Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-12-1183

8:30 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, June 14, 2012 

Technical information: (202) 691-7000 • Reed.Steve@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cpi 

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX – MAY 2012 

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 0.3 percent in May on a 

seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, 

the all items index increased 1.7 percent before seasonal adjustment. 

The gasoline index declined 6.8 percent in May, leading to a sharp decrease in the energy index and the 

decline in the all items index. The indexes for natural gas and fuel oil declined as well, though the 

electricity index increased. The food index was unchanged, with a slight decline in the index for food at 

home offsetting an increase in the food away from home index. 

 

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in May, the third consecutive such 

increase. The indexes contributing to the increase were largely the same ones as in April: shelter, 

medical care, used cars and trucks, apparel, airline fares, and new vehicles. The indexes for household 

furnishings and operations and for tobacco declined. 

The 12-month change in the index for all items was 1.7 percent in May; this figure has been declining 

steadily since its 3.9 percent recent peak in September 2011. The decline has been driven mostly by the 

energy index, which decreased 3.9 percent over the last 12 months. This was its first 12-month decline 

since October 2009. The 12-month change in the food index, which was 4.7 percent as recently as 

December, fell to 2.8 percent in May. The 12-month change in the index for all items less food and 

energy was 2.3 percent in May, the same figure as in April and March. 

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

May'11 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May'12

Chart 1. One-month percent change in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), seasonally adjusted, May 2011 - May 2012

Percent change

 0.3

 0.1

 0.3 0.3 0.3

 0.0

 0.1

 0.0

 0.2

 0.4

 0.3

 0.0

 -0.3
- 2 - 

 

Chart 2. 12-month percent change in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), not seasonally adjusted, May 2011 - May 2012

Percent change

All items All items less food and energy

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

May'11 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May'12
- 3 - 

Consumer Price Index Data for May 2012 

Food 

The food index was unchanged in May after increasing 0.2 percent in April. The index for food at home 

fell 0.1 percent in May as four of the six major grocery store food groups declined. The index for 

nonalcoholic beverages fell 0.6 percent in May while the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 

declined 0.5 percent; both indexes rose in April. The index for dairy and related products declined 0.4 

percent in May, its fourth consecutive decline, while the cereals and bakery products index decreased 

0.1 percent. The fruits and vegetables index, in contrast, rose 0.4 percent in May, while the index for 

other food at home rose 0.3 percent, its sixth consecutive increase. The food at home index has risen 2.7 

percent over the last 12 months, with the fruits and vegetables index declining 0.4 percent over that span 

and the other five groups increasing from 1.2 percent (nonalcoholic beverages) to 4.8 percent (other 

food at home). The index for food away from home rose 0.2 percent in May and has increased 2.9 

percent over the last 12 months. 

Energy 

The energy index declined 4.3 percent in May after a 1.7 percent decline in April. The gasoline index 

fell 6.8 percent, its largest one month decline since December 2008. (Before seasonal adjustment, 

gasoline prices decreased 3.6 percent in May.) The fuel oil index also continued to fall, declining 2.8 

percent. The index for energy services decreased for the eighth consecutive month, falling 0.7 percent as 

a 4.1 percent decline in the index for natural gas more than offset a 0.3 percent increase in the index for 

electricity. Over the past 12 months, the electricity index has edged up 0.2 percent but the other major 

energy indexes have declined. The gasoline index has fallen 4.0 percent, the fuel oil index has declined 

1.1 percent, and the index for natural gas has decreased 14.9 percent. 

All items less food and energy 

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in May, the same increase as in April. 

The index for shelter rose 0.2 percent for the eighth month in a row, with the rent index up 0.2 percent 

and the index for owners’ equivalent rent up 0.1 percent. The index for lodging away from home rose 

1.5 percent in May after declining in April. The index for medical care rose 0.4 percent, its largest 

increase since November, as the index for hospital services rose 0.6 percent for the second month in a 

row. The index for used cars and trucks posted its third consecutive significant increase, rising 1.0 

percent. The apparel index also continued to rise, repeating its April increase of 0.4 percent. The index 

for airline fares, up 2.1 percent in April, rose 1.0 percent in May, while the new vehicles index increased 

for the fourth month in a row, rising 0.2 percent. The indexes for recreation and personal care each rose 

0.1 percent in May. Among the few indexes to decline were household furnishings and operations, 

which declined 0.3 percent, and tobacco, which fell 0.2 percent. 

The index for all items less food and energy has risen 2.3 percent over the last 12 months, the same 

figure as the previous two months. The shelter component also has risen 2.3 percent over that span. 

Indexes rising at a slower rate include household furnishings and operations (0.6 percent), recreation 

(0.9 percent), and new vehicles (1.3 percent). Indexes rising more rapidly include apparel (4.4 percent), 

medical care (3.6 percent), and used cars and trucks (3.5 percent). 
- 4 - 

Not seasonally adjusted CPI measures 

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.7 percent over the last 12 

months to an index level of 229.815 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index decreased 0.1 percent 

prior to seasonal adjustment. 

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 1.6 

percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 226.600 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index 

decreased 0.2 percent prior to seasonal adjustment. 

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) increased 1.6 percent over the 

last 12 months. For the month, the index decreased 0.1 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Please 

note that the indexes for the post-2010 period are subject to revision. 

The Consumer Price Index for June 2012 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, at 

8:30 a.m. (EDT).
- 5 - 

Facilities for Sensory Impaired

Information from this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. 

Voice phone: 202-691-5200, Federal Relay Services: 1-800-877-8339. 

Brief Explanation of the CPI 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time of goods and 

services purchased by households. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population 

groups: (1) the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which covers households 

of wage earners and clerical workers that comprise approximately 29 percent of the total population and 

(2) the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPIU), which cover approximately 88 percent of the total population and include in addition to wage 

earners and clerical worker households, 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 CPIs are based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for 

doctors’ and dentists’ services, drugs, and other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day 

living. Prices are collected each month 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. Prices of 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 or telephone calls of the Bureau’s trained representatives. 

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with 

weights, which represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local 

data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. For the CPI-U and CPI-W 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. 

For the C-CPI-U data are issued only at the national level. It is important to note that the CPI-U and 

CPI-W are considered final when released, but the C-CPI-U is issued in preliminary form and subject to 

two annual revisions. 

The index measures price change from a designed reference date. For the CPI-U and the CPI-W the 

reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. The reference base for the C-CPI-U is December 1999 equals 

100. An increase of 16.5 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 116.500. 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 visit the CPI home page on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ or contact our CPI 

Information and Analysis Section on (202) 691-7000. 
- 6 - 

Note on Sampling Error in the Consumer Price Index 

The CPI is a statistical estimate that is subject to sampling error because it is based upon a sample of 

retail prices and not the complete universe of all prices. BLS calculates and publishes estimates of the 

1-month, 2-month, 6-month and 12-month percent change standard errors annually, for the CPI-U. 

These standard error estimates can be used to construct confidence intervals for hypothesis testing. For 

example, the estimated standard error of the 1 month percent change is 0.03 percent for the U.S. All 

Items Consumer Price Index. This means that if we repeatedly sample from the universe of all retail 

prices using the same methodology, and estimate a percentage change for each sample, then 95% of 

these estimates would be within 0.06 percent of the 1 month percentage change based on all retail prices. 

For example, for a 1-month change of 0.2 percent in the All Items CPI for All Urban Consumers, we are 

95 percent confident that the actual percent change based on all retail prices would fall between 0.14 and 

0.26 percent. For the latest data, including information on how to use the estimates of standard error, 

see “Variance Estimates for Price Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January-December 2011”. 

These data are available on the CPI home page (http://www.bls.gov/cpi), or by using the following link 

http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpivar2011.pdf 

Calculating Index Changes 

Movements of the indexes from one month to another are usually expressed as percent changes rather 

than changes in index points, because index point changes are affected by the level of the index in 

relation to its base period while percent changes are not. The example below illustrates the computation 

of index point and percent changes. 

 Percent changes for 3-month and 6-month periods are expressed as annual rates and are computed 

according to the standard formula for compound growth rates. These data indicate what the percent 

change would be if the current rate were maintained for a 12-month period. 

Index Point Change

CPI 202.416 

Less previous index 201.800 

Equals index point change .616 

Percent Change

Index point difference .616 

Divided by the previous index 201.800 

Equals 0.003 

Results multiplied by one hundred 0.003x100 

Equals percent change 0.3
- 7 - 

Regions Defined 

The states in the four regions are listed below. 

The Northeast--Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, 

and Vermont. 

The Midwest--Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, 

and Wisconsin. 

The South--Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, 

Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. 

The West--Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, 

Washington, and Wyoming. 

A Note on Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Data 

Because price data are used for different purposes by different groups, the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

publishes seasonally adjusted as well as unadjusted changes each month. 

For analyzing general price trends in the economy, seasonally adjusted changes are usually preferred 

since they eliminate the effect of changes that normally occur at the same time and in about the same 

magnitude every year--such as price movements resulting from changing climatic conditions, production 

cycles, model changeovers, holidays, and sales. 

The unadjusted data are of primary interest to consumers concerned about the prices they actually pay. 

Unadjusted data also are used extensively for escalation purposes. Many collective bargaining contract 

agreements and pension plans, for example, tie compensation changes to the Consumer Price Index 

before adjustment for seasonal variation. 

Seasonal factors used in computing the seasonally adjusted indexes are derived by the X-12-ARIMA 

Seasonal Adjustment Method. Seasonally adjusted indexes and seasonal factors are computed annually. 

Each year, the last 5 years of seasonally adjusted data are revised. Data from January 2007 through 

December 2011 were replaced in January 2012. Exceptions to the usual revision schedule were: the 

updated seasonal data at the end of 1977 replaced data from 1967 through 1977; and, in January 2002, 

dependently seasonally adjusted series were revised for January 1987-December 2001 as a result of a 

change in the aggregation weights for dependently adjusted series. For further information, please see 

“Aggregation of Dependently Adjusted Seasonally Adjusted Series,” in the October 2001 issue of the 

CPI Detailed Report.

Effective with the publication of data from January 2006 through December 2010 in January 2011, the 

Video and audio series and the Information technology, hardware and services series were changed from 

independently adjusted to dependently adjusted. This resulted in an increase in the number of seasonal 

components used in deriving seasonal movement of the All items and 54 other lower level aggregations, 

from 73 for the publication of January 1998 through December 2005 data to 82 for the publication of 

seasonally adjusted data for January 2006 and later. Each year the seasonal status of every series is 

reevaluated based upon certain statistical criteria. If any of the 82 components change their seasonal 

adjustment status from seasonally adjusted to not seasonally adjusted, not seasonally adjusted data will 

be used in the aggregation of the dependent series for the last 5 years, but the seasonally adjusted 

indexes before that period will not be changed. Note: 38 of the 82 components are not seasonally 

adjusted for 2012. 
- 8 - 

Seasonally adjusted data, including the all items index levels, are subject to revision for up to five years 

after their original release. For this reason, BLS advises against the use of these data in escalation 

agreements. 

Effective with the calculation of the seasonal factors for 1990, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has used an 

enhanced seasonal adjustment procedure called Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment for some 

CPI series. Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment allows for better estimates of seasonally 

adjusted data. Extreme values and/or sharp movements which might distort the seasonal pattern are 

estimated and removed from the data prior to calculation of seasonal factors. Beginning with the 

calculation of seasonal factors for 1996, X-12-ARIMA software was used for Intervention Analysis 

Seasonal Adjustment. 

For the seasonal factors introduced in January 2012, BLS adjusted 31 series using Intervention Analysis 

Seasonal Adjustment, including selected food and beverage items, motor fuels, electricity and vehicles. 

For example, this procedure was used for the Motor fuel series to offset the effects of events such as 

damage to oil refineries from Hurricane Katrina. 

For a complete list of Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment series and explanations, please refer to 

the article “Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment”, located on our website at 

http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpisapage.htm. 

For additional information on seasonal adjustment in the CPI, please write to the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics, Division of Consumer Prices and Price Indexes, Washington, DC 20212 or contact David 

Levin at (202) 691-6968, or by e-mail at Levin.David@bls.gov. If you have general questions about the 

CPI, please call our information staff at (202) 691-7000. 
Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted indexes Unadjusted percent

change

Seasonally adjusted percent

change

May

2011

Apr.

2012

May

2012

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

All items................................................ 100.000 225.964 230.085 229.815 1.7 -0.1 0.3 0.0 -0.3

Food.................................................. 14.151 226.976 233.234 233.339 2.8 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0

Food at home.................................... 8.537 225.356 231.711 231.518 2.7 -0.1 0.1 0.2 -0.1

Cereals and bakery products................ 1.228 259.140 268.014 268.653 3.7 0.2 -0.2 0.4 -0.1

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs............... 1.940 223.227 230.967 229.351 2.7 -0.7 0.8 0.1 -0.5

Dairy and related products1 ................. 0.893 211.327 216.918 216.096 2.3 -0.4 -0.1 -1.0 -0.4

Fruits and vegetables......................... 1.253 284.174 281.648 283.149 -0.4 0.5 -0.4 1.0 0.4

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage

materials..................................... 0.947 165.862 169.191 167.866 1.2 -0.8 -0.2 0.2 -0.6

Other food at home........................... 2.276 196.161 204.864 205.554 4.8 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3

Food away from home1 ........................ 5.614 230.501 236.695 237.262 2.9 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2

Energy............................................... 10.451 260.376 255.736 250.306 -3.9 -2.1 0.9 -1.7 -4.3

Energy commodities............................. 6.733 340.183 339.793 327.659 -3.7 -3.6 1.7 -2.6 -6.4

Fuel oil1 ........................................ 0.238 383.814 390.483 379.681 -1.1 -2.8 2.7 -1.1 -2.8

Motor fuel...................................... 6.385 337.359 336.673 324.589 -3.8 -3.6 1.7 -2.6 -6.6

Gasoline (all types)......................... 6.186 336.999 335.742 323.604 -4.0 -3.6 1.7 -2.6 -6.8

Energy services2 ................................ 3.718 193.698 185.834 186.762 -3.6 0.5 -0.4 -0.2 -0.7

Electricity2 ..................................... 2.853 195.838 192.472 196.159 0.2 1.9 -0.8 0.2 0.3

Utility (piped) gas service2 .................. 0.865 184.327 163.692 156.863 -14.9 -4.2 0.9 -1.8 -4.1

All items less food and energy................... 75.398 224.534 229.303 229.602 2.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Commodities less food and energy

commodities................................... 19.757 145.657 148.070 148.020 1.6 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2

Apparel......................................... 3.636 122.271 128.485 127.688 4.4 -0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4

New vehicles.................................. 3.168 142.494 144.522 144.401 1.3 -0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2

Used cars and trucks......................... 1.914 148.361 151.087 153.565 3.5 1.6 1.3 1.5 1.0

Medical care commodities1 ................. 1.713 324.399 333.060 333.131 2.7 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

Alcoholic beverages.......................... 0.941 226.989 230.092 230.766 1.7 0.3 -0.2 0.1 0.2

Tobacco and smoking products1 ........... 0.789 825.690 847.032 845.622 2.4 -0.2 -0.3 0.2 -0.2

Services less energy services................. 55.641 272.158 278.431 278.956 2.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2

Shelter.......................................... 31.216 250.745 256.031 256.442 2.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Rent of primary residence2 ............... 6.403 252.393 258.922 259.231 2.7 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences2 ,

3 ........................................... 23.657 258.587 263.765 264.012 2.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1

Medical care services........................ 5.330 422.438 437.151 438.766 3.9 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5

Physicians’ services2 ...................... 1.586 339.534 344.151 345.118 1.6 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2

Hospital services2,4 ...................... 1.514 240.334 251.819 252.476 5.1 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.6

Transportation services...................... 5.734 267.832 272.146 272.912 1.9 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair1

.......................................................... 1.137 252.376 256.544 257.372 2.0 0.3 -0.1 0.0 0.3

Motor vehicle insurance................... 2.388 386.954 397.507 398.478 3.0 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.4

Airline fare................................... 0.788 307.310 312.845 317.066 3.2 1.3 0.4 2.1 1.0

1 Not seasonally adjusted.

2 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.

