Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-12-0452

8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, March 16, 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 – FEBRUARY 2012 

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent in February on a 

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

the all items index increased 2.9 percent before seasonal adjustment. 

The gasoline index rose sharply in February, accounting for over 80 percent of the change in the all 

items index. The gasoline increase led to a 3.2 percent rise in the energy index despite a decline in the 

index for natural gas. The food index was unchanged in February, with the food at home index 

unchanged for the second month in a row as major grocery store food indexes were mixed. 

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in February after increasing 0.2 percent in 

January. Indexes for shelter, new vehicles, medical care, and household furnishings and operations all 

advanced, while indexes for apparel, recreation, used cars and trucks, and tobacco all declined. 

The all items index has risen 2.9 percent over the last 12 months, the same figure as last month. The 

index for all items less food and energy was up 2.2 percent, a slight decline from last month’s 2.3 

percent figure, while the 12-month change in the food index fell to 3.9 percent in February, its lowest 

level since last June. In contrast, the 12-month change in the energy index was 7.0 percent in February 

compared to 6.1 percent in January. 

 

 

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

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

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

Percent change

 0.4

 0.5

 0.4

 0.3

 0.1

 0.3 0.3 0.3

 0.0

 0.1

 0.0

 0.2

 0.4
- 2 - 

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

Percent change

All items All items less food and energy

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

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

Consumer Price Index Data for February 2012 

Food 

The food index, which rose 0.2 percent in January, was unchanged in February. The food at home index 

was unchanged for the second month in a row. Within the food at home group, the indexes for fruits and 

vegetables continued to decline, falling 0.5 percent. The index for fresh fruits rose 1.3 percent, but the 

fresh vegetables index fell 3.5 percent, its fifth consecutive decline. The index for dairy and related 

products also fell 0.5 percent, while the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs decreased 0.2 percent. 

The index for nonalcoholic beverages, which declined in January, was unchanged in February. The only 

major grocery store food group indexes to rise were cereals and bakery products (up 0.2 percent) and 

other food at home (up 0.4 percent). The food at home index has risen 4.5 percent over the last 12 

months; the fruits and vegetables index has declined 2.0 percent over that period but the other five major 

grocery store food group indexes all increased. The index for food away from home rose 0.1 percent in 

February after a 0.4 percent increase in January and has risen 3.1 percent over the last 12 months. 

Energy 

The energy index rose 3.2 percent in February after a 0.2 percent increase in January. The gasoline index 

rose 6.0 percent, its largest increase since December 2010. (Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices 

increased 4.9 percent in February.) The gasoline increase more than offset a decline in the index for 

household energy, which fell 0.6 percent. The index for natural gas continued its string of declines, 

falling 3.4 percent. The electricity index was unchanged and the index for fuel oil increased 2.8 percent. 

Over the last 12 months, the gasoline index has risen 12.6 percent, the fuel oil index has increased 8.9 

percent and the electricity index has advanced 1.9 percent. In contrast, the index for natural gas has 

declined 9.8 percent. 

All items less food and energy 

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent in February. The shelter index 

increased 0.2 percent for the fifth month in a row. The rent index increased 0.2 percent and the index for 

owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.1 percent, while the index for lodging away from home advanced 1.9 

percent. The index for new vehicles rose for the first time since June, increasing 0.6 percent. The 

medical care index increased 0.2 percent with the prescription drugs index rising 0.6 percent. The index 

for household furnishings and operations rose 0.3 percent in February, its largest increase since August. 

In contrast to these indexes, the apparel index declined in February, falling 0.9 percent after a 0.9 

percent increase in January. The index for used cars and trucks declined for the sixth month in a row, 

falling 0.2 percent, and the tobacco index declined 0.4 percent. The indexes for recreation, personal care, 

and airline fares all posted slight declines in February. 

 

The index for all items less food and energy has risen 2.2 percent over the last 12 months. Indexes rising 

faster include apparel (4.2 percent), medical care (3.4 percent), new vehicles (3.0 percent) and used cars 

and trucks (2.9 percent). Among those indexes rising more slowly were shelter (2.0 percent), household 

furnishings and operations (1.3 percent), and recreation (1.0 percent). 
- 4 - 

Not seasonally adjusted CPI measures 

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 2.9 percent over the last 12 

months to an index level of 227.663 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.4 percent prior 

to seasonal adjustment. 

