The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged from May to July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that the index for food rose 0.6 percent and the index for energy decreased 0.5 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged. Within this last group, prices were higher for shelter and household furnishings and operations and lower for apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the past 12 months the Cleveland area all items CPI-U advanced 1.4 percent. The energy index fell 6.1 percent largely as a result of declines in prices for utility (piped) gas service followed by a decrease in gasoline prices. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent over the year.

Food

Food prices increased 0.6 percent from May to July following a 0.8-percent increase over the previous bi-monthly period. Of the food index’s two components, food at home rose 0.5 percent and food away from home increased 0.8 percent. From July 2011 to July 2012, the index for food advanced 3.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 0.5 percent from May to July after falling 3.9 percent from March to May. Prices for gasoline were down 6.3 percent. Higher prices were recorded for electricity (8.3 percent) and for utility (piped) gas services (7.4 percent) from May to July.

The energy index fell 6.1 percent over the year. Prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 23.8 percent and gasoline prices were 4.3 percent lower. In contrast, prices for electricity increased 3.7 percent from July 2011 to July 2012.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged from May to July. Costs increased 0.3 percent for shelter and 1.8 percent for household furnishings and operations. Apparel prices declined 6.2 percent over the bimonthly period.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent and was largely attributed to higher prices for shelter (1.6 percent) and medical care (3.1 percent).

____________

The September 2012 Consumer Price Index for Cleveland is scheduled to be released on October 16, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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. Each month, prices are collected in 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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.

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.

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. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties in Ohio.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number:  1-800-877-8339.