3 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

4 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

All items.................................................................. 100.000 1.7 -0.1 0.3 0.0 -0.3

Food.................................................................... 14.151 2.8 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0

Food at home...................................................... 8.537 2.7 -0.1 0.1 0.2 -0.1

Cereals and bakery products.................................. 1.228 3.7 0.2 -0.2 0.4 -0.1

Cereals and cereal products................................ 0.473 4.0 0.6 -0.3 0.7 0.0

Flour and prepared flour mixes.......................... 0.052 5.9 0.9 1.6 0.5 -0.8

Breakfast cereal1 .......................................... 0.290 3.0 0.6 0.0 0.4 0.6

Rice, pasta, cornmeal1 ................................... 0.131 5.0 0.4 -1.3 0.7 0.4

Rice1,2,3 .............................................. 2.4 -0.8 -1.4 0.9 -0.8

Bakery products............................................ 0.754 3.6 0.0 -0.2 0.3 -0.3

Bread2 ................................................... 0.222 3.0 0.0 -0.4 0.3 -0.2

White bread1,3 ...................................... 2.7 0.1 -0.6 0.2 0.1

Bread other than white1,3 ......................... 3.0 0.3 -0.2 0.5 0.3

Fresh biscuits, rolls, muffins1,2 ...................... 0.111 3.0 0.6 0.1 -0.8 0.5

Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies........................ 0.184 5.7 -1.3 0.3 1.2 -0.9

Cookies1,3 ........................................... 7.4 -0.4 -0.6 2.0 -0.2

Fresh cakes and cupcakes1,3 .................... 4.8 -2.2 0.6 0.5 -2.2

Other bakery products.................................. 0.237 2.3 0.8 -0.6 0.6 -0.6

Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts1,3 . .. 3.7 1.3 -0.1 -2.4 1.3

Crackers, bread, and cracker products3 .......... 2.4 0.0 -1.7 2.6 -0.7

Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies,

tarts, turnovers3 ................................... 1.7 -0.2 0.3 0.0 -1.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs................................. 1.940 2.7 -0.7 0.8 0.1 -0.5

Meats, poultry, and fish...................................... 1.832 2.9 -0.4 0.7 0.0 -0.6

Meats........................................................ 1.187 2.8 -0.1 0.5 -0.1 -0.3

Beef and veal1 .......................................... 0.551 5.4 0.6 0.8 0.3 0.6

Uncooked ground beef1 ............................ 0.215 5.9 1.4 0.4 0.1 1.4

Uncooked beef roasts1,2 .......................... 0.080 4.7 0.1 0.0 -0.6 0.1

Uncooked beef steaks1,2 .......................... 0.205 5.6 0.1 1.4 1.3 0.1

Uncooked other beef and veal1,2 ................ 0.051 3.8 0.6 1.2 -1.5 0.6

Pork....................................................... 0.371 -0.3 -0.8 -0.2 0.0 -2.4

Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products2

............................................................................ 0.139 -1.1 -0.2 0.2 -1.3 -1.6

Bacon and related products3 .................... -3.2 -2.2 0.5 -2.0 -3.4

Breakfast sausage and related products1,2,3

............................................................................ 4.0 2.8 -0.9 -0.5 2.8

Ham.................................................... 0.079 2.2 0.3 2.4 1.0 -1.3

Ham, excluding canned3 ......................... 2.4 0.3 2.5 1.1 -1.3

Pork chops............................................ 0.061 1.0 -0.1 -0.4 1.8 -1.9

Other pork including roasts and picnics2 ......... 0.092 -2.4 -3.2 -1.2 -0.7 -4.2

Other meats.............................................. 0.265 2.2 -0.7 0.7 -1.2 0.6

Frankfurters3 ......................................... 5.6 -1.4 0.7 0.4 1.8

Lunchmeats1,2,3 .................................. 2.2 -0.3 0.2 -1.1 -0.3

Lamb and organ meats1,3 ........................ -1.2 -2.1 0.2 -1.9 -2.1

Lamb and mutton1,2,3 ............................ -1.4 -6.0 0.5 -1.7 -6.0

Poultry.................................................... 0.339 3.9 -1.4 1.4 -0.1 -1.3

Chicken2 .............................................. 0.265 2.5 -2.1 1.3 0.2 -1.9

Fresh whole chicken1,3 ......................... 1.4 -4.8 1.5 1.6 -4.8

Fresh and frozen chicken parts1,3 ............ 3.4 -0.8 1.4 0.3 -0.8

Other poultry including turkey2 ..................... 0.075 8.9 1.1 1.5 -1.1 0.8

Fish and seafood1 ...................................... 0.305 1.9 -0.4 1.0 0.6 -1.2

Fresh fish and seafood1,2 ......................... 0.157 -0.4 -0.2 0.9 0.5 -0.2

Processed fish and seafood2 ...................... 0.148 4.5 -0.6 1.7 1.0 -1.4

Shelf stable fish and seafood1,3 ............... 7.2 -1.3 -0.2 3.4 -1.3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Frozen fish and seafood1,3 ..................... 3.7 0.1 0.2 2.4 0.1

Eggs......................................................... 0.108 1.4 -5.9 2.3 3.2 1.2

Dairy and related products1 ................................... 0.893 2.3 -0.4 -0.1 -1.0 -0.4

Milk1,2 ........................................................ 0.288 -0.4 0.0 -0.4 -0.8 0.0

Fresh whole milk1,3 ..................................... -1.1 0.1 -0.2 -0.5 0.1

Fresh milk other than whole1,2,3 ..................... 0.2 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 0.0

Cheese and related products1 ............................. 0.283 2.4 -0.7 -0.6 -1.6 -0.7

Ice cream and related products............................ 0.137 6.1 -1.1 1.8 -0.2 0.6

Other dairy and related products2 ......................... 0.184 3.7 0.0 0.3 -0.8 -0.6

Fruits and vegetables........................................... 1.253 -0.4 0.5 -0.4 1.0 0.4

Fresh fruits and vegetables................................. 0.950 -2.1 0.6 -0.4 1.0 0.7

Fresh fruits.................................................. 0.500 2.6 1.7 0.7 1.9 -0.1

Apples.................................................... 0.084 5.0 1.1 -1.5 1.2 -0.4

Bananas.................................................. 0.081 -1.0 -0.6 0.6 0.1 -0.3

Citrus fruits2 ............................................. 0.105 3.5 3.0 1.4 2.0 0.6

Oranges, including tangerines3 .................... 4.2 4.9 2.0 1.4 0.8

Other fresh fruits2 ...................................... 0.230 2.5 2.2 1.5 2.9 -0.4

Fresh vegetables.......................................... 0.450 -6.9 -0.8 -1.6 0.0 1.6

Potatoes.................................................. 0.083 -4.7 -0.5 -0.3 0.9 -2.4

Lettuce.................................................... 0.057 -10.2 1.7 -0.4 -2.6 3.1

Tomatoes1 ............................................... 0.075 -19.7 -3.6 0.1 -2.9 -3.6

Other fresh vegetables................................. 0.235 -2.0 -0.6 -0.2 2.4 1.3

Processed fruits and vegetables2 ....................... 0.304 5.4 0.5 -0.2 0.8 -0.4

Canned fruits and vegetables2 ....................... 0.152 4.6 -0.4 -0.5 1.5 -1.7

Canned fruits2,3 .................................... 3.2 0.0 -1.0 1.1 -2.1

Canned vegetables2,3 ............................. 5.9 -0.6 0.2 2.0 -1.3

Frozen fruits and vegetables2 ........................ 0.095 5.9 1.7 -0.4 0.0 0.8

Frozen vegetables3 .................................. 6.1 2.9 -0.8 0.4 1.6

Other processed fruits and vegetables including

dried2 .................................................. 0.057 6.9 0.8 0.8 -0.3 0.5

Dried beans, peas, and lentils1,2,3 ............. 14.3 -0.3 -0.6 0.1 -0.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials........... 0.947 1.2 -0.8 -0.2 0.2 -0.6

Juices and nonalcoholic drinks2 ........................... 0.706 1.3 -0.6 -0.1 0.0 -0.3

Carbonated drinks......................................... 0.288 1.7 -0.8 -0.8 0.1 -0.3

Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks1,2 .......... 0.014 8.5 -0.4 0.4 -0.3 -0.4

Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks1,2 ...... 0.404 0.8 -0.4 0.4 -0.2 -0.4

Beverage materials including coffee and tea2 ........... 0.241 1.0 -1.3 -0.4 0.8 -1.0

Coffee....................................................... 0.147 2.7 -0.8 -0.5 -0.1 -1.5

Roasted coffee3 ........................................ 2.4 -0.9 -0.2 -1.7 -1.6

Instant and freeze dried coffee1,3 .................. 4.1 0.0 -2.6 3.3 0.0

Other beverage materials including tea2 ............... 0.094 -1.0 -2.1 -1.1 2.4 -1.6

Other food at home............................................. 2.276 4.8 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3

Sugar and sweets1 .......................................... 0.308 4.6 -0.5 0.5 0.3 -0.5

Sugar and artificial sweeteners.......................... 0.060 3.7 0.6 -1.0 1.2 0.1

Candy and chewing gum1,2 ............................ 0.184 4.7 -1.2 1.6 0.3 -1.2

Other sweets2 ............................................. 0.063 4.9 0.6 -1.2 0.8 1.1

Fats and oils.................................................. 0.262 7.8 0.7 0.8 -0.2 0.1

Butter and margarine2 .................................... 0.074 -0.9 1.7 0.1 -1.6 0.1

Butter3 ................................................... -9.9 1.7 -3.5 -2.2 1.7

Margarine3 .............................................. 9.0 0.9 1.7 0.1 -0.7

Salad dressing1,2 ........................................ 0.066 5.0 -0.3 0.5 -0.7 -0.3

Other fats and oils including peanut butter2 ........... 0.122 15.5 0.5 1.1 0.6 0.1

Peanut butter1,2,3 ................................... 39.0 -0.6 0.8 2.3 -0.6

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Other foods................................................. 1.706 4.3 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.5

Soups..................................................... 0.100 4.5 0.7 1.5 0.2 -0.9

Frozen and freeze dried prepared foods1 ........... 0.302 2.1 -0.1 1.0 -0.2 -0.1

Snacks1 .................................................. 0.321 7.2 1.4 0.3 -0.6 1.4

Spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces............ 0.288 2.0 -1.1 0.0 1.0 -2.2

Salt and other seasonings and spices2,3 . . . . . .. 9.1 -0.2 -1.0 0.6 0.7

Olives, pickles, relishes1,2,3 ..................... -1.5 -2.7 0.5 0.1 -2.7

Sauces and gravies2,3 ............................. -0.4 -1.5 0.5 -0.4 -2.0

Other condiments1,3 ............................... 3.6 -0.5 -0.9 -0.4 -0.5

Baby food1,2 ........................................... 0.071 5.5 0.0 0.0 -0.2 0.0

Other miscellaneous foods1,2 ....................... 0.624 4.8 0.9 -0.3 1.0 0.9

Prepared salads1,3,4 ............................. 4.2 2.0 0.3 -0.5 2.0

Food away from home1 .......................................... 5.614 2.9 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2

Full service meals and snacks1,2 ........................... 2.664 2.6 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Limited service meals and snacks1,2 ...................... 2.257 3.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3

Food at employee sites and schools2 ....................... 0.256 3.9 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.3

Food at elementary and secondary schools1,3,5 . . . .. 3.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Food from vending machines and mobile vendors1,2 .... 0.081 4.0 0.3 -0.3 0.1 0.3

Other food away from home1,2 ............................. 0.357 2.0 0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.1

Energy................................................................. 10.451 -3.9 -2.1 0.9 -1.7 -4.3

Energy commodities............................................... 6.733 -3.7 -3.6 1.7 -2.6 -6.4

Fuel oil and other fuels1 ....................................... 0.348 -1.8 -3.2 1.8 -1.3 -3.2

Fuel oil1 ....................................................... 0.238 -1.1 -2.8 2.7 -1.1 -2.8

Propane, kerosene, and firewood1,6 ..................... 0.110 -3.0 -4.2 -0.1 0.8 -3.0

Motor fuel........................................................ 6.385 -3.8 -3.6 1.7 -2.6 -6.6

Gasoline (all types)........................................... 6.186 -4.0 -3.6 1.7 -2.6 -6.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular3 ............................. -4.1 -3.7 1.6 -2.6 -6.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade3,7 ...................... -3.8 -3.6 2.0 -2.6 -6.6

Gasoline, unleaded premium3 ........................... -3.2 -3.0 1.7 -2.6 -5.8

Other motor fuels2 ........................................... 0.199 -1.8 -2.8 3.7 -5.7 -5.4

Energy services8 .................................................. 3.718 -3.6 0.5 -0.4 -0.2 -0.7

Electricity8 ....................................................... 2.853 0.2 1.9 -0.8 0.2 0.3

Utility (piped) gas service8 .................................... 0.865 -14.9 -4.2 0.9 -1.8 -4.1

All items less food and energy..................................... 75.398 2.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Commodities less food and energy commodities.............. 19.757 1.6 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2

Household furnishings and supplies9 ........................ 3.337 0.3 -0.2 -0.1 -0.1 -0.2

Window and floor coverings and other linens1,2 ....... 0.275 -4.0 -1.1 0.3 -0.6 -1.1

Floor coverings1,2 ....................................... 0.039 -0.2 0.2 -0.4 0.3 0.2

Window coverings1,2 .................................... 0.076 0.1 0.0 -0.9 0.6 0.0

Other linens1,2 ........................................... 0.160 -6.9 -2.0 1.0 -1.4 -2.0

Furniture and bedding1 ..................................... 0.716 1.4 0.2 0.8 0.0 0.2

Bedroom furniture1 ........................................ 0.233 0.7 -0.2 0.9 -0.5 -0.2

Living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture1,2 ... 0.341 3.6 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.8

Other furniture2 ............................................ 0.134 -2.7 -0.8 -1.0 -0.3 -1.3

Infants’ furniture1,3,5 ................................

Appliances2 ................................................... 0.289 3.0 -0.5 0.2 -0.6 -0.6

Major appliances2 ......................................... 0.167 6.9 -0.5 0.7 -0.4 -0.7

Laundry equipment3 ................................... 9.0 0.0 1.1 -0.3 -0.1

Other appliances1,2 ..................................... 0.119 -2.2 -0.4 -1.1 -0.2 -0.4

Other household equipment and furnishings1,2 ........ 0.491 -5.0 0.0 -1.4 -0.1 0.0

Clocks, lamps, and decorator items1 ................... 0.258 -6.4 0.3 -1.9 -0.2 0.3

Indoor plants and flowers10 .............................. 0.101 -1.9 0.3 -0.9 -0.1 -0.1

Dishes and flatware1,2 .................................. 0.047 -11.2 -1.8 -2.2 -0.1 -1.8

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Nonelectric cookware and tableware2 .................. 0.084 0.0 -0.3 -0.4 1.5 -0.4

Tools, hardware, outdoor equipment and supplies2 . . .. 0.681 0.4 0.1 -0.7 0.3 -0.3

Tools, hardware and supplies1,2 ...................... 0.172 2.0 0.1 -0.2 0.1 0.1

Outdoor equipment and supplies2 ...................... 0.363 -0.3 0.0 -0.9 0.9 -0.6

Housekeeping supplies1 .................................... 0.886 3.1 -0.4 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4

Household cleaning products1,2 ....................... 0.358 2.2 -0.4 0.0 -1.0 -0.4

Household paper products1,2 .......................... 0.240 4.3 -0.1 0.2 -0.1 -0.1

Miscellaneous household products1,2 ................ 0.287 3.3 -0.6 -0.7 0.4 -0.6

Apparel........................................................... 3.636 4.4 -0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4

Men’s and boys’ apparel.................................... 0.876 5.5 0.1 0.8 0.5 0.1

Men’s apparel.............................................. 0.690 4.9 0.7 -0.2 0.4 0.5

Men’s suits, sport coats, and outerwear............. 0.125 2.4 1.2 -0.4 -1.3 0.5

Men’s furnishings....................................... 0.180 7.7 3.0 -0.5 0.3 3.5

Men’s shirts and sweaters2 ........................... 0.217 3.2 -2.2 -0.8 2.4 -2.7

Men’s pants and shorts................................ 0.161 6.9 1.6 -0.1 -0.1 1.7

Boys’ apparel............................................... 0.185 7.6 -2.2 6.2 2.6 -2.6

Women’s and girls’ apparel................................. 1.558 5.6 -1.3 0.3 1.0 0.5

Women’s apparel.......................................... 1.305 5.2 -1.1 0.3 1.2 0.7

Women’s outerwear..................................... 0.089 2.3 -9.9 -3.4 4.2 -4.5

Women’s dresses....................................... 0.184 2.9 -3.7 8.8 -4.3 -2.0

Women’s suits and separates2 ....................... 0.622 5.9 0.4 -1.5 3.0 2.3

Women’s underwear, nightwear, sportswear and

accessories2 .......................................... 0.395 4.0 -0.3 -1.1 1.2 -0.7

Girls’ apparel............................................... 0.252 7.9 -2.5 0.5 -0.1 -0.3

Footwear....................................................... 0.683 2.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.8

Men’s footwear1 ........................................... 0.209 3.9 0.6 0.1 1.5 0.6

Boys’ and girls’ footwear.................................. 0.150 1.1 -0.5 1.0 0.7 0.5

Women’s footwear......................................... 0.324 1.4 0.7 1.0 0.4 0.8

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel............................... 0.199 7.0 -0.2 0.2 -1.1 1.6

Jewelry and watches6 ....................................... 0.321 -0.2 -1.6 0.5 -2.8 -1.3

Watches1,6 ............................................... 0.089 0.3 -1.4 1.6 -0.4 -1.4

Jewelry6 .................................................... 0.232 -0.7 -1.6 0.2 -3.5 -1.5

Transportation commodities less motor fuel9 ............... 5.583 2.2 0.5 0.6 0.8 0.5

New vehicles.................................................. 3.168 1.3 -0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2

New cars and trucks2,3 ................................. 1.3 -0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2

New cars3 ............................................... 1.2 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.1

New trucks3 , 11 ........................................ 1.4 -0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2

Used cars and trucks...................................... 1.914 3.5 1.6 1.3 1.5 1.0

Motor vehicle parts and equipment1 .................... 0.432 3.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

Tires1 .................................................... 0.294 4.0 0.0 -0.3 0.1 0.0

Vehicle accessories other than tires1,2 ............ 0.138 3.0 0.5 0.7 -0.2 0.5

Vehicle parts and equipment other than tires1,3

............................................................................ 1.5 0.7 0.4 -0.3 0.7

Motor oil, coolant, and fluids1,3 .................. 10.2 0.1 1.8 0.4 0.1

Medical care commodities1 ................................... 1.713 2.7 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

Medicinal drugs1,9 ......................................... 1.635 2.7 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

Prescription drugs......................................... 1.325 3.3 -0.1 0.3 0.0 0.0

Nonprescription drugs1,9 ............................... 0.310 0.3 0.5 1.0 -0.3 0.5

Medical equipment and supplies1,9 ...................... 0.078 2.2 1.0 -0.3 0.1 1.0

Recreation commodities9 ...................................... 2.305 -1.7 -0.1 -0.2 -0.4 -0.1

Video and audio products9 ................................. 0.420 -9.5 -0.9 -1.2 -1.8 -0.4

Televisions.................................................. 0.165 -17.7 -1.2 -2.6 -3.7 0.2

Other video equipment1,2 .............................. 0.027 -12.1 -1.3 -2.3 -1.2 -1.3

Audio equipment1 ......................................... 0.072 -8.7 -2.0 -0.5 -1.5 -2.0

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Audio discs, tapes and other media1,2 ............... 0.044 -4.3 -0.2 -0.2 -0.7 -0.2

Pets and pet products1 ..................................... 0.686 2.5 -0.1 0.5 -0.1 -0.1