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 3.1 

percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 224.317 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index 

increased 0.5 percent prior to seasonal adjustment. 

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) increased 2.6 percent over the 

last 12 months. For the month, the index increased 0.4 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 March 2012 is scheduled to be released on Friday, April 13, 2012, 

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

C-CPI-U Index Revisions 

As scheduled, effective with this release of data for January 2012, the Chained Consumer Price Index 

for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) has undergone its annual revision. Because the current expenditure 

data required for the calculation of the C-CPI-U are available only with a time lag, the index is issued 

first in preliminary form, using the latest available expenditure data at the time of publication, and is 

subject to two subsequent revisions. Therefore, C-CPI-U indexes for the 12 months of 2010 are issued in 

final form – employing monthly expenditure weights from 2010. Values for the 12 months of 2011 are 

revised and issued as interim, using expenditure weights from the 2009-2010 period. Calculation of the 

initial value of the January 2012 C-CPI-U index, and all subsequent months in 2012, will also be based 

upon 2009-2010 expenditure weights. 

For more information on the C-CPI-U, contact Rob Cage by telephone at (202) 691-6959 or by 

electronic mail at Cage.Rob@bls.gov .

Redesigning the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Press Release Tables 

The format of the tables contained in the CPI News Release will change beginning with the CPI News 

Release for March, 2012, which will be issued on Friday, April 13, 2012. News Release tables are 

currently available as part of the News Release pdf and html files, and independently in html format. 

The new tables will also be available in XLS format. In addition, the BLS will begin issuing monthly 

companion XLS files, which will contain additional index level and CPI-W information. 

These tables were made available for public comment during October 2011. In response to the public 

comments, the BLS will issue XLS files each month, as companions to the News Release. There will be 

CPI-U and CPI-W files, and in addition to the data contained in the News Release tables, the Excel files 

will contain index values. Samples of the new CPI press release tables and companion XLS files are 

available now at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/mock-ups.htm.

In August 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) restructured the text of the CPI press release to 

focus on the price movements of three broad expenditure categories, namely Food, Energy, and All 

items less food and energy. Table A within the CPI press release text was also updated in August 2009 

to reflect this new structure. Before August 2009, the text of the CPI press release had focused on eight 

CPI ‘major groups’ (Food and beverages; Housing; Apparel; Transportation; Medical care; Recreation; 

Education and communication; and Other goods and services). 

 

While the text of the CPI press release was restructured in 2009, seven additional CPI press release 

tables continued to be published using the eight major groups. BLS has redesigned these press release 

tables, to reflect the focus on Food, Energy, and All items less food and energy. Within these three broad 

categories, CPI item series will be further divided into commodities and services. The CPI News 

Release will contain these updated tables beginning with the March 2012 News Release, to be issued on 

Friday, April 13, 2012. 

Beyond the redesign in the structure of the CPI press release tables, several other improvements to these 

tables have been made. 

The new Table 1 gives a summary of the index series which typically contribute to changes in the 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). 
- 6 - 

The new Table 2 will show the full publication stub using the new structure for the CPI-U, including 11 

new items series that were created to augment the redesign in the publication structure. Table 3 will 

show aggregate item series (e.g., Transportation) that do not fall under the Food, Energy, and All items 

less food and energy structure. 

Table 4 will show the All items indexes at the local, regional, and city-size class levels. 

Table 5 will show the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), and presents 

a history of annual percentage changes in the C-CPI-U compared to the CPI-U. 

Table 6 will focus on 1-month seasonally adjusted changes in the CPI-U, while table 7 will focus on 12-

month not seasonally adjusted changes. Tables 6 and 7 will present three additional pieces of data to 

help users better interpret index changes. First, these tables will show the ‘effect’ each item has on the 

price change for All items. For example, if the effect of food is 0.4, and the index for All items increased 

1.2 percent, it can be said that increases in food prices accounted for 0.4 / 1.2, or 33.3 percent, of the 

increase in overall prices for that period. Said another way, had food prices been unchanged, the All 

items index only would have increased 0.8 percent (or 1.2 percent for All items, minus the 0.4 effect for 

Food). 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. 

