CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ST. LOUIS

Prices decreased 0.5 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., metropolitan area decreased 0.5 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009, the first over-the-year decline recorded since 1955, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. According to Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman, decreasing transportation costs, due almost entirely to falling prices for motor fuel, accounted for over one-half of the movement in the all items index.

Among the eight major expenditure categories, declining transportation costs had the largest impact on the overall index, decreasing 12.3 percent due largely to a record-setting 39.0 percent drop in motor fuel prices from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. The sharp decline in motor fuel costs followed thirteen consecutive periods of over-the-year price increases that began in the second half of 2002.

Despite the decline in the all items index, six of the eight major expenditure categories recorded advances from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Of these, the food and beverages index had the largest upward impact, rising 4.4 percent and partially offsetting the downward movement in the transportation index. Prices for food at home advanced 4.8 percent and costs for food away from home increased 5.2 percent, the largest over-the-year increase in prices for food away from home since 1990. Prices for alcoholic beverages were 1.6 percent higher over the period.

The housing index rose 1.3 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Shelter costs increased 0.8 percent as rent of primary residence advanced 1.8 percent and owners' equivalent rent of primary residence rose 1.4 percent. Prices for household energy were up 1.0 percent. Electricity prices increased 6.0 percent after registering little movement in the same period one year ago. Charges for utility (piped) gas service decreased 2.4 percent over the year after declining 1.0 percent from the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2008. Prices for household furnishings and operations rose 1.3 percent.

Each of the remaining five major expenditure categories had little impact on the St. Louis all items index. The index for medical care advanced 4.2 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Costs for education and communication rose 3.0 percent and prices for other goods and services, which include tobacco and smoking products and personal care items, increased 5.8 percent since the first half of 2008. Apparel prices rose 4.5 percent over the period following a 1.7-percent increase in the same period one year ago. The recreation index, which includes admissions to movies, concerts, and sporting events, decreased 2.6 percent over the year.

Energy prices, which include prices for motor fuel and household fuels, fell 23.3 percent over the year, with most of the price declines occurring in the last half of the period. The special aggregate index for all items less energy rose 2.2 percent. Excluding the impact of food and energy prices the St. Louis CPI-U was up 1.8 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009.

The St. Louis CPI-U stood at 197.370 for the first half of 2009. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in 1982-84 cost $197.37 in the first half of 2009. Because metropolitan area CPI data are not adjusted for seasonal price variation, consumers and businesses should be cautious in drawing conclusions about long-term retail price trends from short-term changes in the metropolitan area indexes.

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Last Modified Date: August 14, 2009