Pet food1,2,3 ............................................ 3.5 -0.1 0.6 0.0 -0.1

Purchase of pets, pet supplies, accessories1,2,3 ... 0.3 -0.1 0.6 -0.5 -0.1

Sporting goods1 .............................................. 0.460 -0.3 -0.3 -0.3 0.5 -0.3

Sports vehicles including bicycles1 ..................... 0.239 0.2 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.2

Sports equipment1 ........................................ 0.211 -1.1 -0.3 -0.1 1.8 -0.3

Photographic equipment and supplies..................... 0.054 -5.3 -1.0 -1.0 0.9 -1.7

Film and photographic supplies1,2,3 ................. 8.4 -0.4 0.4 1.8 -0.4

Photographic equipment2,3 ............................. -7.8 -1.3 -0.7 0.9 -1.9

Recreational reading materials1 ........................... 0.222 2.2 0.4 0.7 0.2 0.4

Newspapers and magazines1,2 ........................ 0.120 5.1 0.8 1.1 0.3 0.8

Recreational books1,2 ................................... 0.098 -1.3 -0.1 0.3 0.0 -0.1

Other recreational goods2 .................................. 0.464 -3.8 0.4 -0.7 -1.0 0.3

Toys1 ....................................................... 0.345 -5.4 0.4 -0.9 -1.5 0.4

Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment1

,2,3 ................................................... -2.1 0.7 -1.0 -1.1 0.7

Sewing machines, fabric and supplies2 ................ 0.061 2.8 0.5 0.6 1.2 0.1

Music instruments and accessories2 ................... 0.039 -0.3 0.1 -0.2 0.2 0.1

Education and communication commodities9 ............... 0.595 -3.2 0.2 -0.5 -0.7 0.6

Educational books and supplies............................ 0.200 5.8 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.8

College textbooks1 , 3 , 12 ................................ 6.4 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.7

Information technology commodities9 ..................... 0.395 -8.5 0.0 -1.0 -1.3 0.5

Personal computers and peripheral equipment4 ...... 0.260 -10.6 0.0 -1.3 -1.6 0.9

Computer software and accessories1,2 ............... 0.048 -2.4 0.1 -0.8 -0.5 0.1

Telephone hardware, calculators, and other

consumer information items1,2 ...................... 0.087 -5.1 -0.2 -0.2 -1.1 -0.2

Alcoholic beverages............................................ 0.941 1.7 0.3 -0.2 0.1 0.2

Alcoholic beverages at home............................... 0.567 0.9 0.2 0.0 -0.2 0.4

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages at home......... 0.270 2.1 0.0 0.1 -0.5 0.5

Distilled spirits at home1 ................................. 0.071 -0.5 -0.3 -0.3 -0.1 -0.4

Whiskey at home3 ...................................... 1.3 0.4 -1.2 0.5 0.4

Distilled spirits, excluding whiskey, at home1,3 . .. -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.3 -0.2

Wine at home.............................................. 0.226 -0.4 0.5 -0.1 0.2 0.4

Alcoholic beverages away from home1 ................... 0.374 2.8 0.5 -0.4 0.4 0.5

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages away from

home1,2,3 ............................................. 1.2 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.1

Wine away from home1,2,3 ........................... 2.9 -0.1 0.1 0.4 -0.1

Distilled spirits away from home1,2,3 ................ 3.3 0.9 -0.8 0.9 0.9

Other goods9 .................................................... 1.647 1.5 -0.5 0.3 0.1 -0.5

Tobacco and smoking products1 .......................... 0.789 2.4 -0.2 -0.3 0.2 -0.2

Cigarettes1,2 ............................................. 0.729 2.3 -0.2 -0.3 0.1 -0.2

Tobacco products other than cigarettes1,2 ........... 0.053 3.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3

Personal care products1 .................................... 0.652 1.3 -1.0 1.2 0.3 -1.0

Hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal

care products1,2 ....................................... 0.342 0.6 -1.1 1.5 0.1 -1.1

Cosmetics, perfume, bath, nail preparations and

implements1 ............................................. 0.304 1.9 -0.9 1.0 0.6 -0.9

Miscellaneous personal goods2 ............................ 0.206 -1.3 -0.1 -0.5 -0.6 -0.2

Stationery, stationery supplies, gift wrap3 ............. -0.1 0.2 -0.4 0.0 0.1

Infants’ equipment1,3,5 ................................ -3.9 -0.4 0.2 -0.1 -0.4

Services less energy services................................... 55.641 2.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2

Shelter............................................................ 31.216 2.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Rent of shelter13 ............................................. 30.871 2.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Rent of primary residence8 .............................. 6.403 2.7 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Lodging away from home2 ............................... 0.810 4.1 2.4 0.3 -0.2 1.5

Housing at school, excluding board8 , 13 ............ 0.152 3.9 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.4

Other lodging away from home including hotels

and motels............................................. 0.658 4.0 3.0 0.2 -0.4 1.8

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences8 , 13 ........... 23.657 2.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence8 , 13

............................................................................ 22.261 2.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1

Tenants’ and household insurance1,2 ................ 0.346 3.4 0.2 0.6 0.7 0.2

Water and sewer and trash collection services2 ........ 1.163 5.2 0.2 0.6 0.8 0.3

Water and sewerage maintenance8 .................... 0.877 6.4 0.2 0.7 1.1 0.3

Garbage and trash collection1 , 11 ...................... 0.286 1.4 0.0 0.3 -0.2 0.0

Household operations1,2 .................................. 0.724 2.1 -0.1 0.1 0.4 -0.1

Domestic services1,2 .................................... 0.248 1.2 -0.3 0.0 0.6 -0.3

Gardening and lawncare services1,2 .................. 0.236 1.7 -0.2 0.0 0.5 -0.2

Moving, storage, freight expense1,2 .................. 0.090 3.4 0.4 0.5 -0.7 0.4

Repair of household items1,2 .......................... 0.076 0.5 0.3 1.2 0.5

Medical care services........................................ 5.330 3.9 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5

Professional services...................................... 2.964 1.8 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.4

Physicians’ services8 .................................. 1.586 1.6 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2

Dental services8 ........................................ 0.754 1.9 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1

Eyeglasses and eye care6 ............................ 0.250 3.3 1.5 0.2 0.4 1.6

Services by other medical professionals1,8,6 . . .. 0.374 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2

Hospital and related services............................ 1.735 4.7 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.6

Hospital services8 , 14 .................................. 1.514 5.1 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.6

Inpatient hospital services8 , 14 , 3 ................. 5.1 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.7

Outpatient hospital services8,3,6 ................ 4.8 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.5

Nursing homes and adult day services8 , 14 ........ 0.136 3.8 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.3

Care of invalids and elderly at home1,5 ............ 0.085 0.9 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.1

Health insurance1,5 ..................................... 0.631 13.0 0.8 1.3 1.0 0.8

Transportation services...................................... 5.734 1.9 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3

Leased cars and trucks12 ................................ 0.388 -6.0 -0.7 0.0 -0.2 -1.2

Car and truck rental2 ................................... 0.069 1.4 -3.6 2.0 4.4 -2.4

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair1 ................ 1.137 2.0 0.3 -0.1 0.0 0.3

Motor vehicle body work1 ............................. 0.057 1.8 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2

Motor vehicle maintenance and servicing1 ......... 0.454 2.6 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2

Motor vehicle repair1,2 ............................... 0.591 1.5 0.4 -0.4 -0.1 0.4

Motor vehicle insurance................................... 2.388 3.0 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.4

Motor vehicle fees1,2 .................................... 0.557 2.9 0.1 0.0 -0.1 0.1

State motor vehicle registration and license fees1 ,

8,2 .................................................... 0.324 0.5 0.0 0.0 -0.2 0.0

Parking and other fees1,2 ............................ 0.210 6.8 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.2

Parking fees and tolls1,2,3 ....................... 8.9 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2

Automobile service clubs1,2,3 ................... 2.8 0.6 0.1 0.4 0.6

Public transportation....................................... 1.195 2.4 1.0 0.5 1.6 0.8

Airline fare............................................... 0.788 3.2 1.3 0.4 2.1 1.0

Other intercity transportation.......................... 0.148 -0.8 0.4 0.1 0.8 0.3

Intercity bus fare1,3,4 ............................. -0.8 1.0 1.7 -0.8

Intercity train fare1,3,4 ............................ -0.7 4.8 4.5 2.8 4.8

Ship fare1,2,3 ...................................... -1.7 -0.3 -0.3 0.0 -0.3

Intracity transportation1 ................................ 0.257 2.2 0.1 0.7 0.1 0.1

Intracity mass transit1,3,9 ........................ 1.5 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1

Recreation services9 ........................................ 3.683 2.6 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2

Video and audio services9 ............................... 1.499 4.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.4

Cable and satellite television and radio service11 .. 1.387 4.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.5

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Video discs and other media, including rental of

video and audio1,2 ................................. 0.112 4.1 -0.2 0.3 1.0 -0.2

Video discs and other media1,2,3 ............... -4.4 -0.1 0.4 1.8 -0.1

Rental of video or audio discs and other media1 ,

2,3 .................................................. 12.0 -0.1 0.6 0.1 -0.1

Pet services including veterinary2 ...................... 0.405 3.0 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.1

Pet services1,2,3 ..................................... 2.4 0.0 0.4 -0.1 0.0

Veterinarian services2,3 .............................. 2.8 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.1

Photographers and film processing1,2 ................ 0.058 1.5 -0.1 0.3 0.0 -0.1

Photographer fees1,2,3 ............................. 1.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.0

Film processing1,2,3 ................................. 1.3 -0.2 0.3 0.0 -0.2

Other recreation services2 ............................... 1.719 0.9 0.0 0.4 -0.1 0.0

Club dues and fees for participant sports and

group exercises2 ..................................... 0.565 1.7 -0.4 0.9 -0.3 -0.4

Admissions1 ............................................. 0.623 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.6

Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts1,2

, 3 .................................................... 0.3 0.5 -0.1 0.1 0.5

Admission to sporting events1,2,3 .............. 2.4 0.8 0.7 0.3 0.8

Fees for lessons or instructions1,6 ................. 0.228 0.5 -0.1 -0.1 0.2 -0.1

Education and communication services9 ................. 6.099 2.7 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare............... 2.959 4.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.4

College tuition and fees................................ 1.659 5.3 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.4

Elementary and high school tuition and fees........ 0.375 3.7 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

Child care and nursery school10 ..................... 0.765 2.4 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4

Technical and business school tuition and fees2 ... 0.058 5.2 0.2 0.6 -0.1 -0.1

Postage and delivery services2 ......................... 0.148 3.8 0.0 0.2 0.0 -0.3

Postage1 ................................................. 0.138 3.8 0.0 0.2 -0.1 -0.3

Delivery services1,2 ................................... 0.010 4.5 0.1 -0.1 1.2 0.1

Telephone services1,2 .................................. 2.394 0.8 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Wireless telephone services1,2 ..................... 1.456 -0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

Land-line telephone services1,9 ..................... 0.938 2.5 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1

Internet services and electronic information

providers1,2 ............................................ 0.583 2.1 0.3 0.3 0.8 0.3

Other personal services9 ................................... 1.692 2.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2

Personal care services1 .................................. 0.625 1.5 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1

Haircuts and other personal care services1,2 ..... 0.625 1.5 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1

Miscellaneous personal services........................ 1.067 2.7 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3

Legal services6 ......................................... 0.292 2.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.4

Funeral expenses6 ..................................... 0.157 1.7 0.1 -0.5 0.1 0.0

Laundry and dry cleaning services2 ................. 0.237 1.6 0.3 0.1 -0.1 0.3

Apparel services other than laundry and dry

cleaning1,2 .......................................... 0.029 3.4 0.1 0.3 -0.2 0.1

Financial services1,6 .................................. 0.211 5.7 0.6 1.0 1.4 0.6

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 2. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by detailed expenditure

category, May 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Checking account and other bank services1,2,

3 ..................................................... 5.7 0.7 0.1 -1.1 0.7

Tax return preparation and other accounting

fees2,3 ............................................. 6.4 0.9 1.4 1.9 0.9

1 Not seasonally adjusted.

2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

3 Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

4 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

5 Indexes on a December 2005=100 base.

6 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

7 Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

8 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.

9 Indexes on a December 2009=100 base.

10 Indexes on a December 1990=100 base.

11 Indexes on a December 1983=100 base.

12 Indexes on a December 2001=100 base.

13 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

14 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 3. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, special aggregate indexes,

May 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Special aggregate indexes

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Unadjusted indexes Unadjusted percent

change

Seasonally adjusted percent

change

May

2011

Apr.

2012

May

2012

May

2011-

May

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2012-

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2012-

May

2012

All items less food.................................... 85.849 225.826 229.621 229.290 1.5 -0.1 0.3 0.0 -0.3

All items less shelter.................................. 68.784 218.847 222.552 222.010 1.4 -0.2 0.3 0.0 -0.5

All items less food and shelter...................... 54.633 216.388 219.503 218.805 1.1 -0.3 0.4 -0.1 -0.6

All items less food, shelter, and energy............ 44.182 210.278 214.770 215.004 2.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.2

All items less food, shelter, energy, and used

cars and trucks..................................... 42.268 213.968 218.575 218.662 2.2 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2

All items less medical care.......................... 92.958 217.414 221.159 220.833 1.6 -0.1 0.3 0.0 -0.3

All items less energy................................. 89.549 224.275 229.252 229.520 2.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Commodities........................................... 40.641 186.804 190.089 188.963 1.2 -0.6 0.4 -0.2 -0.9

Commodities less food, energy, and used cars

and trucks......................................... 17.843 146.089 148.483 148.166 1.4 -0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1

Commodities less food............................ 26.490 166.657 168.899 167.323 0.4 -0.9 0.6 -0.5 -1.5

Commodities less food and beverages.......... 25.549 164.286 166.479 164.851 0.3 -1.0 0.6 -0.5 -1.5

Services................................................ 59.359 264.883 269.901 270.462 2.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Services less rent of shelter1 .................... 28.488 289.676 294.527 295.291 1.9 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2

Services less medical care services............. 54.029 252.713 257.121 257.615 1.9 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2

Durables................................................ 8.877 112.941 113.306 113.622 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1

Nondurables........................................... 31.764 223.413 228.190 226.283 1.3 -0.8 0.6 -0.3 -1.2

Nondurables less food............................. 17.613 217.771 221.619 218.198 0.2 -1.5 0.8 -0.8 -2.2

Nondurables less food and beverages.......... 16.672 217.037 220.859 217.222 0.1 -1.6 0.9 -0.9 -2.3

Nondurables less food, beverages, and

apparel............................................ 13.036 281.064 283.379 277.900 -1.1 -1.9 1.1 -1.4 -3.1

Nondurables less food and apparel.............. 13.977 274.948 277.443 272.494 -0.9 -1.8 1.0 -1.2 -2.8

Housing................................................. 40.506 218.484 221.682 221.971 1.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0

Education and communication2 .................... 6.694 130.600 133.284 133.470 2.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3

Education2 .......................................... 3.160 204.668 213.130 213.499 4.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4

Communication2 ................................... 3.535 83.466 83.515 83.606 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2

Information and information processing2 . . .. 3.387 80.081 79.995 80.086 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2

Information technology, hardware and

services3 ....................................... 0.992 9.096 8.865 8.879 -2.4 0.2 -0.2 -0.1 0.4

Recreation2 ........................................... 5.989 113.659 114.656 114.689 0.9 0.0 0.2 -0.1 0.1

Video and audio2 .................................. 1.919 98.707 99.893 99.934 1.2 0.0 0.1 -0.2 0.3

Pets, pet products and services2 ................ 1.091 157.884 162.159 162.107 2.7 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

Photography2 ....................................... 0.113 80.315 79.769 79.324 -1.2 -0.6 -0.3 0.5 -0.9

Food and beverages.................................. 15.092 227.082 233.116 233.257 2.7 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.0

Domestically produced farm food4 .............. 7.203 231.550 238.478 238.542 3.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0

Other services......................................... 11.475 313.205 320.824 321.309 2.6 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Apparel less footwear................................ 2.953 116.180 123.018 121.957 5.0 -0.9 0.5 0.3 0.3

Fuels and utilities..................................... 5.229 219.956 216.006 216.388 -1.6 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 -0.7

Household energy.................................. 4.066 193.498 186.517 186.852 -3.4 0.2 -0.2 -0.3 -1.0

Medical care........................................... 7.042 399.375 412.480 413.655 3.6 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4

Transportation......................................... 17.702 220.270 223.083 220.768 0.2 -1.0 0.9 -0.5 -2.1

Private transportation.............................. 16.507 215.829 218.563 215.978 0.1 -1.2 0.9 -0.7 -2.3

New and used motor vehicles2 ............... 5.608 99.915 100.977 101.399 1.5 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.3

Utilities and public transportation................... 9.857 206.331 206.050 206.866 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.1

Household furnishings and operations............. 4.061 125.141 126.114 125.905 0.6 -0.2 -0.2 0.0 -0.3

Other goods and services............................ 3.340 385.476 393.320 392.859 1.9 -0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0

Personal care....................................... 2.551 208.080 211.865 211.649 1.7 -0.1 0.4 0.1 0.1

1 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

3 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base.

4 Not seasonally adjusted.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 4. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Selected areas, all items index, May 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Area Pricing

Schedule1

Percent change to May 2012 from: Percent change to Apr. 2012 from:

May

2011

Mar.

2012

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2011

Feb.

2012

Mar.