 

Second, standard errors for percent changes will be shown on tables 6 and 7. Confidence intervals for 

statistics can be created using standard errors; e.g., roughly 95 percent confidence intervals can be 

constructed using two standard errors. For example, if an item increased 3.7 percent, and its standard 

error was 0.6 percent, the 95 percent confidence interval for that price change can be said to be 3.7 

percent plus or minus two standard errors, or 3.7 percent plus or minus 1.2 percent. 

Finally, each item series in tables 6 and 7 will show the last time that item had a price change as large 

(or as small) as the percent change published that period. For example, if bananas rose 3.7 percent, and 

that was its largest increase since November 2007, that would be noted in the new tables. 

In addition, most of the existing tables show the ‘relative importance’, or weight, of each item category 

as of the previous December. The relative importance columns in the new tables will be improved in that 

they will be updated monthly to reflect the change in relative prices over time. 

Finally, there will no longer be any press release tables that focus on the Consumer Price Index for 

Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). That said, the CPI-W All items index level and 

percent changes will still be noted in the text of the press release, and a companion XLS file with CPI-W 

information will be available. 

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. 
- 7 - 

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. 

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 
- 8 - 

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

Regions Defined 

The states in the four regions shown in Tables 3 and 6 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. 
- 9 - 

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. 

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. 
- 10 -

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 and commodity and

service group

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-U

Relative

importance,

December

2011

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Feb. 2012 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Jan.

2012

Nov. to

Dec.

Dec. to

Jan.

Jan. to

Feb.

Expenditure category

All items ........................................................................................ 100.000 226.665 227.663 2.9 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.4 

All items (1967=100) .................................................................... -

 678.988 681.977 - ----

Food and beverages .................................................................. 15.256 232.559 232.453 3.8 .0 .2 .2 .1 

Food ......................................................................................... 14.308 232.666 232.486 3.9 -.1 .2 .2 .0 

Food at home ......................................................................... 8.638 231.694 231.180 4.5 -.2 .2 .0 .0 

Cereals and bakery products ............................................... 1.242 266.677 267.821 5.3 .4 .3 -.1 .2 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs .............................................. 1.960 229.809 228.610 5.8 -.5 .6 .2 -.2 

Dairy and related products 1 ................................................ .916 220.492 219.377 7.8 -.5 -.1 .9 -.5 

Fruits and vegetables ........................................................... 1.287 285.437 281.072 -2.0 -1.5 -.5 -1.3 -.5 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials ................ .961 170.454 169.758 3.7 -.4 .2 -.3 .0 

Other food at home .............................................................. 2.272 202.756 204.001 5.7 .6 .4 .5 .4 

Sugar and sweets 1 ............................................................ .307 213.700 213.902 4.8 .1 .4 1.4 .1 

Fats and oils ....................................................................... .263 234.252 233.196 10.8 -.5 1.2 1.4 -.7 

Other foods ........................................................................ 1.703 213.602 215.473 5.0 .9 .3 .2 .6 

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ......................................... .627 125.536 127.193 4.7 1.3 .5 -.6 1.3 

Food away from home 1 ......................................................... 5.669 235.268 235.603 3.1 .1 .2 .4 .1 

Other food away from home 1 2 ........................................... .361 165.884 165.566 2.3 -.2 .0 1.1 -.2 

Alcoholic beverages ................................................................. .948 229.704 230.704 2.2 .4 .2 .8 .3 

Housing ...................................................................................... 41.020 220.805 221.117 1.8 .1 .1 .1 .1 

Shelter ...................................................................................... 31.539 254.409 254.931 2.0 .2 .2 .2 .2 

Rent of primary residence 3 ................................................... 6.485 257.714 258.184 2.5 .2 .2 .2 .2 

Lodging away from home 2 .................................................... .749 131.601 136.832 4.0 4.0 -.3 .2 1.9 

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences 134 ........................... 23.957 262.543 262.812 1.8 .1 .2 .2 .1 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 134 .............. 22.543 262.522 262.788 1.8 .1 .2 .2 .1 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ................................... .348 129.929 129.158 2.1 -.6 .5 .3 -.6 

Fuels and utilities ..................................................................... 5.372 218.199 217.189 .7 -.5 -.1 -.4 -.3

Household energy .................................................................. 4.216 189.945 188.393 -.3 -.8 -.2 -.6 -.6 

Fuel oil and other fuels 1 ...................................................... .343 344.644 350.482 7.2 1.7 -.7 1.2 1.7 

