5 percent increase reported in 2007.  Grocery food costs (food at home index) rose 5.5 percent in 2008, more than the 4.4 percent advance in 2007.  The food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending machine purchases) increased 4.9 percent in 2008, more than the 3.0 percent rise in 2007.  Alcoholic beverage prices were up 1.8 percent in 2008 after rising 3.3 percent in 2007.

The other goods and services component, which includes items like tobacco and personal care items, rose 9.9 percent in 2008, well ahead of its 2.5 percent gain in 2007.  Due to its relatively small weight in the all items index, however, this increase had a smaller overall effect than the prior three components.

The cost of medical care in the Milwaukee area increased 4.4 percent in 2008.  This was more than gains of 3.0 and 2.5 percent recorded in 2007 and 2006, respectively.  Apparel prices were up 4.3 percent in 2008.  This was more than the 2.9 percent increase reported in 2007. 

The education and communication component was up 3.6 percent in 2008.  This was well above the 0.7 percent increase recorded in 2007.  The recreation component increased 2.5 percent in 2008, more than the 0.7 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 Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee is (414) 276-2579.

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