2012

U.S. city average.......................... M 1.7 0.2 -0.1 2.3 1.1 0.3

Region and area size2

Northeast urban......................... M 1.7 0.2 -0.1 2.3 0.8 0.3

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 1.7 0.3 0.0 2.3 0.8 0.3

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 1.8 0.2 -0.1 2.4 0.9 0.3

Midwest urban........................... M 1.5 0.1 -0.1 2.3 1.2 0.2

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 1.4 0.1 0.0 2.2 1.0 0.1

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 1.7 0.1 -0.1 2.4 1.5 0.3

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less

than 50,000)........................ M 1.4 -0.2 -0.6 2.5 1.0 0.4

South urban.............................. M 1.6 0.0 -0.4 2.5 1.1 0.4

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 1.5 0.0 -0.4 2.4 1.1 0.4

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 1.7 0.1 -0.4 2.5 1.1 0.5

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less

than 50,000)........................ M 1.7 -0.3 -0.7 2.7 1.1 0.3

West urban.............................. M 2.0 0.4 0.2 2.1 1.1 0.2

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 2.1 0.4 0.2 2.1 1.0 0.2

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 1.6 0.4 0.2 1.8 1.2 0.3

Size classes

A4 ........................................ M 1.7 0.2 0.0 2.2 1.0 0.2

B/C3 ...................................... M 1.7 0.2 -0.2 2.3 1.2 0.4

D.......................................... M 1.9 0.0 -0.4 2.8 1.2 0.4

Selected local areas5

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI. . ... M 1.0 0.0 -0.1 1.7 1.3 0.0

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange

County, CA............................ M 1.6 0.0 0.1 1.5 1.0 0.0

New York-Northern N.J.-Long Island,

NY-NJ-CT-PA......................... M 1.8 0.3 0.1 2.4 0.8 0.2

Boston-Brockton-Nashua,

MA-NH-ME-CT........................ 1 0.8 -0.2

Cleveland-Akron, OH................... 1 1.1 -0.1

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX.................. 1 1.6 -0.2

Washington-Baltimore,

DC-MD-VA-WV6 ..................... 1 1.8 0.1

Atlanta, GA.............................. 2 1.8 1.1

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI............. 2 2.1 0.6

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX...... 2 2.2 0.9

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL............. 2 2.0 0.9

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD........................ 2 2.0 0.8

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 4. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Selected areas, all items index, May

2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Area Pricing

Schedule1

Percent change to May 2012 from: Percent change to Apr. 2012 from:

May

2011

Mar.

2012

Apr.

2012

Apr.

2011

Feb.

2012

Mar.

2012

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose,

CA...................................... 2 2.1 0.9

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA. . . . .. 2 2.9 0.9

1 Foods, fuels, and several other items are priced every month in all areas. Most other goods and services are priced as indicated: M - Every month. 1

- January, March, May, July, September, and November. 2 - February, April, June, August, October, and December.

2 Regions defined as the four Census regions.

3 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

4 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

5 In addition, the following metropolitan areas are published semiannually and appear in Tables 34 and 39 of the January and July issues of the CPI

Detailed Report: Anchorage, AK; Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN; Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO; Honolulu, HI; Kansas City, MO-KS; Milwaukee-Racine,

WI; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI; Phoenix-Mesa, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland-Salem, OR-WA; St. Louis, MO-IL; San Diego, CA; Tampa-St.

Petersburg-Clearwater, FL.

6 Indexes on a November 1996=100 base.

NOTE: Local area indexes are byproducts of the national CPI program. Each local index has a smaller sample size than the national index and is, therefore,

subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although

their long-term trends are similar. Therefore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics strongly urges users to consider adopting the national average CPI for use in

their escalator clauses.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 5. Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) and the Consumer Price Index for

All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, all items index, May 2012

[Percent changes]

Month Year

Unadjusted 1-month percent

change

Unadjusted 12-month percent

change

C-CPI-U1 CPI-U C-CPI-U1 CPI-U

December 2000............................................................................ 2.6 3.4

December 2001............................................................................ 1.3 1.6

December 2002............................................................................ 2.0 2.4

December 2003............................................................................ 1.7 1.9

December 2004............................................................................ 3.2 3.3

December 2005............................................................................ 2.9 3.4

December 2006............................................................................ 2.3 2.5

December 2007............................................................................ 3.7 4.1

December 2008............................................................................ 0.2 0.1

December 2009............................................................................ 2.5 2.7

January 2010............................................................................... 0.4 0.3 2.4 2.6

February 2010.............................................................................. 0.0 0.0 1.9 2.1

March 2010................................................................................. 0.4 0.4 2.1 2.3

April 2010................................................................................... 0.1 0.2 2.1 2.2

May 2010................................................................................... 0.0 0.1 1.8 2.0

June 2010.................................................................................. -0.1 -0.1 0.8 1.1

July 2010.................................................................................... 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.2

August 2010................................................................................ 0.2 0.1 0.9 1.1

September 2010........................................................................... 0.1 0.1 0.9 1.1

October 2010............................................................................... 0.1 0.1 0.9 1.2

November 2010............................................................................ 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.1

December 2010............................................................................ 0.2 0.2 1.3 1.5

January 2011............................................................................... 0.4 0.5 1.4 1.6

February 2011.............................................................................. 0.5 0.5 1.9 2.1

March 2011................................................................................. 0.8 1.0 2.3 2.7

April 2011................................................................................... 0.6 0.6 2.7 3.2

May 2011................................................................................... 0.4 0.5 3.1 3.6

June 2011.................................................................................. 0.0 -0.1 3.2 3.6

July 2011.................................................................................... 0.1 0.1 3.3 3.6

August 2011................................................................................ 0.3 0.3 3.4 3.8

September 2011........................................................................... 0.2 0.2 3.5 3.9

October 2011............................................................................... -0.2 -0.2 3.2 3.5

November 2011............................................................................ -0.1 -0.1 3.1 3.4

December 2011............................................................................ -0.2 -0.2 2.7 3.0

January 2012............................................................................... 0.4 0.4 2.7 2.9

February 2012.............................................................................. 0.4 0.4 2.6 2.9

March 2012................................................................................. 0.6 0.8 2.4 2.7

April 2012................................................................................... 0.3 0.3 2.1 2.3

May 2012................................................................................... -0.1 -0.1 1.6 1.7

1 The C-CPI-U is designed to be a closer approximation to a cost-of-living index in that it, in its final form, accounts for any substitution that consumers

make across item categories in response to changes in relative prices. Since the expenditure data required for the calculation of the C-CPI-U are

available only with a time lag, the C-CPI-U is being issued first in preliminary form using the latest available expenditure data at that time and is subject

to two revisions.

NOTE: Indexes for 2012 are intial estimates. Indexes for 2011 are interim adjustments. Data prior to 2011 are final.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

All items.................................................................. 100.000 -0.3 0.03 S-Dec.2008 -0.8

Food.................................................................... 14.151 0.0 0.004 0.08 S-Feb.2012 0.0

Food at home...................................................... 8.537 -0.1 -0.009 0.14 S-Jun.2010 -0.1

Cereals and bakery products.................................. 1.228 -0.1 -0.002 0.35 S-Mar.2012 -0.2

Cereals and cereal products................................ 0.473 0.0 0.000 0.50 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Flour and prepared flour mixes.......................... 0.052 -0.8 0.000 0.88 S-Jan.2012 -1.3

Breakfast cereal4 .......................................... 0.290 0.6 0.002 0.69 L-Dec.2011 0.7

Rice, pasta, cornmeal4 ................................... 0.131 0.4 0.001 0.72 S-Mar.2012 -1.3

Rice4,5,6 .............................................. -0.8 0.81 S-Mar.2012 -1.4

Bakery products............................................ 0.754 -0.3 -0.002 0.43 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Bread5 ................................................... 0.222 -0.2 0.000 0.89 S-Mar.2012 -0.4

White bread4,6 ...................................... 0.1 1.19 S-Mar.2012 -0.6

Bread other than white4,6 ......................... 0.3 1.30 S-Mar.2012 -0.2

Fresh biscuits, rolls, muffins4,5 ...................... 0.111 0.5 0.001 0.61 L-Sep.2011 1.2

Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies........................ 0.184 -0.9 -0.002 0.88 S-Feb.2011 -1.7

Cookies4,6 ........................................... -0.2 0.95 S-Mar.2012 -0.6

Fresh cakes and cupcakes4,6 .................... -2.2 0.97 S-Sep.1997 -2.3

Other bakery products.................................. 0.237 -0.6 -0.002 0.78 S-Mar.2012 -0.6

Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts4,6 . .. 1.3 0.92 L-Jan.2012 1.9

Crackers, bread, and cracker products6 .......... -0.7 1.17 S-Mar.2012 -1.7

Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies,

tarts, turnovers6 ................................... -1.3 1.11 S-Apr.2011 -2.0

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs................................. 1.940 -0.5 -0.011 0.23 S-Sep.2009 -0.8

Meats, poultry, and fish...................................... 1.832 -0.6 -0.012 0.24 S-Sep.2009 -0.7

Meats........................................................ 1.187 -0.3 -0.004 0.28 S-Jun.2011 -0.5

Beef and veal4 .......................................... 0.551 0.6 0.003 0.41 L-Mar.2012 0.8

Uncooked ground beef4 ............................ 0.215 1.4 0.003 0.60 L-Jan.2012 1.8

Uncooked beef roasts4,5 .......................... 0.080 0.1 0.000 1.10 L-Feb.2012 1.1

Uncooked beef steaks4,5 .......................... 0.205 0.1 0.000 0.79 S-Feb.2012 -0.9

Uncooked other beef and veal4,5 ................ 0.051 0.6 0.000 0.73 L-Mar.2012 1.2

Pork....................................................... 0.371 -2.4 -0.009 0.48 S-Jul.1983 -2.9

Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products5

............................................................................ 0.139 -1.6 -0.002 0.84 S-Dec.2010 -3.1

Bacon and related products6 .................... -3.4 1.07 S-Dec.2010 -5.2

Breakfast sausage and related products4,5,6

............................................................................ 2.8 1.23 L-Jan.2011 2.8

Ham.................................................... 0.079 -1.3 -0.001 0.98 S-Jan.2012 -2.2

Ham, excluding canned6 ......................... -1.3 1.04 S-Jan.2012 -2.0

Pork chops............................................ 0.061 -1.9 -0.001 1.02 S-Feb.2012 -2.2

Other pork including roasts and picnics5 ......... 0.092 -4.2 -0.004 1.09 S-EVER –

Other meats.............................................. 0.265 0.6 0.002 0.63 L-Mar.2012 0.7

Frankfurters6 ......................................... 1.8 2.08 L-Feb.2012 2.3

Lunchmeats4,5,6 .................................. -0.3 0.64 L-Mar.2012 0.2

Lamb and organ meats4,6 ........................ -2.1 1.06 S-Mar.2009 -4.0

Lamb and mutton4,5,6 ............................ -6.0 1.19 S-Mar.2009 -7.6

Poultry.................................................... 0.339 -1.3 -0.004 0.62 S-Jul.2009 -1.7

Chicken5 .............................................. 0.265 -1.9 -0.005 0.80 S-Jul.2009 -2.3

Fresh whole chicken4,6 ......................... -4.8 1.91 S-Jan.2003 -4.9

Fresh and frozen chicken parts4,6 ............ -0.8 0.85 S-Dec.2010 -1.3

Other poultry including turkey5 ..................... 0.075 0.8 0.001 0.80 L-Mar.2012 1.5

Fish and seafood4 ...................................... 0.305 -1.2 -0.004 0.52 S-Oct.2009 -1.5

Fresh fish and seafood4,5 ......................... 0.157 -0.2 0.000 0.75 S-Feb.2012 -1.5

Processed fish and seafood5 ...................... 0.148 -1.4 -0.002 0.70 S-Sep.2009 -1.5

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Shelf stable fish and seafood4,6 ............... -1.3 1.17 S-Apr.2011 -2.9

Frozen fish and seafood4,6 ..................... 0.1 1.03 S-Feb.2012 -1.5

Eggs......................................................... 0.108 1.2 0.001 0.77 S-Feb.2012 -6.4

Dairy and related products4 ................................... 0.893 -0.4 -0.003 0.31 L-Mar.2012 -0.1

Milk4,5 ........................................................ 0.288 0.0 0.000 0.33 L-Jan.2012 0.7

Fresh whole milk4,6 ..................................... 0.1 0.44 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Fresh milk other than whole4,5,6 ..................... 0.0 0.48 L-Jan.2012 1.1

Cheese and related products4 ............................. 0.283 -0.7 -0.002 0.59 L-Mar.2012 -0.6

Ice cream and related products............................ 0.137 0.6 0.001 0.83 L-Mar.2012 1.8

Other dairy and related products5 ......................... 0.184 -0.6 -0.001 0.61 L-Mar.2012 0.3

Fruits and vegetables........................................... 1.253 0.4 0.005 0.37 S-Mar.2012 -0.4

Fresh fruits and vegetables................................. 0.950 0.7 0.007 0.47 S-Mar.2012 -0.4

Fresh fruits.................................................. 0.500 -0.1 0.000 0.63 S-Jan.2012 -1.8

Apples.................................................... 0.084 -0.4 0.000 1.15 S-Mar.2012 -1.5

Bananas.................................................. 0.081 -0.3 0.000 0.82 S-Feb.2012 -2.1

Citrus fruits5 ............................................. 0.105 0.6 0.001 1.48 S-Feb.2012 -1.4

Oranges, including tangerines6 .................... 0.8 1.73 S-Feb.2012 -3.5

Other fresh fruits5 ...................................... 0.230 -0.4 -0.001 1.07 S-Jan.2012 -3.1

Fresh vegetables.......................................... 0.450 1.6 0.007 0.63 L-Mar.2011 3.6

Potatoes.................................................. 0.083 -2.4 -0.002 1.06 S-Jun.2011 -3.2

Lettuce.................................................... 0.057 3.1 0.002 1.57 L-Mar.2011 9.2

Tomatoes4 ............................................... 0.075 -3.6 -0.003 1.80 S-Feb.2012 -5.7

Other fresh vegetables................................. 0.235 1.3 0.003 0.91 S-Mar.2012 -0.2

Processed fruits and vegetables5 ....................... 0.304 -0.4 -0.001 0.47 S-Jan.2012 -0.8

Canned fruits and vegetables5 ....................... 0.152 -1.7 -0.003 0.69 S-Mar.2008 -1.7

Canned fruits5,6 .................................... -2.1 0.81 S-Nov.2003 -3.3

Canned vegetables5,6 ............................. -1.3 0.98 S-Dec.2011 -1.3

Frozen fruits and vegetables5 ........................ 0.095 0.8 0.001 0.87 L-Feb.2012 1.1

Frozen vegetables6 .................................. 1.6 1.04 L-Oct.2011 2.6

Other processed fruits and vegetables including

dried5 .................................................. 0.057 0.5 0.000 0.79 L-Mar.2012 0.8

Dried beans, peas, and lentils4,5,6 ............. -0.3 1.19 S-Mar.2012 -0.6

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials........... 0.947 -0.6 -0.005 0.42 S-Dec.2010 -1.1

Juices and nonalcoholic drinks5 ........................... 0.706 -0.3 -0.002 0.50 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Carbonated drinks......................................... 0.288 -0.3 -0.001 0.72 S-Mar.2012 -0.8

Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4,5 .......... 0.014 -0.4 0.000 1.09 S-Jun.2011 -1.0

Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4,5 ...... 0.404 -0.4 -0.002 0.65 S-Feb.2012 -0.5

Beverage materials including coffee and tea5 ........... 0.241 -1.0 -0.002 0.59 S-Dec.2010 -1.0

Coffee....................................................... 0.147 -1.5 -0.002 0.81 S-Dec.2010 -1.8

Roasted coffee6 ........................................ -1.6 0.77 L-Mar.2012 -0.2

Instant and freeze dried coffee4,6 .................. 0.0 1.18 S-Mar.2012 -2.6

Other beverage materials including tea5 ............... 0.094 -1.6 -0.001 0.77 S-Sep.2008 -1.6

Other food at home............................................. 2.276 0.3 0.007 0.26 L-Mar.2012 0.3

Sugar and sweets4 .......................................... 0.308 -0.5 -0.002 0.59 S-Nov.2011 -1.7

Sugar and artificial sweeteners.......................... 0.060 0.1 0.000 0.49 S-Mar.2012 -1.0

Candy and chewing gum4,5 ............................ 0.184 -1.2 -0.002 0.92 S-Nov.2011 -1.9

Other sweets5 ............................................. 0.063 1.1 0.001 0.71 L-Feb.2012 1.2

Fats and oils.................................................. 0.262 0.1 0.000 0.51 L-Mar.2012 0.8

Butter and margarine5 .................................... 0.074 0.1 0.000 0.79 L-Mar.2012 0.1

Butter6 ................................................... 1.7 1.21 L-Jan.2012 3.7

Margarine6 .............................................. -0.7 1.06 S-Jan.2012 -1.3

Salad dressing4,5 ........................................ 0.066 -0.3 0.000 0.80 L-Mar.2012 0.5

Other fats and oils including peanut butter5 ........... 0.122 0.1 0.000 0.91 S-Feb.2012 -0.7

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Peanut butter4,5,6 ................................... -0.6 1.09 S-Mar.2011 -1.2

Other foods................................................. 1.706 0.5 0.008 0.31 L-Feb.2012 0.6

Soups..................................................... 0.100 -0.9 -0.001 1.05 S-Dec.2011 -1.1

Frozen and freeze dried prepared foods4 ........... 0.302 -0.1 0.000 0.76 L-Mar.2012 1.0

Snacks4 .................................................. 0.321 1.4 0.005 0.75 L-Aug.2011 2.0

Spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces............ 0.288 -2.2 -0.006 0.75 S-May 2002 -2.4

Salt and other seasonings and spices5,6 . . . . . .. 0.7 0.81 L-Jan.2012 2.8

Olives, pickles, relishes4,5,6 ..................... -2.7 1.36 S-Dec.2011 -4.2

Sauces and gravies5,6 ............................. -2.0 1.40 S-Sep.2011 -2.3

Other condiments4,6 ............................... -0.5 0.74 S-Mar.2012 -0.9

Baby food4,5 ........................................... 0.071 0.0 0.000 0.51 L-Mar.2012 0.0

Other miscellaneous foods4,5 ....................... 0.624 0.9 0.006 0.57 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Prepared salads4,7,6 ............................. 2.0 0.89 L-Jun.2010 4.7

Food away from home4 .......................................... 5.614 0.2 0.014 0.06 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Full service meals and snacks4,5 ........................... 2.664 0.2 0.005 0.07 – –

