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

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CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN-WI
SECOND HALF 2008 SEMIANNUAL AVERAGES AND 2008 ANNUAL AVERAGES

Retail prices in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area were up 0.6 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul all items Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI‑U) was 209.632 (1982-84=100).  The increase in retail prices in the second half of 2008 was less than the 1.0 percent average gain experienced, for this period, over the past four years.

On an annual average basis, Minneapolis-St. Paul area consumers paid 3.8 percent more for goods and services in 2008 than in 2007.  Increases in the components for food and beverages and housing were responsible for about two-thirds of the 3.8 percent increase in 2008, commented Jay A. Mousa, regional commissioner for the Bureau in Chicago.  Most of the remainder of the gain was attributed to increases in the components for transportation and medical care.  Gains in the components for education and communication, recreation, and other goods and services also contributed, but to a lesser extent. A decline in the apparel component partially offset the gains.

The housing component rose 3.5 percent in 2008 following a 1.9 percent gain in 2007.  The indexes for electricity (5.0 percent), shelter (2.5 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (9.9 percent) were all higher in 2008 compared to 2007.  Household furnishing and operations costs were up, gaining 3.4 percent in 2008.

The food and beverages component posted an annual average gain of 7.2 percent, compared to the 3.6 percent gain in 2007.  Grocery food costs (food at home index) rose 8.5 percent in 2008 compared to increases of 4.2 and 1.3 percent in 2007 and 2006, respectively.  The food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending machine purchases) increased 6.2 percent in 2008.  This was higher than the 2.8 percent average annual increase recorded over the previous two years.  Alcoholic beverage prices rose 3.9 percent in 2008 following a 2.7 percent increase in 2007.

 Transportation costs were 4.1 percent higher in 2008 compared with 2007.  This increase follows gains of 3.8 and 2.0 percent in 2006 and 2007, respectively.   Gasoline prices rose 11.4 percent in 2008 and were responsible for almost all of the increase in transportation costs in 2008.  In the previous four years (2004-07) gasoline prices rose an average 16.7 percent per year.

The medical care component, which includes nonprescription drugs and medical supplies, increased 4.8 percent in 2008.

 
The education and communication component posted a 3.3 percent annual average increase for 2008, ahead of the 3.0 percent average annual gain posted over the previous four years.

The recreation component gained 2.4 percent during 2008 following an increase of 2.6 percent in 2007 and a 0.7 percent increase in 2006.

The other goods and services component, which includes tobacco and smoking products and personal care items, gained 1.1 percent for the year.   This was notably above the 0.5 percent average annual gain in 2007.

Apparel prices posted a 2.2 percent decline in 2008 following a gain of 3.2 percent in 2007, 1.2 percent in 2006, and 0.2 percent in 2005.  In the previous seven annual periods (1998-2004) apparel prices fell an average 2.3 percent per year.

 

 

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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 Minneapolis-St. Paul 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 Minneapolis is (612) 725-3580.

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.

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Last Modified Date: February 20, 2009