Limited service meals and snacks4,5 ...................... 2.257 0.3 0.008 0.10 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Food at employee sites and schools5 ....................... 0.256 0.3 0.001 0.14 – –

Food at elementary and secondary schools4,8,6 . . . .. 0.0 0.12 – –

Food from vending machines and mobile vendors4,5 .... 0.081 0.3 0.000 0.23 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Other food away from home4,5 ............................. 0.357 0.1 0.000 0.12 – –

Energy................................................................. 10.451 -4.3 -0.441 0.11 S-Dec.2008 -9.1

Energy commodities............................................... 6.733 -6.4 -0.412 0.11 S-Dec.2008 -17.8

Fuel oil and other fuels4 ....................................... 0.348 -3.2 -0.011 0.42 S-Mar.2009 -4.7

Fuel oil4 ....................................................... 0.238 -2.8 -0.007 0.54 S-Jun.2010 -3.2

Propane, kerosene, and firewood4,9 ..................... 0.110 -3.0 -0.003 0.44 S-Apr.2009 -3.6

Motor fuel........................................................ 6.385 -6.6 -0.401 0.11 S-Dec.2008 -18.5

Gasoline (all types)........................................... 6.186 -6.8 -0.396 0.12 S-Dec.2008 -18.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular6 ............................. -6.9 0.28 S-Dec.2008 -19.2

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade10 , 6 ..................... -6.6 0.27 S-Dec.2008 -17.8

Gasoline, unleaded premium6 ........................... -5.8 0.27 S-Dec.2008 -17.7

Other motor fuels5 ........................................... 0.199 -5.4 -0.011 0.16 L-Mar.2012 3.7

Energy services11 ................................................. 3.718 -0.7 -0.028 0.16 S-Feb.2012 -0.8

Electricity11 ...................................................... 2.853 0.3 0.008 0.18 L-Sep.2011 0.6

Utility (piped) gas service11 ................................... 0.865 -4.1 -0.036 0.18 S-May 2009 -5.8

All items less food and energy..................................... 75.398 0.2 0.152 0.04 – –

Commodities less food and energy commodities.............. 19.757 0.2 0.031 0.09 – –

Household furnishings and supplies12 ....................... 3.337 -0.2 -0.006 0.15 S-Nov.2011 -0.2

Window and floor coverings and other linens4,5 ....... 0.275 -1.1 -0.003 0.62 S-Dec.2010 -1.6

Floor coverings4,5 ....................................... 0.039 0.2 0.000 0.55 S-Mar.2012 -0.4

Window coverings4,5 .................................... 0.076 0.0 0.000 0.68 S-Mar.2012 -0.9

Other linens4,5 ........................................... 0.160 -2.0 -0.003 0.92 S-Dec.2010 -2.8

Furniture and bedding4 ..................................... 0.716 0.2 0.001 0.34 L-Mar.2012 0.8

Bedroom furniture4 ........................................ 0.233 -0.2 0.000 0.65 L-Mar.2012 0.9

Living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture4,5 ... 0.341 0.8 0.003 0.42 L-Jun.2011 1.8

Other furniture5 ............................................ 0.134 -1.3 -0.002 0.73 S-Jul.2011 -3.5

Infants’ furniture4,8,6 ................................

Appliances5 ................................................... 0.289 -0.6 -0.002 0.38 – –

Major appliances5 ......................................... 0.167 -0.7 -0.001 0.48 S-Nov.2011 -1.5

Laundry equipment6 ................................... -0.1 0.58 L-Mar.2012 1.1

Other appliances4,5 ..................................... 0.119 -0.4 0.000 0.59 S-Mar.2012 -1.1

Other household equipment and furnishings4,5 ........ 0.491 0.0 0.000 0.41 L-Feb.2012 0.8

Clocks, lamps, and decorator items4 ................... 0.258 0.3 0.001 0.51 L-Feb.2012 0.7

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Indoor plants and flowers13 .............................. 0.101 -0.1 0.000 0.69 – –

Dishes and flatware4,5 .................................. 0.047 -1.8 -0.001 1.02 S-Mar.2012 -2.2

Nonelectric cookware and tableware5 .................. 0.084 -0.4 0.000 0.51 S-Mar.2012 -0.4

Tools, hardware, outdoor equipment and supplies5 . . .. 0.681 -0.3 -0.002 0.28 S-Mar.2012 -0.7

Tools, hardware and supplies4,5 ...................... 0.172 0.1 0.000 0.35 – –

Outdoor equipment and supplies5 ...................... 0.363 -0.6 -0.002 0.32 S-Mar.2012 -0.9

Housekeeping supplies4 .................................... 0.886 -0.4 -0.004 0.27 S-Apr.2010 -0.8

Household cleaning products4,5 ....................... 0.358 -0.4 -0.002 0.40 L-Mar.2012 0.0

Household paper products4,5 .......................... 0.240 -0.1 0.000 0.38 – –

Miscellaneous household products4,5 ................ 0.287 -0.6 -0.002 0.47 S-Mar.2012 -0.7

Apparel........................................................... 3.636 0.4 0.013 0.39 – –

Men’s and boys’ apparel.................................... 0.876 0.1 0.001 0.61 S-Feb.2012 -1.7

Men’s apparel.............................................. 0.690 0.5 0.004 0.65 L-Jan.2012 1.7

Men’s suits, sport coats, and outerwear............. 0.125 0.5 0.001 1.77 L-Jan.2012 6.3

Men’s furnishings....................................... 0.180 3.5 0.006 0.98 L-Sep.1997 3.5

Men’s shirts and sweaters5 ........................... 0.217 -2.7 -0.006 1.49 S-Apr.2009 -3.3

Men’s pants and shorts................................ 0.161 1.7 0.003 1.32 L-Jan.2012 1.9

Boys’ apparel............................................... 0.185 -2.6 -0.005 1.48 S-Sep.2010 -2.7

Women’s and girls’ apparel................................. 1.558 0.5 0.008 0.75 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Women’s apparel.......................................... 1.305 0.7 0.009 0.82 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Women’s outerwear..................................... 0.089 -4.5 -0.004 3.37 S-Sep.2011 -5.4

Women’s dresses....................................... 0.184 -2.0 -0.004 2.67 L-Mar.2012 8.8

Women’s suits and separates5 ....................... 0.622 2.3 0.014 1.10 S-Mar.2012 -1.5

Women’s underwear, nightwear, sportswear and

accessories5 .......................................... 0.395 -0.7 -0.003 1.16 S-Mar.2012 -1.1

Girls’ apparel............................................... 0.252 -0.3 -0.001 2.09 S-Feb.2012 -2.6

Footwear....................................................... 0.683 0.8 0.006 0.56 L-May 2011 1.2

Men’s footwear4 ........................................... 0.209 0.6 0.001 0.85 S-Mar.2012 0.1

Boys’ and girls’ footwear.................................. 0.150 0.5 0.001 1.22 S-Feb.2012 -1.4

Women’s footwear......................................... 0.324 0.8 0.002 0.86 L-Mar.2012 1.0

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel............................... 0.199 1.6 0.003 1.00 L-Jan.2012 1.6

Jewelry and watches9 ....................................... 0.321 -1.3 -0.004 1.36 L-Mar.2012 0.5

Watches4,9 ............................................... 0.089 -1.4 -0.001 0.78 S-Sep.2010 -1.5

Jewelry9 .................................................... 0.232 -1.5 -0.003 1.56 L-Mar.2012 0.2

Transportation commodities less motor fuel12 .............. 5.583 0.5 0.026 0.07 S-Feb.2012 0.3

New vehicles.................................................. 3.168 0.2 0.006 0.11 S-Mar.2012 0.2

New cars and trucks5,6 ................................. 0.2 0.10 S-Mar.2012 0.2

New cars6 ............................................... 0.1 0.15 S-Jan.2012 -0.2

New trucks14 , 6 ........................................ 0.2 0.11 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Used cars and trucks...................................... 1.914 1.0 0.020 0.02 S-Feb.2012 -0.2

Motor vehicle parts and equipment4 .................... 0.432 0.1 0.001 0.20 L-Feb.2012 0.1

Tires4 .................................................... 0.294 0.0 0.000 0.25 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Vehicle accessories other than tires4,5 ............ 0.138 0.5 0.001 0.25 L-Mar.2012 0.7

Vehicle parts and equipment other than tires4,6

............................................................................ 0.7 0.25 L-Sep.2011 0.8

Motor oil, coolant, and fluids4,6 .................. 0.1 0.64 S-Feb.2012 -0.4

Medical care commodities4 ................................... 1.713 0.0 0.000 0.14 – –

Medicinal drugs4 , 12 ........................................ 1.635 0.0 0.000 0.15 – –

Prescription drugs......................................... 1.325 0.0 0.000 0.14 – –

Nonprescription drugs4 , 12 .............................. 0.310 0.5 0.002 0.49 L-Mar.2012 1.0

Medical equipment and supplies4 , 12 ..................... 0.078 1.0 0.001 0.47 L-Oct.2011 1.6

Recreation commodities12 ..................................... 2.305 -0.1 -0.002 0.18 L-Feb.2012 0.3

Video and audio products12 ................................ 0.420 -0.4 -0.002 0.28 L-Jan.2012 -0.2

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Televisions.................................................. 0.165 0.2 0.000 0.64 L-Oct.2007 0.5

Other video equipment4,5 .............................. 0.027 -1.3 0.000 0.61 S-Mar.2012 -2.3

Audio equipment4 ......................................... 0.072 -2.0 -0.001 0.45 S-Nov.2008 -2.0

Audio discs, tapes and other media4,5 ............... 0.044 -0.2 0.000 0.47 L-Mar.2012 -0.2

Pets and pet products4 ..................................... 0.686 -0.1 0.000 0.39 – –

Pet food4,5,6 ............................................ -0.1 0.41 S-Dec.2011 -0.1

Purchase of pets, pet supplies, accessories4,5,6 ... -0.1 0.76 L-Mar.2012 0.6

Sporting goods4 .............................................. 0.460 -0.3 -0.001 0.31 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Sports vehicles including bicycles4 ..................... 0.239 -0.2 -0.001 0.33 L-Feb.2012 0.5

Sports equipment4 ........................................ 0.211 -0.3 -0.001 0.53 S-Dec.2011 -0.7

Photographic equipment and supplies..................... 0.054 -1.7 -0.001 0.62 S-Aug.2010 -1.8

Film and photographic supplies4,5,6 ................. -0.4 0.73 S-Jan.2012 -0.4

Photographic equipment5,6 ............................. -1.9 0.82 S-Jan.2012 -2.0

Recreational reading materials4 ........................... 0.222 0.4 0.001 0.34 L-Mar.2012 0.7

Newspapers and magazines4,5 ........................ 0.120 0.8 0.001 0.48 L-Mar.2012 1.1

Recreational books4,5 ................................... 0.098 -0.1 0.000 0.47 S-Feb.2012 -0.2

Other recreational goods5 .................................. 0.464 0.3 0.001 0.44 L-Feb.2012 0.7

Toys4 ....................................................... 0.345 0.4 0.001 0.53 L-Feb.2012 1.1

Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment4

,5,6 ................................................... 0.7 0.51 L-Feb.2012 2.2

Sewing machines, fabric and supplies5 ................ 0.061 0.1 0.000 0.91 S-Feb.2012 -0.6

Music instruments and accessories5 ................... 0.039 0.1 0.000 0.42 S-Mar.2012 -0.2

Education and communication commodities12 ............. 0.595 0.6 0.004 0.34 L-EVER –

Educational books and supplies............................ 0.200 0.8 0.002 0.29 L-Jan.2012 0.8

College textbooks4 , 15 , 6 ................................ 0.7 0.24 L-Jan.2012 1.4

Information technology commodities12 .................... 0.395 0.5 0.002 0.43 L-EVER –

Personal computers and peripheral equipment7 ...... 0.260 0.9 0.002 0.51 L-EVER –

Computer software and accessories4,5 ............... 0.048 0.1 0.000 0.75 L-Dec.2011 1.7

Telephone hardware, calculators, and other

consumer information items4,5 ...................... 0.087 -0.2 0.000 0.77 L-Mar.2012 -0.2

Alcoholic beverages............................................ 0.941 0.2 0.002 0.13 L-Feb.2012 0.3

Alcoholic beverages at home............................... 0.567 0.4 0.002 0.21 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages at home......... 0.270 0.5 0.001 0.27 L-Feb.2012 0.5

Distilled spirits at home4 ................................. 0.071 -0.4 0.000 0.33 S-Feb.2012 -0.4

Whiskey at home6 ...................................... 0.4 0.49 S-Mar.2012 -1.2

Distilled spirits, excluding whiskey, at home4,6 . .. -0.2 0.59 S-Dec.2011 -1.1

Wine at home.............................................. 0.226 0.4 0.001 0.37 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Alcoholic beverages away from home4 ................... 0.374 0.5 0.002 0.16 L-Feb.2012 0.5

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages away from

home4,5,6 ............................................. 0.1 0.13 S-Mar.2012 0.0

Wine away from home4,5,6 ........................... -0.1 0.20 S-Nov.2011 -0.1

Distilled spirits away from home4,5,6 ................ 0.9 0.20 – –

Other goods12 .................................................. 1.647 -0.5 -0.008 0.19 S-May 2011 -0.5

Tobacco and smoking products4 .......................... 0.789 -0.2 -0.001 0.16 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Cigarettes4,5 ............................................. 0.729 -0.2 -0.001 0.17 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Tobacco products other than cigarettes4,5 ........... 0.053 0.3 0.000 0.46 – –

Personal care products4 .................................... 0.652 -1.0 -0.006 0.37 S-May 2011 -1.2

Hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal

care products4,5 ....................................... 0.342 -1.1 -0.004 0.54 S-May 2011 -1.1

Cosmetics, perfume, bath, nail preparations and

implements4 ............................................. 0.304 -0.9 -0.003 0.56 S-Feb.2012 -0.9

Miscellaneous personal goods5 ............................ 0.206 -0.2 0.000 0.44 L-Feb.2012 -0.2

Stationery, stationery supplies, gift wrap6 ............. 0.1 0.46 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Infants’ equipment4,8,6 ................................ -0.4 0.51 S-Aug.2011 -2.3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Services less energy services................................... 55.641 0.2 0.121 0.03 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Shelter............................................................ 31.216 0.2 0.048 0.05 – –

Rent of shelter16 ............................................. 30.871 0.2 0.056 0.05 – –

Rent of primary residence11 ............................. 6.403 0.2 0.013 0.07 – –

Lodging away from home5 ............................... 0.810 1.5 0.013 0.86 L-Feb.2012 1.9

Housing at school, excluding board11 , 16 ........... 0.152 0.4 0.001 0.05 – –

Other lodging away from home including hotels

and motels............................................. 0.658 1.8 0.012 1.07 L-Feb.2012 2.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences11 , 16 .......... 23.657 0.1 0.022 0.04 S-Feb.2012 0.1

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence11 , 16

............................................................................ 22.261 0.1 0.021 0.04 S-Feb.2012 0.1

Tenants’ and household insurance4,5 ................ 0.346 0.2 0.001 0.21 S-Feb.2012 -0.6

Water and sewer and trash collection services5 ........ 1.163 0.3 0.003 0.13 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Water and sewerage maintenance11 ................... 0.877 0.3 0.003 0.17 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Garbage and trash collection4 , 14 ...................... 0.286 0.0 0.000 0.15 L-Mar.2012 0.3

Household operations4,5 .................................. 0.724 -0.1 0.000 0.10 S-Sep.2011 -0.1

Domestic services4,5 .................................... 0.248 -0.3 -0.001 0.07 S-Mar.2011 -0.8

Gardening and lawncare services4,5 .................. 0.236 -0.2 0.000 0.11 S-Oct.2011 -0.2

Moving, storage, freight expense4,5 .................. 0.090 0.4 0.000 0.43 L-Mar.2012 0.5

Repair of household items4,5 .......................... 0.076 0.5 0.000 0.14 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Medical care services........................................ 5.330 0.5 0.027 0.06 L-Oct.2011 0.5

Professional services...................................... 2.964 0.4 0.012 0.08 L-Feb.2011 0.4

Physicians’ services11 ................................. 1.586 0.2 0.003 0.12 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Dental services11 ....................................... 0.754 0.1 0.001 0.08 – –

Eyeglasses and eye care9 ............................ 0.250 1.6 0.004 0.23 L-Oct.2005 1.8

Services by other medical professionals4 , 11 , 9 . .. 0.374 0.2 0.001 0.12 L-Feb.2012 0.3

Hospital and related services............................ 1.735 0.6 0.010 0.11 L-May 2011 0.6

Hospital services11 , 17 ................................ 1.514 0.6 0.009 0.12 – –

Inpatient hospital services11 , 17 , 6 ................ 0.7 0.18 L-Nov.2011 0.8

Outpatient hospital services11 , 9 , 6 ............... 0.5 0.22 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Nursing homes and adult day services11 , 17 ....... 0.136 0.3 0.000 0.12 L-Mar.2012 0.3

Care of invalids and elderly at home4,8 ............ 0.085 0.1 0.000 0.15 S-Mar.2012 0.0

Health insurance4,8 ..................................... 0.631 0.8 0.005 0.07 S-Aug.2011 0.3

Transportation services...................................... 5.734 0.3 0.018 0.11 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Leased cars and trucks15 ................................ 0.388 -1.2 -0.005 0.44 S-Aug.2011 -1.3

Car and truck rental5 ................................... 0.069 -2.4 -0.002 1.34 S-Feb.2012 -2.6

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair4 ................ 1.137 0.3 0.004 0.12 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Motor vehicle body work4 ............................. 0.057 0.2 0.000 0.14 L-Mar.2012 0.3

Motor vehicle maintenance and servicing4 ......... 0.454 0.2 0.001 0.15 L-Mar.2012 0.2

Motor vehicle repair4,5 ............................... 0.591 0.4 0.002 0.19 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Motor vehicle insurance................................... 2.388 0.4 0.010 0.16 – –

Motor vehicle fees4,5 .................................... 0.557 0.1 0.000 0.12 L-Jan.2012 1.4

State motor vehicle registration and license fees4 ,

11 , 5 ................................................... 0.324 0.0 0.000 0.12 L-Mar.2012 0.0

Parking and other fees4,5 ............................ 0.210 0.2 0.000 0.16 – –

Parking fees and tolls4,5,6 ....................... 0.2 0.13 L-Feb.2012 0.3

Automobile service clubs4,5,6 ................... 0.6 0.26 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Public transportation....................................... 1.195 0.8 0.010 0.29 S-Mar.2012 0.5

Airline fare............................................... 0.788 1.0 0.008 0.40 S-Mar.2012 0.4

Other intercity transportation.......................... 0.148 0.3 0.000 0.66 S-Mar.2012 0.1

Intercity bus fare4,7,6 ............................. -0.8 0.52 S-Feb.2012 -2.7

Intercity train fare4,7,6 ............................ 4.8 1.24 L-Jun.2011 4.8

Ship fare4,5,6 ...................................... -0.3 0.82 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Intracity transportation4 ................................ 0.257 0.1 0.000 0.07 – –

Intracity mass transit4 , 12 , 6 ....................... 0.1 0.09 – –

Recreation services12 ....................................... 3.683 0.2 0.007 0.19 L-Mar.2012 0.4

Video and audio services12 .............................. 1.499 0.4 0.006 0.23 L-Mar.2012 0.5

Cable and satellite television and radio service14 .. 1.387 0.5 0.007 0.23 L-Mar.2012 0.5

Video discs and other media, including rental of

video and audio4,5 ................................. 0.112 -0.2 0.000 0.84 S-Feb.2012 -1.4

Video discs and other media4,5,6 ............... -0.1 1.22 S-Feb.2012 -1.7

Rental of video or audio discs and other media4 ,

5,6 .................................................. -0.1 0.75 S-Feb.2012 -0.3

Pet services including veterinary5 ...................... 0.405 0.1 0.000 0.19 S-Feb.2012 -0.3

Pet services4,5,6 ..................................... 0.0 0.22 L-Mar.2012 0.4

Veterinarian services5,6 .............................. 0.1 0.19 S-Mar.2012 0.1

Photographers and film processing4,5 ................ 0.058 -0.1 0.000 0.36 S-Feb.2012 -0.2

Photographer fees4,5,6 ............................. 0.0 0.36 S-Feb.2012 -0.5

Film processing4,5,6 ................................. -0.2 0.44 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Other recreation services5 ............................... 1.719 0.0 0.000 0.35 L-Mar.2012 0.4

Club dues and fees for participant sports and

group exercises5 ..................................... 0.565 -0.4 -0.002 0.71 S-Feb.2012 -0.8

Admissions4 ............................................. 0.623 0.6 0.003 0.50 L-Jan.2012 2.1

Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts4,5

, 6 .................................................... 0.5 0.42 L-Jan.2012 1.9

Admission to sporting events4,5,6 .............. 0.8 0.52 L-Jan.2012 3.0

Fees for lessons or instructions4,9 ................. 0.228 -0.1 0.000 0.23 S-Mar.2012 -0.1

Education and communication services12 ................ 6.099 0.2 0.014 0.07 – –

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare............... 2.959 0.4 0.011 0.12 L-Dec.2011 0.4

College tuition and fees................................ 1.659 0.4 0.006 0.21 L-Mar.2012 0.5

Elementary and high school tuition and fees........ 0.375 0.4 0.001 0.03 L-Feb.2012 0.4

Child care and nursery school13 ..................... 0.765 0.4 0.003 0.11 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Technical and business school tuition and fees5 ... 0.058 -0.1 0.000 0.18 – –

Postage and delivery services5 ......................... 0.148 -0.3 0.000 0.01 S-May 2010 -0.3

Postage4 ................................................. 0.138 -0.3 0.000 0.00 S-Jan.2012 -0.6

Delivery services4,5 ................................... 0.010 0.1 0.000 0.12 S-Mar.2012 -0.1

Telephone services4,5 .................................. 2.394 0.1 0.002 0.05 – –

Wireless telephone services4,5 ..................... 1.456 0.1 0.001 0.06 L-Dec.2011 0.1

Land-line telephone services4 , 12 .................... 0.938 0.1 0.001 0.09 S-Mar.2012 0.1

Internet services and electronic information

providers4,5 ............................................ 0.583 0.3 0.002 0.29 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Other personal services12 .................................. 1.692 0.2 0.004 0.10 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Personal care services4 .................................. 0.625 0.1 0.001 0.11 S-Jan.2012 -0.1

Haircuts and other personal care services4,5 ..... 0.625 0.1 0.001 0.11 S-Jan.2012 -0.1

Miscellaneous personal services........................ 1.067 0.3 0.004 0.13 L-Dec.2011 0.5

Legal services9 ......................................... 0.292 0.4 0.001 0.12 L-Nov.2011 0.4

Funeral expenses9 ..................................... 0.157 0.0 0.000 0.09 S-Mar.2012 -0.5

Laundry and dry cleaning services5 ................. 0.237 0.3 0.001 0.09 L-Nov.2010 0.3

Apparel services other than laundry and dry

cleaning4,5 .......................................... 0.029 0.1 0.000 0.19 L-Mar.2012 0.3

Financial services4,9 .................................. 0.211 0.6 0.001 0.62 S-Feb.2012 -0.9

Checking account and other bank services4,5,

6 ..................................................... 0.7 0.51 L-Feb.2012 2.0

Tax return preparation and other accounting

fees5,6 ............................................. 0.9 0.73 S-Feb.2012 0.5

Special aggregate indexes

All items less food.................................................... 85.849 -0.3 -0.288 0.03 S-Dec.2008 -0.9

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

All items less shelter................................................. 68.784 -0.5 -0.332 0.04 S-Dec.2008 -1.2

All items less food and shelter...................................... 54.633 -0.6 -0.336 0.05 S-Dec.2008 -1.5

All items less food, shelter, and energy........................... 44.182 0.2 0.104 0.05 S-Feb.2012 0.1

All items less food, shelter, energy, and used cars and

trucks................................................................ 42.268 0.2 0.084 0.05 – –

All items less medical care.......................................... 92.958 -0.3 -0.311 0.03 S-Dec.2008 -0.9

All items less energy................................................. 89.549 0.2 0.157 0.03 – –

Commodities.......................................................... 40.641 -0.9 -0.381 0.06 S-Dec.2008 -2.1

Commodities less food, energy, and used cars and trucks... 17.843 0.1 0.011 0.09 – –

Commodities less food............................................ 26.490 -1.5 -0.386 0.07 S-Dec.2008 -3.3

Commodities less food and beverages......................... 25.549 -1.5 -0.388 0.07 S-Dec.2008 -3.4

Services............................................................... 59.359 0.2 0.093 0.04 – –

Services less rent of shelter16 ................................... 28.488 0.2 0.054 0.05 S-Mar.2012 0.2

Services less medical care services............................ 54.029 0.2 0.084 0.04 – –

Durables............................................................... 8.877 0.1 0.006 0.07 S-Mar.2012 0.1

Nondurables........................................................... 31.764 -1.2 -0.386 0.07 S-Dec.2008 -2.5

Nondurables less food............................................ 17.613 -2.2 -0.373 0.10 S-Dec.2008 -5.0

Nondurables less food and beverages.......................... 16.672 -2.3 -0.377 0.11 S-Dec.2008 -5.4

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel.............. 13.036 -3.1 -0.394 0.07 S-Dec.2008 -7.0

Nondurables less food and apparel............................. 13.977 -2.8 -0.387 0.07 S-Dec.2008 -6.3

Housing................................................................ 40.506 0.0 0.001 0.05 S-Sep.2010 0.0

Education and communication5 .................................... 6.694 0.3 0.018 0.08 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Education5 ......................................................... 3.160 0.4 0.012 0.12 L-Nov.2011 0.4

Communication5 ................................................... 3.535 0.2 0.006 0.07 L-Feb.2012 0.2

Information and information processing5 .................... 3.387 0.2 0.006 0.08 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Information technology, hardware and services18 ......... 0.992 0.4 0.004 0.26 L-Feb.2010 0.8

Recreation5 ........................................................... 5.989 0.1 0.005 0.15 L-Mar.2012 0.2

Video and audio5 ................................................. 1.919 0.3 0.005 0.19 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Pets, pet products and services5 ............................... 1.091 0.0 0.000 0.26 – –

Photography5 ...................................................... 0.113 -0.9 -0.001 0.36 S-Apr.2007 -1.0

Food and beverages................................................. 15.092 0.0 0.006 0.08 S-Jul.2010 0.0

Domestically produced farm food4 .............................. 7.203 0.0 0.002 0.14 S-Feb.2012 -0.1

Other services........................................................ 11.475 0.2 0.025 0.08 – –

Apparel less footwear................................................ 2.953 0.3 0.008 0.47 – –

Fuels and utilities..................................................... 5.229 -0.7 -0.037 0.13 S-May 2009 -1.3

Household energy................................................. 4.066 -1.0 -0.040 0.15 S-May 2009 -1.8

Medical care.......................................................... 7.042 0.4 0.028 0.06 L-Nov.2011 0.4

Transportation......................................................... 17.702 -2.1 -0.357 0.06 S-Dec.2008 -4.9

Private transportation.............................................. 16.507 -2.3 -0.367 0.06 S-Dec.2008 -5.1

New and used motor vehicles5 ............................... 5.608 0.3 0.019 0.08 S-Feb.2012 0.2

Utilities and public transportation................................... 9.857 0.1 0.014 0.09 S-Mar.2012 0.0

Household furnishings and operations............................. 4.061 -0.3 -0.010 0.12 S-Sep.2010 -0.3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Apr. 2012-

May 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Apr. 2012-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Other goods and services........................................... 3.340 0.0 0.001 0.11 S-Feb.2012 -0.1

Personal care...................................................... 2.551 0.1 0.003 0.13 – –

1 The ’effect’ of an item category is a measure of that item’s contribution to the All items price change. For example, if the Food index had an effect of 0.40,

and the All items index rose 1.2 percent, then the increase in food prices contributed 0.40 / 1.2, or 33.3 percent, to that All items increase. Said another

way, had food prices been unchanged for that month the change in the All items index would have been 1.2 percent minus 0.40, or 0.8 percent. Effects

can be negative as well. For example, if the effect of food was a negative 0.1, and the All items index rose 0.5 percent, the All items index actually would

have been 0.1 percent higher (or 0.6 percent) had food prices been unchanged. Since food prices fell while prices overall were rising, the contribution

of food to the All items price change was negative (in this case, -0.1 / 0.5, or minus 20 percent).

2 A statistic’s margin of error is often expressed as its point estimate plus or minus two standard errors. For example, if a CPI category rose 0.6 percent,

and its standard error was 0.15 percent, the margin of error on this item’s 1-month percent change would be 0.6 percent, plus or minus 0.3 percent.

3 If the current seasonally adjusted 1-month percent change is greater than the previous 1-month percent change, then this column identifies the closest

prior month with a 1-month percent change as (L)arge as or (L)arger than the current 1-month change. If the current 1-month percent change is smaller

than the previous 1-month percent change, the most recent month with a change as (S)mall or (S)maller than the current month change is identified.

If the current and previous 1-month percent changes are equal, a dash will appear. Standard numerical comparisons are used. For example, 0.8% is

greater than 0.6%, -0.4% is less than -0.2%, and -0.2% is less than 0.0%. Note that a (L)arger change can be a smaller decline, for example, a -0.2%

change is larger than a -0.4% change, but still represents a decline in the price index. Likewise, (S)maller changes can be increases, for example, a 0.6%

change is smaller than 0.8%, but still represents an increase in the price index. In this context, a -0.2% change is considered to be smaller than a 0.0%

change.

4 Not seasonally adjusted.

5 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

6 Special indexes based on a substantially smaller sample. These series do not contribute to the all items index aggregation and therefore do not have

a relative importance or effect.

7 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

8 Indexes on a December 2005=100 base.

9 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

10 Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

11 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.

12 Indexes on a December 2009=100 base.

13 Indexes on a December 1990=100 base.

14 Indexes on a December 1983=100 base.

15 Indexes on a December 2001=100 base.

16 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

17 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

18 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

All items.................................................................. 100.000 1.7 0.07 S-Jan.2011 1.6

Food.................................................................... 14.151 2.8 0.387 0.14 S-Feb.2011 2.3

Food at home...................................................... 8.537 2.7 0.219 0.20 S-Jan.2011 2.1

Cereals and bakery products.................................. 1.228 3.7 0.041 0.43 S-May 2011 3.1

Cereals and cereal products................................ 0.473 4.0 0.015 0.72 S-May 2011 3.5

Flour and prepared flour mixes.......................... 0.052 5.9 0.003 1.33 S-Apr.2011 3.4

Breakfast cereal............................................ 0.290 3.0 0.006 0.94 S-May 2011 2.8

Rice, pasta, cornmeal..................................... 0.131 5.0 0.006 1.08 S-Mar.2012 3.9

Rice4,5 .................................................. 2.4 1.67 S-Apr.2011 1.5

Bakery products............................................ 0.754 3.6 0.026 0.59 S-Jun.2011 3.6

Bread4 ................................................... 0.222 3.0 0.007 1.22 S-Mar.2011 2.7

White bread5 ......................................... 2.7 1.78 S-Feb.2011 2.6

Bread other than white5 ............................ 3.0 1.73 S-Jan.2011 2.1

Fresh biscuits, rolls, muffins4 ......................... 0.111 3.0 0.003 1.05 L-Mar.2012 3.9

Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies........................ 0.184 5.7 0.011 1.06 S-Mar.2012 5.6

Cookies5 .............................................. 7.4 1.51 L-Mar.2009 8.8

Fresh cakes and cupcakes5 ........................ 4.8 1.15 S-Jan.2012 3.5

Other bakery products.................................. 0.237 2.3 0.006 1.00 S-May 2011 2.3

Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts5 . . . . .. 3.7 1.61 S-May 2011 2.7

Crackers, bread, and cracker products5 .......... 2.4 1.88 S-Apr.2011 0.1

Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies,

tarts, turnovers5 ................................... 1.7 1.52 S-May 2011 1.7

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs................................. 1.940 2.7 0.051 0.39 S-Jun.2010 2.0

Meats, poultry, and fish...................................... 1.832 2.9 0.051 0.41 S-Jun.2010 2.0

Meats........................................................ 1.187 2.8 0.032 0.52 S-May 2010 2.1

Beef and veal............................................ 0.551 5.4 0.029 0.74 S-Aug.2010 5.0

Uncooked ground beef.............................. 0.215 5.9 0.013 1.14 S-Sep.2010 5.1

Uncooked beef roasts4 ............................. 0.080 4.7 0.004 1.80 S-Nov.2010 3.4

Uncooked beef steaks4 ............................. 0.205 5.6 0.011 1.12 S-Jun.2011 4.0

Uncooked other beef and veal4 .................... 0.051 3.8 0.002 1.47 L-Mar.2012 7.1

Pork....................................................... 0.371 -0.3 -0.001 0.87 S-Mar.2010 -2.0

Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products4

............................................................................ 0.139 -1.1 -0.001 1.49 S-May 2010 -1.9

Bacon and related products5 .................... -3.2 2.54 S-Jan.2010 -3.3

Breakfast sausage and related products4,5 ... 4.0 1.68 L-Feb.2012 4.9

Ham.................................................... 0.079 2.2 0.002 1.75 S-Feb.2012 1.4

Ham, excluding canned5 ......................... 2.4 2.43 S-Feb.2012 1.8

Pork chops............................................ 0.061 1.0 0.001 1.66 S-Apr.2010 0.3

Other pork including roasts and picnics4 ......... 0.092 -2.4 -0.002 1.96 S-Jan.2010 -4.2

Other meats.............................................. 0.265 2.2 0.005 1.30 S-Oct.2010 1.2

Frankfurters5 ......................................... 5.6 3.30 L-Mar.2012 6.5

Lunchmeats4,5 ...................................... 2.2 0.93 S-Dec.2010 1.6

Lamb and organ meats5 ............................ -1.2 3.30 S-Nov.2009 -1.3

Lamb and mutton4,5 ............................... -1.4 5.73 S-Feb.2010 -3.5

Poultry.................................................... 0.339 3.9 0.013 0.93 S-Nov.2011 3.0

Chicken4 .............................................. 0.265 2.5 0.007 0.99 S-Nov.2011 1.2

Fresh whole chicken5 ............................ 1.4 2.17 S-Apr.2011 1.3

Fresh and frozen chicken parts5 ................ 3.4 1.25 S-Feb.2012 3.4

Other poultry including turkey4 ..................... 0.075 8.9 0.006 2.24 S-Oct.2011 7.3

Fish and seafood........................................ 0.305 1.9 0.006 1.03 S-Sep.2010 1.6

Fresh fish and seafood4 ............................ 0.157 -0.4 -0.001 1.47 S-Mar.2010 -0.9

Processed fish and seafood4 ...................... 0.148 4.5 0.006 1.17 S-Apr.2011 3.4

Shelf stable fish and seafood5 .................. 7.2 2.12 S-Mar.2012 3.6

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Frozen fish and seafood5 ........................ 3.7 2.12 S-Jan.2011 2.7

Eggs......................................................... 0.108 1.4 0.000 1.18 S-Mar.2011 1.0

Dairy and related products..................................... 0.893 2.3 0.019 0.51 S-Jan.2011 1.7

Milk4 ........................................................... 0.288 -0.4 -0.001 0.79 S-Feb.2010 -1.3

Fresh whole milk5 ......................................... -1.1 1.28 S-Feb.2010 -2.5

Fresh milk other than whole4,5 ........................ 0.2 1.16 S-Feb.2010 0.1

Cheese and related products............................... 0.283 2.4 0.006 0.88 S-Mar.2011 1.9

Ice cream and related products............................ 0.137 6.1 0.008 1.31 L-Mar.2012 6.4

Other dairy and related products4 ......................... 0.184 3.7 0.006 0.93 S-Jul.2011 3.5

Fruits and vegetables........................................... 1.253 -0.4 -0.004 0.55 L-Jan.2012 -0.1

Fresh fruits and vegetables................................. 0.950 -2.1 -0.020 0.69 L-Jan.2012 -1.7

Fresh fruits.................................................. 0.500 2.6 0.013 1.01 L-Nov.2011 2.6

Apples.................................................... 0.084 5.0 0.004 1.75 L-Jan.2012 6.1

Bananas.................................................. 0.081 -1.0 -0.001 1.44 S-Oct.2010 -4.0

Citrus fruits4 ............................................. 0.105 3.5 0.004 2.25 L-Oct.2011 3.6

Oranges, including tangerines5 .................... 4.2 2.47 L-Nov.2011 4.2

Other fresh fruits4 ...................................... 0.230 2.5 0.006 1.56 – –

Fresh vegetables.......................................... 0.450 -6.9 -0.032 1.01 L-Jan.2012 -0.2

Potatoes.................................................. 0.083 -4.7 -0.003 1.86 S-Jul.2010 -5.2

Lettuce.................................................... 0.057 -10.2 -0.007 2.27 L-Jan.2012 -1.4

Tomatoes................................................. 0.075 -19.7 -0.017 2.40 L-Feb.2012 -18.0

Other fresh vegetables................................. 0.235 -2.0 -0.005 1.33 L-Jan.2012 -1.3

Processed fruits and vegetables4 ....................... 0.304 5.4 0.015 0.70 S-Jan.2012 5.4

Canned fruits and vegetables4 ....................... 0.152 4.6 0.007 1.02 S-Mar.2012 4.6

Canned fruits4,5 .................................... 3.2 1.19 S-Sep.2011 2.4

Canned vegetables4,5 ............................. 5.9 1.43 S-Mar.2012 5.7

Frozen fruits and vegetables4 ........................ 0.095 5.9 0.005 1.23 S-Sep.2011 5.1

Frozen vegetables5 .................................. 6.1 1.25 L-Feb.2012 7.4

Other processed fruits and vegetables including

dried4 .................................................. 0.057 6.9 0.004 1.36 S-Mar.2012 5.9

Dried beans, peas, and lentils4,5 ................. 14.3 2.74 S-Jan.2012 14.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials........... 0.947 1.2 0.011 0.68 S-Feb.2011 0.6

Juices and nonalcoholic drinks4 ........................... 0.706 1.3 0.009 0.84 – –

Carbonated drinks......................................... 0.288 1.7 0.005 1.14 S-Apr.2011 0.9

Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4 ............. 0.014 8.5 0.001 2.34 S-Jun.2011 5.1

Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4 ......... 0.404 0.8 0.003 1.05 L-Mar.2012 1.5

Beverage materials including coffee and tea4 ........... 0.241 1.0 0.002 0.99 S-Dec.2010 0.8

Coffee....................................................... 0.147 2.7 0.003 1.45 S-Dec.2010 2.5

Roasted coffee5 ........................................ 2.4 1.78 S-Sep.2010 1.7

Instant and freeze dried coffee5 ...................... 4.1 2.00 L-Feb.2012 5.9

Other beverage materials including tea4 ............... 0.094 -1.0 -0.001 1.25 S-Oct.2010 -1.3

Other food at home............................................. 2.276 4.8 0.101 0.41 S-Sep.2011 4.7

Sugar and sweets............................................ 0.308 4.6 0.014 0.99 S-Mar.2012 4.6

Sugar and artificial sweeteners.......................... 0.060 3.7 0.002 0.92 S-Apr.2011 3.0

Candy and chewing gum4 ............................... 0.184 4.7 0.008 1.53 S-Feb.2012 4.3

Other sweets4 ............................................. 0.063 4.9 0.003 1.05 L-Feb.2012 5.3

Fats and oils.................................................. 0.262 7.8 0.019 0.82 S-Feb.2011 4.8

Butter and margarine4 .................................... 0.074 -0.9 -0.001 1.41 S-Mar.2010 -4.2

Butter5 ................................................... -9.9 2.47 S-Dec.2009 -11.5

Margarine5 .............................................. 9.0 1.86 S-Feb.2011 6.1

Salad dressing4 ........................................... 0.066 5.0 0.003 1.32 L-Feb.2012 7.0

Other fats and oils including peanut butter4 ........... 0.122 15.5 0.017 1.22 S-Nov.2011 13.5

Peanut butter4,5 ....................................... 39.0 1.63 S-Feb.2012 37.9

Other foods................................................. 1.706 4.3 0.069 0.49 L-Mar.2012 4.5

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Soups..................................................... 0.100 4.5 0.005 1.59 S-Feb.2012 3.5

Frozen and freeze dried prepared foods............. 0.302 2.1 0.006 1.11 S-Aug.2011 1.4

Snacks.................................................... 0.321 7.2 0.022 0.93 L-Mar.2012 8.0

Spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces............ 0.288 2.0 0.006 1.04 S-Sep.2011 1.9

Salt and other seasonings and spices4,5 ....... 9.1 1.99 S-Mar.2012 7.6

Olives, pickles, relishes4,5 ........................ -1.5 1.64 S-Feb.2011 -1.6

Sauces and gravies4,5 ............................. -0.4 1.83 S-Dec.2010 -0.6

Other condiments5 ................................... 3.6 1.66 S-May 2011 3.1

Baby food4 .............................................. 0.071 5.5 0.004 0.94 L-Mar.2012 6.1

Other miscellaneous foods4 ........................... 0.624 4.8 0.025 0.80 L-Jan.2009 7.7

Prepared salads6,5 ................................. 4.2 1.42 L-Oct.2011 5.0

Food away from home............................................ 5.614 2.9 0.168 0.17 – –

Full service meals and snacks4 .............................. 2.664 2.6 0.072 0.21 – –

Limited service meals and snacks4 .......................... 2.257 3.3 0.075 0.30 L-Mar.2012 3.3

Food at employee sites and schools4 ....................... 0.256 3.9 0.010 0.54 L-Sep.2011 4.0

Food at elementary and secondary schools7,5 ......... 3.4 0.73 – –

Food from vending machines and mobile vendors4 ....... 0.081 4.0 0.004 0.88 L-Mar.2012 4.0

Other food away from home4 ................................. 0.357 2.0 0.007 0.45 – –

Energy................................................................. 10.451 -3.9 -0.385 0.19 S-Oct.2009 -14.0

Energy commodities............................................... 6.733 -3.7 -0.249 0.18 S-Oct.2009 -18.7

Fuel oil and other fuels......................................... 0.348 -1.8 -0.006 0.92 S-Nov.2009 -7.7

Fuel oil......................................................... 0.238 -1.1 -0.003 1.14 S-Nov.2009 -6.9

Propane, kerosene, and firewood8 ........................ 0.110 -3.0 -0.003 1.24 S-Dec.2009 -4.2

Motor fuel........................................................ 6.385 -3.8 -0.243 0.19 S-Oct.2009 -18.4

Gasoline (all types)........................................... 6.186 -4.0 -0.236 0.19 S-Oct.2009 -17.9

Gasoline, unleaded regular5 ............................. -4.1 0.48 S-Oct.2009 -18.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade9 , 5 ...................... -3.8 0.45 S-Oct.2009 -17.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium5 ........................... -3.2 0.45 S-Oct.2009 -16.8

Other motor fuels4 ........................................... 0.199 -1.8 -0.007 0.33 S-Nov.2009 -6.0

Energy services10 ................................................. 3.718 -3.6 -0.136 0.32 S-Feb.2010 -4.2

Electricity10 ...................................................... 2.853 0.2 0.007 0.37 S-Mar.2010 -0.5

Utility (piped) gas service10 ................................... 0.865 -14.9 -0.143 0.62 S-Dec.2009 -18.1

All items less food and energy..................................... 75.398 2.3 1.703 0.09 – –

Commodities less food and energy commodities.............. 19.757 1.6 0.323 0.20 S-Jun.2011 1.6

Household furnishings and supplies11 ....................... 3.337 0.3 0.010 0.35 S-Sep.2011 0.2

Window and floor coverings and other linens4 .......... 0.275 -4.0 -0.012 1.43 S-Apr.2011 -4.0

Floor coverings4 ........................................... 0.039 -0.2 0.000 1.43 S-May 2011 -0.4

Window coverings4 ....................................... 0.076 0.1 0.000 2.32 – –

Other linens4 ............................................... 0.160 -6.9 -0.012 1.74 S-Jan.2011 -8.2

Furniture and bedding....................................... 0.716 1.4 0.011 0.91 S-Nov.2011 1.1

Bedroom furniture.......................................... 0.233 0.7 0.002 1.64 L-Mar.2012 1.4

Living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture4 ..... 0.341 3.6 0.013 1.20 – –

Other furniture4 ............................................ 0.134 -2.7 -0.004 2.17 S-Oct.2011 -3.1

Infants’ furniture7,5 ....................................

Appliances4 ................................................... 0.289 3.0 0.009 0.76 S-Dec.2011 1.5

Major appliances4 ......................................... 0.167 6.9 0.011 1.10 S-Jan.2012 5.9

Laundry equipment5 ................................... 9.0 1.75 S-Jan.2012 8.2

Other appliances4 ......................................... 0.119 -2.2 -0.002 1.22 S-Feb.2011 -2.2

Other household equipment and furnishings4 ........... 0.491 -5.0 -0.027 1.21 S-Jul.2010 -5.5

Clocks, lamps, and decorator items..................... 0.258 -6.4 -0.018 1.82 L-Nov.2011 -6.4

Indoor plants and flowers12 .............................. 0.101 -1.9 -0.002 1.49 S-Jan.2010 -2.4

Dishes and flatware4 ..................................... 0.047 -11.2 -0.007 2.54 S-EVER –

Nonelectric cookware and tableware4 .................. 0.084 0.0 0.000 1.31 S-Mar.2012 -0.6

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Tools, hardware, outdoor equipment and supplies4 . . .. 0.681 0.4 0.002 0.60 L-Feb.2012 1.4

Tools, hardware and supplies4 .......................... 0.172 2.0 0.004 1.02 S-Jun.2011 1.1

Outdoor equipment and supplies4 ...................... 0.363 -0.3 -0.002 0.77 L-Feb.2012 0.8

Housekeeping supplies...................................... 0.886 3.1 0.027 0.51 S-Nov.2011 2.7

Household cleaning products4 .......................... 0.358 2.2 0.007 0.81 S-Sep.2011 1.9

Household paper products4 ............................. 0.240 4.3 0.010 0.92– –

Miscellaneous household products4 .................... 0.287 3.3 0.010 1.02 S-Nov.2011 2.0

Apparel........................................................... 3.636 4.4 0.157 0.95 S-Feb.2012 4.2

Men’s and boys’ apparel.................................... 0.876 5.5 0.047 1.06 S-Feb.2012 4.9

Men’s apparel.............................................. 0.690 4.9 0.034 1.19 S-Oct.2011 4.4

Men’s suits, sport coats, and outerwear............. 0.125 2.4 0.003 3.03 S-Dec.2011 0.0

Men’s furnishings....................................... 0.180 7.7 0.014 2.44 L-Jan.2012 7.7

Men’s shirts and sweaters4 ........................... 0.217 3.2 0.007 2.52 S-Sep.2011 2.3

Men’s pants and shorts................................ 0.161 6.9 0.009 2.41 L-Aug.2011 7.3

Boys’ apparel............................................... 0.185 7.6 0.013 2.92 S-Feb.2012 3.0

Women’s and girls’ apparel................................. 1.558 5.6 0.084 1.86 S-Mar.2012 5.5

Women’s apparel.......................................... 1.305 5.2 0.065 2.10 S-Mar.2012 4.9

Women’s outerwear..................................... 0.089 2.3 0.008 9.10 S-May 2011 0.1

Women’s dresses....................................... 0.184 2.9 0.008 6.62 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Women’s suits and separates4 ....................... 0.622 5.9 0.033 2.06 L-Feb.2007 8.9

Women’s underwear, nightwear, sportswear and

accessories4 .......................................... 0.395 4.0 0.015 3.96 S-Sep.2011 2.7

Girls’ apparel............................................... 0.252 7.9 0.019 4.48 L-Mar.2012 8.9

Footwear....................................................... 0.683 2.2 0.015 1.07 S-Mar.2012 1.2

Men’s footwear............................................. 0.209 3.9 0.008 1.63 L-Aug.2009 3.9

Boys’ and girls’ footwear.................................. 0.150 1.1 0.002 2.62 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Women’s footwear......................................... 0.324 1.4 0.005 1.73 S-Feb.2012 0.2

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel............................... 0.199 7.0 0.013 2.01 L-Mar.2012 7.5

Jewelry and watches8 ....................................... 0.321 -0.2 -0.001 2.42 S-Feb.2010 -0.4

Watches8 ................................................... 0.089 0.3 0.001 1.57 S-Jan.2012 0.1

Jewelry8 .................................................... 0.232 -0.7 -0.001 2.79 S-Aug.2009 -0.8

Transportation commodities less motor fuel11 .............. 5.583 2.2 0.126 0.19 S-Mar.2011 2.0

New vehicles.................................................. 3.168 1.3 0.044 0.30 S-Feb.2011 0.9

New cars and trucks4,5 ................................. 1.3 0.30 S-Feb.2011 1.0

New cars5 ............................................... 1.2 0.40 S-Mar.2011 1.2

New trucks13 , 5 ........................................ 1.4 0.30 S-Jan.2011 1.3

Used cars and trucks...................................... 1.914 3.5 0.067 0.22 – –

Motor vehicle parts and equipment...................... 0.432 3.6 0.015 0.44 S-Dec.2010 3.3

Tires...................................................... 0.294 4.0 0.011 0.63 S-Nov.2010 4.0

Vehicle accessories other than tires4 ................ 0.138 3.0 0.004 0.68 S-Apr.2011 2.6

Vehicle parts and equipment other than tires5 ... 1.5 0.63 S-Apr.2011 1.5

Motor oil, coolant, and fluids5 ...................... 10.2 1.76 S-Jun.2011 7.7

Medical care commodities..................................... 1.713 2.7 0.045 0.40 – –

Medicinal drugs11 ............................................ 1.635 2.7 0.043 0.41 S-EVER –

Prescription drugs......................................... 1.325 3.3 0.042 0.44 S-Apr.2009 2.4

Nonprescription drugs11 .................................. 0.310 0.3 0.001 0.88 L-EVER –

Medical equipment and supplies11 ........................ 0.078 2.2 0.002 0.82 L-Jun.2011 2.4

Recreation commodities11 ..................................... 2.305 -1.7 -0.041 0.39 S-Jun.2011 -1.7

Video and audio products11 ................................ 0.420 -9.5 -0.041 0.60 L-Mar.2012 -9.3

Televisions.................................................. 0.165 -17.7 -0.029 1.34 L-Feb.2012 -17.5

Other video equipment4 .................................. 0.027 -12.1 -0.003 1.56 L-Mar.2012 -11.4

Audio equipment........................................... 0.072 -8.7 -0.007 1.07 S-Dec.2005 -8.8

Audio discs, tapes and other media4 ................... 0.044 -4.3 -0.002 1.35 S-Nov.2010 -5.3

Pets and pet products....................................... 0.686 2.5 0.017 0.79 – –

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Pet food4,5 ................................................ 3.5 0.92 L-Jan.2012 3.9

Purchase of pets, pet supplies, accessories4,5 ...... 0.3 1.71 S-Feb.2012 -0.5

Sporting goods................................................ 0.460 -0.3 -0.003 0.84 S-Mar.2012 -0.3

Sports vehicles including bicycles....................... 0.239 0.2 0.001 0.89 S-May 2010 -1.0

Sports equipment.......................................... 0.211 -1.1 -0.004 1.45 S-Mar.2012 -3.1

Photographic equipment and supplies..................... 0.054 -5.3 -0.003 1.54 S-Mar.2011 -7.9

Film and photographic supplies4,5 .................... 8.4 2.11 S-Mar.2012 8.3

Photographic equipment4,5 ............................. -7.8 2.64 S-Mar.2011 -10.0

Recreational reading materials............................. 0.222 2.2 0.005 1.14 L-Jan.2010 2.2

Newspapers and magazines4 ........................... 0.120 5.1 0.006 0.90 L-Nov.2009 5.9

Recreational books4 ...................................... 0.098 -1.3 -0.001 2.06 L-Feb.2011 0.6

Other recreational goods4 .................................. 0.464 -3.8 -0.017 1.11 S-Apr.2011 -4.3

Toys......................................................... 0.345 -5.4 -0.018 1.36 S-Apr.2011 -5.5

Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment4

, 5 ...................................................... -2.1 1.11 S-Oct.2011 -2.7

Sewing machines, fabric and supplies4 ................ 0.061 2.8 0.002 1.76 S-Mar.2012 1.8

Music instruments and accessories4 ................... 0.039 -0.3 0.000 1.08 L-Sep.2010 0.0

Education and communication commodities11 ............. 0.595 -3.2 -0.017 0.84 L-May 2011 -2.8

Educational books and supplies............................ 0.200 5.8 0.011 1.03 L-Nov.2011 6.2

College textbooks14 , 5 ................................... 6.4 1.03 L-Nov.2011 6.6

Information technology commodities11 .................... 0.395 -8.5 -0.028 1.09 L-Jul.2011 -7.8

Personal computers and peripheral equipment6 ...... 0.260 -10.6 -0.024 1.28 L-Jul.2011 -9.4

Computer software and accessories4 .................. 0.048 -2.4 -0.001 2.07 L-Jan.2012 -2.0

Telephone hardware, calculators, and other

consumer information items4 ......................... 0.087 -5.1 -0.003 2.89 L-Mar.2012 -4.4

Alcoholic beverages............................................ 0.941 1.7 0.016 0.45 S-Dec.2011 1.4

Alcoholic beverages at home............................... 0.567 0.9 0.005 0.43 L-Mar.2012 0.9

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages at home......... 0.270 2.1 0.006 0.60 L-Mar.2012 2.5

Distilled spirits at home................................... 0.071 -0.5 0.000 0.67 S-Mar.2011 -0.7

Whiskey at home5 ...................................... 1.3 0.93– –

Distilled spirits, excluding whiskey, at home5 ....... -0.4 1.00 S-Feb.2012 -1.1

Wine at home.............................................. 0.226 -0.4 -0.001 0.79 L-Jun.2011 -0.2

Alcoholic beverages away from home..................... 0.374 2.8 0.011 1.04 S-Nov.2011 2.8

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages away from

home4,5 ................................................ 1.2 0.68 S-EVER –

Wine away from home4,5 ............................... 2.9 0.98 S-Mar.2012 2.7

Distilled spirits away from home4,5 .................... 3.3 1.83 S-Apr.2011 1.8

Other goods11 .................................................. 1.647 1.5 0.027 0.47 – –

Tobacco and smoking products............................ 0.789 2.4 0.021 0.67 – –

Cigarettes4 ................................................. 0.729 2.3 0.019 0.71 – –

Tobacco products other than cigarettes4 .............. 0.053 3.4 0.002 1.05 S-Apr.2011 2.8

Personal care products...................................... 0.652 1.3 0.008 0.71 L-Oct.2009 1.5

Hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal

care products4 .......................................... 0.342 0.6 0.002 1.12 S-Feb.2012 -1.4

Cosmetics, perfume, bath, nail preparations and

implements............................................... 0.304 1.9 0.006 0.90 L-Jan.2012 2.2

Miscellaneous personal goods4 ............................ 0.206 -1.3 -0.003 1.02 S-Aug.2011 -1.8

Stationery, stationery supplies, gift wrap5 ............. -0.1 1.16 S-Aug.2011 -0.6

Infants’ equipment7,5 .................................... -3.9 1.18 S-EVER –

Services less energy services................................... 55.641 2.5 1.380 0.10 L-Feb.2009 2.5

Shelter............................................................ 31.216 2.3 0.708 0.13 L-Sep.2008 2.4

Rent of shelter15 ............................................. 30.871 2.3 0.697 0.14 L-Sep.2008 2.4

Rent of primary residence10 ............................. 6.403 2.7 0.161 0.18 – –

Lodging away from home4 ............................... 0.810 4.1 0.031 1.03 L-Jul.2011 4.7

Housing at school, excluding board10 , 15 ........... 0.152 3.9 0.006 0.32 L-Dec.2011 3.9

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Other lodging away from home including hotels

and motels............................................. 0.658 4.0 0.025 1.27 L-Feb.2012 4.0

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences10 , 15 .......... 23.657 2.1 0.504 0.15 – –

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence10 , 15

............................................................................ 22.261 2.1 0.472 0.15 – –

Tenants’ and household insurance4 .................... 0.346 3.4 0.012 0.94– –

Water and sewer and trash collection services4 ........ 1.163 5.2 0.058 0.48 S-Mar.2012 4.8

Water and sewerage maintenance10 ................... 0.877 6.4 0.054 0.63 – –

Garbage and trash collection13 ......................... 0.286 1.4 0.004 0.48 S-May 1996 1.0

Household operations4 ...................................... 0.724 2.1 0.015 0.42 S-Feb.2012 1.9

Domestic services4 ....................................... 0.248 1.2 0.003 0.53 S-Mar.2012 1.2

Gardening and lawncare services4 ..................... 0.236 1.7 0.004 0.42 S-Dec.2011 1.5

Moving, storage, freight expense4 ...................... 0.090 3.4 0.003 2.54 L-Mar.2012 4.5

Repair of household items4 .............................. 0.076 0.004 1.03 – –

Medical care services........................................ 5.330 3.9 0.197 0.23 L-Aug.2008 3.9

Professional services...................................... 2.964 1.8 0.051 0.24 L-Jan.2012 2.0

Physicians’ services10 ................................. 1.586 1.6 0.025 0.39 L-Jan.2012 2.4

Dental services10 ....................................... 0.754 1.9 0.014 0.38 S-Mar.1962 1.9

Eyeglasses and eye care8 ............................ 0.250 3.3 0.008 0.69 L-Sep.2009 3.4

Services by other medical professionals10 , 8 . . . . .. 0.374 1.1 0.004 0.34 L-Mar.2012 1.1

Hospital and related services............................ 1.735 4.7 0.080 0.43 S-Sep.2005 4.6

Hospital services10 , 16 ................................ 1.514 5.1 0.074 0.50 S-Oct.2005 5.0

Inpatient hospital services10 , 16 , 5 ................ 5.1 1.10 S-Mar.2007 5.1

Outpatient hospital services10 , 8 , 5 ............... 4.8 0.81 – –

Nursing homes and adult day services10 , 16 ....... 0.136 3.8 0.005 0.34 L-Nov.2009 4.1

Care of invalids and elderly at home7 ............... 0.085 0.9 0.001 0.62 S-Feb.2010 0.4

Health insurance7 ......................................... 0.631 13.0 0.067 0.24 L-EVER –

Transportation services...................................... 5.734 1.9 0.111 0.34 L-Jan.2012 2.1

Leased cars and trucks14 ................................ 0.388 -6.0 -0.030 1.06 S-Aug.2010 -6.4

Car and truck rental4 ................................... 0.069 1.4 0.002 2.53 L-Jul.2011 1.7

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair.................. 1.137 2.0 0.023 0.32 – –

Motor vehicle body work............................... 0.057 1.8 0.001 0.61 – –

Motor vehicle maintenance and servicing... ........ 0.454 2.6 0.012 0.46 L-Oct.2009 3.0

Motor vehicle repair4 ................................... 0.591 1.5 0.009 0.47 S-EVER –

Motor vehicle insurance................................... 2.388 3.0 0.074 0.69 L-Jan.2012 3.1

Motor vehicle fees4 ....................................... 0.557 2.9 0.015 0.40 – –

State motor vehicle registration and license fees10 ,

4 ........................................................ 0.324 0.5 0.002 0.59 S-Aug.2011 0.3

Parking and other fees4 ............................... 0.210 6.8 0.013 0.37 L-Nov.2009 7.2

Parking fees and tolls4,5 .......................... 8.9 0.65 L-Sep.2009 9.0

Automobile service clubs4,5 ...................... 2.8 0.62 L-Jan.2008 2.9

Public transportation....................................... 1.195 2.4 0.028 0.74 L-Dec.2011 3.8

Airline fare............................................... 0.788 3.2 0.023 1.04 L-Dec.2011 4.5

Other intercity transportation.......................... 0.148 -0.8 -0.001 1.41 L-Dec.2011 -0.5

Intercity bus fare6,5 ................................ 0.72 – –

Intercity train fare6,5 ............................... -0.7 2.70 L-Jun.2011 4.6

Ship fare4,5 ......................................... -1.7 1.72 L-Jan.2012 -1.5

Intracity transportation.................................. 0.257 2.2 0.006 0.48 S-Jan.2012 2.0

Intracity mass transit11 , 5 .......................... 1.5 1.48 S-EVER –

Recreation services11 ....................................... 3.683 2.6 0.096 0.50 S-Feb.2012 2.6

Video and audio services11 .............................. 1.499 4.5 0.066 0.78 L-Jan.2012 4.5

Cable and satellite television and radio service13 .. 1.387 4.5 0.060 0.83 L-Jul.2006 5.9

Video discs and other media, including rental of

video and audio4 ..................................... 0.112 4.1 0.005 3.13 S-Mar.2012 3.4

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Video discs and other media4,5 .................. -4.4 3.14 S-Mar.2012 -6.9

Rental of video or audio discs and other media4 ,

5 ..................................................... 12.0 4.48 S-Aug.2011 9.9

Pet services including veterinary4 ...................... 0.405 3.0 0.012 1.14 S-May 2010 3.0

Pet services4,5 ........................................ 2.4 1.05 – –

Veterinarian services4,5 .............................. 2.8 1.50 S-Mar.2012 2.8

Photographers and film processing4 ................... 0.058 1.5 0.002 1.20 S-Dec.2010 1.5

Photographer fees4,5 ................................. 1.1 1.73 S-Mar.2011 0.1

Film processing4,5 .................................... 1.3 1.08 S-Aug.2010 1.3

Other recreation services4 ............................... 1.719 0.9 0.016 0.79 S-Dec.2011 0.7

Club dues and fees for participant sports and

group exercises4 ..................................... 0.565 1.7 0.010 1.56 S-Nov.2011 -0.3

Admissions............................................... 0.623 0.6 0.004 1.05 S-Mar.2012 0.5

Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts4,5

............................................................................ 0.3 1.24 S-Mar.2012 0.3

Admission to sporting events4,5 .................. 2.4 1.31 L-Jul.2010 3.2

Fees for lessons or instructions8 ..................... 0.228 0.5 0.001 0.94– –

Education and communication services11 ................ 6.099 2.7 0.156 0.26 L-EVER –

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare............... 2.959 4.2 0.120 0.44 – –

College tuition and fees................................ 1.659 5.3 0.079 0.77 S-Aug.2011 5.3

Elementary and high school tuition and fees........ 0.375 3.7 0.015 0.51 L-Feb.2012 3.8

Child care and nursery school12 ..................... 0.765 2.4 0.019 0.35 – –

Technical and business school tuition and fees4 ... 0.058 5.2 0.002 0.81 L-Mar.2012 6.4

Postage and delivery services4 ......................... 0.148 3.8 0.006 0.29 S-Jan.2012 1.3

Postage................................................... 0.138 3.8 0.005 0.30 – –

Delivery services4 ...................................... 0.010 4.5 0.000 0.43 S-Dec.2009 1.6

Telephone services4 ...................................... 2.394 0.8 0.019 0.33 L-Jan.2010 0.8

Wireless telephone services4 ......................... 1.456 -0.6 -0.006 0.50 L-Oct.2009 0.2

Land-line telephone services11 ....................... 0.938 2.5 0.025 0.36 L-EVER –

Internet services and electronic information

providers4 ............................................... 0.583 2.1 0.012 0.77 L-Oct.2009 2.5

Other personal services11 .................................. 1.692 2.3 0.038 0.40 L-Dec.2011 2.4

Personal care services.................................... 0.625 1.5 0.009 0.47 – –

Haircuts and other personal care services4 ........ 0.625 1.5 0.009 0.47 – –

Miscellaneous personal services........................ 1.067 2.7 0.029 0.46 L-Mar.2012 2.7

Legal services8 ......................................... 0.292 2.2 0.007 1.07 L-Dec.2011 2.7

Funeral expenses8 ..................................... 0.157 1.7 0.003 0.45 S-EVER –

Laundry and dry cleaning services4 ................. 0.237 1.6 0.004 0.51 L-Mar.2012 1.6

Apparel services other than laundry and dry

cleaning4 .............................................. 0.029 3.4 0.001 0.95 S-Apr.2011 2.4

Financial services8 ..................................... 0.211 5.7 0.011 1.11 L-Mar.2012 5.7

Checking account and other bank services4,5

............................................................................ 5.7 1.54 L-Mar.2012 8.9

Tax return preparation and other accounting

fees4,5 ............................................. 6.4 1.27 S-Mar.2012 5.8

Special aggregate indexes

All items less food.................................................... 85.849 1.5 1.317 0.08 S-Dec.2010 1.5

All items less shelter................................................. 68.784 1.4 0.996 0.08 S-Oct.2009 -0.6

All items less food and shelter...................................... 54.633 1.1 0.609 0.10 S-Oct.2009 -0.6

All items less food, shelter, and energy........................... 44.182 2.2 0.994 0.11 S-Sep.2011 2.2

All items less food, shelter, energy, and used cars and

trucks................................................................ 42.268 2.2 0.927 0.12 S-Oct.2011 2.2

All items less medical care.......................................... 92.958 1.6 1.462 0.08 S-Jan.2011 1.5

All items less energy................................................. 89.549 2.3 2.089 0.08 S-Aug.2011 2.3

Commodities.......................................................... 40.641 1.2 0.460 0.12 S-Oct.2009 -1.7

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Commodities less food, energy, and used cars and trucks... 17.843 1.4 0.256 0.22 S-Jul.2011 1.4

Commodities less food............................................ 26.490 0.4 0.074 0.17 S-Oct.2009 -2.3

Commodities less food and beverages......................... 25.549 0.3 0.058 0.18 S-Oct.2009 -2.5

Services............................................................... 59.359 2.1 1.244 0.10 – –

Services less rent of shelter15 ................................... 28.488 1.9 0.547 0.13 S-Nov.2010 1.9

Services less medical care services............................ 54.029 1.9 1.047 0.10 S-Mar.2012 1.9

Durables............................................................... 8.877 0.6 0.051 0.18 S-Mar.2011 0.0

Nondurables........................................................... 31.764 1.3 0.410 0.15 S-Jun.2010 1.3

Nondurables less food............................................ 17.613 0.2 0.023 0.26 S-Oct.2009 -4.3

Nondurables less food and beverages.......................... 16.672 0.1 0.007 0.27 S-Oct.2009 -4.8

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel.............. 13.036 -1.1 -0.150 0.16 S-Oct.2009 -6.8

Nondurables less food and apparel............................. 13.977 -0.9 -0.134 0.15 S-Oct.2009 -6.0

Housing................................................................ 40.506 1.6 0.649 0.11 S-Aug.2011 1.6

Education and communication4 .................................... 6.694 2.2 0.139 0.25 L-Jun.2010 2.2

Education4 ......................................................... 3.160 4.3 0.131 0.41 – –

Communication4 ................................................... 3.535 0.2 0.008 0.27 L-Nov.2009 0.2

Information and information processing4 .................... 3.387 0.0 0.003 0.28 L-Nov.2009 0.0

Information technology, hardware and services17 . . . . . . . .. 0.992 -2.4 -0.016 0.59 L-Dec.2010 -2.0

Recreation4 ........................................................... 5.989 0.9 0.055 0.35 S-Nov.2011 0.3

Video and audio4 ................................................. 1.919 1.2 0.025 0.65 L-Mar.2012 1.2

Pets, pet products and services4 ............................... 1.091 2.7 0.030 0.62 – –

Photography4 ...................................................... 0.113 -1.2 -0.002 0.94 S-Mar.2011 -1.4

Food and beverages................................................. 15.092 2.7 0.403 0.14 S-Feb.2011 2.2

Domestically produced farm food................................ 7.203 3.0 0.203 0.21 S-Feb.2011 3.0

Other services........................................................ 11.475 2.6 0.290 0.22 – –

Apparel less footwear................................................ 2.953 5.0 0.142 1.12 S-Feb.2012 5.0

Fuels and utilities..................................................... 5.229 -1.6 -0.085 0.27 S-Jan.2010 -1.8

Household energy................................................. 4.066 -3.4 -0.142 0.31 S-Jan.2010 -3.5

Medical care.......................................................... 7.042 3.6 0.242 0.18 L-Jan.2012 3.6

Transportation......................................................... 17.702 0.2 -0.005 0.15 S-Oct.2009 -3.8

Private transportation.............................................. 16.507 0.1 -0.033 0.15 S-Oct.2009 -3.8

New and used motor vehicles4 ............................... 5.608 1.5 0.083 0.21 S-Mar.2011 1.3

Utilities and public transportation................................... 9.857 0.3 0.029 0.23 S-Feb.2010 -0.3

Household furnishings and operations............................. 4.061 0.6 0.025 0.29 S-Oct.2011 0.6

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

May 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Apr.

2012

Twelve Month

Unadjusted

percent

change

May 2011-

May 2012

Unadjusted

effect on All

Items

May 2011-

May 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Other goods and services........................................... 3.340 1.9 0.065 0.33 L-Nov.2011 1.9

Personal care...................................................... 2.551 1.7 0.043 0.35 L-Mar.2012 1.7

1 The ’effect’ of an item category is a measure of that item’s contribution to the All items price change. For example, if the Food index had an effect of 0.40,

and the All items index rose 1.2 percent, then the increase in food prices contributed 0.40 / 1.2, or 33.3 percent, to that All items increase. Said another

way, had food prices been unchanged for that year the change in the All items index would have been 1.2 percent minus 0.40, or 0.8 percent. Effects

can be negative as well. For example, if the effect of food was a negative 0.1, and the All items index rose 0.5 percent, the All items index actually would

have been 0.1 percent higher (or 0.6 percent) had food prices been unchanged. Since food prices fell while prices overall were rising, the contribution

of food to the All items price change was negative (in this case, -0.1 / 0.5, or minus 20 percent).

2 A statistic’s margin of error is often expressed as its point estimate plus or minus two standard errors. For example, if a CPI category rose 2.6 percent,

and its standard error was 0.25 percent, the margin of error on this item’s 12-month percent change would be 2.6 percent, plus or minus 0.5 percent.

3 If the current 12-month percent change is greater than the previous 12-month percent change, then this column identifies the closest prior month with

a 12-month percent change as (L)arge as or (L)arger than the current 12-month change. If the current 12-month percent change is smaller than the

previous 12-month percent change, the most recent month with a change as (S)mall or (S)maller than the current month change is identified. If the current

and previous 12-month percent changes are equal, a dash will appear. Standard numerical comparison is used. For example, 2.0% is greater than 0.6%,

-4.4% is less than -2.0%, and -2.0% is less than 0.0%. Note that a (L)arger change can be a smaller decline, for example, a -0.2% change is larger than

a -0.4% change, but still represents a decline in the price index. Likewise, (S)maller changes can be increases, for example, a 0.6% change is smaller

than 0.8%, but still represents an increase in the price index. In this context, a -0.2% change is considered to be smaller than a 0.0% change.

4 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

5 Special indexes based on a substantially smaller sample. These series do not contribute to the all items index aggregation and therefore do not have

a relative importance or effect.

6 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

7 Indexes on a December 2005=100 base.

8 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

9 Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

10 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.

11 Indexes on a December 2009=100 base.

12 Indexes on a December 1990=100 base.

13 Indexes on a December 1983=100 base.

14 Indexes on a December 2001=100 base.

15 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

16 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

17 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.