Energy services 3 ................................................................. 3.873 189.942 187.962 -1.0 -1.0 -.2 -.8 -.8 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ................... 1.156 183.984 185.499 4.7 .8 .5 .3 .7 

Household furnishings and operations ..................................... 4.109 125.629 126.180 1.3 .4 .1 .1 .3 

Household operations 1 2 ....................................................... .727 153.634 154.198 1.9 .4 .1 .6 .4 

Apparel ....................................................................................... 3.562 122.105 123.312 4.2 1.0 -.1 .9 -.9 

Men’s and boys’ apparel .......................................................... .855 116.409 116.400 4.9 .0 -.5 1.0 -1.7 

Women’s and girls’ apparel ...................................................... 1.507 107.644 110.044 4.7 2.2 -.2 1.3 -.8 

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel ................................................... .201 118.399 118.161 7.3 -.2 1.3 1.6 -.9 

Footwear .................................................................................. .678 126.915 127.668 .7 .6 .3 -.3 .1 

Transportation ............................................................................ 16.875 210.799 214.429 5.6 1.7 -.7 .3 2.1 

Private transportation ............................................................... 15.694 206.307 210.013 6.0 1.8 -.8 .4 2.2 

New and used motor vehicles 2 ............................................. 5.651 99.659 99.889 2.3 .2 -.3 -.4 .2 

New vehicles ........................................................................ 3.195 143.438 144.326 3.0 .6 -.2 .0 .6 

Used cars and trucks ........................................................... 1.913 147.143 147.011 2.9 -.1 -.7 -1.0 -.2 

Motor fuel ............................................................................... 5.463 292.236 306.348 12.7 4.8 -2.1 .8 6.0 

Gasoline (all types) .............................................................. 5.273 290.762 305.076 12.6 4.9 -2.1 .9 6.0 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ..................................... .438 148.126 148.230 5.2 .1 .8 .4 .1 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair 1 ................................ 1.155 256.405 256.968 2.4 .2 .0 .3 .2 

Public transportation ................................................................ 1.181 263.968 265.830 .2 .7 .0 -.8 -.2 

Medical care ............................................................................... 7.061 408.056 410.466 3.4 .6 .3 .3 .2

Medical care commodities 1 ..................................................... 1.716 329.201 331.867 3.3 .8 .2 .6 .8 

Medical care services ............................................................... 5.345 432.583 434.832 3.4 .5 .4 .2 .0 

Professional services ............................................................. 3.005 338.714 339.136 1.4 .1 .3 -.2 -.2 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity and

service group-Continued

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-U

Relative

importance,

December

2011

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Feb. 2012 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Jan.

2012

Nov. to

Dec.

Dec. to

Jan.

Jan. to

Feb.

Expenditure category

Hospital and related services ................................................. 1.732 659.194 664.591 4.9 0.8 0.4 0.3 0.0 

Recreation 2 ............................................................................... 6.044 114.183 114.333 1.0 .1 .3 .6 -.1 

Video and audio 2 .................................................................... 1.924 98.743 99.371 1.1 .6 .1 .6 .1 

Education and communication 2 ................................................ 6.797 133.067 133.199 1.9 .1 .2 .3 .2 

Education 2 .............................................................................. 3.216 213.067 213.039 4.4 .0 .3 .3 .3 

Educational books and supplies ............................................. .201 547.629 548.192 5.3 .1 .0 .8 .1 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare ................................ 3.015 612.104 611.974 4.3 .0 .4 .2 .3 

Communication 2 ..................................................................... 3.581 83.280 83.446 -.4 .2 .0 .2 .2 

Information and information processing 2 .............................. 3.436 79.858 79.928 -.6 .1 .0 .3 .1 

Telephone services 1 2 ......................................................... 2.429 101.687 101.728 .4 .0 .1 .3 .0 

Information technology, hardware and services 5 ................ 1.006 8.855 8.873 -3.6 .2 -.5 .2 .1 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 6 ............... .269 64.356 64.686 -11.0 .5 -2.1 -.6 .2 

Other goods and services .......................................................... 3.385 391.382 391.236 1.5 .0 .1 .2 -.1 

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ............................................ .804 851.016 847.880 2.2 -.4 .4 .5 -.4 

Personal care ........................................................................... 2.581 210.299 210.330 1.3 .0 .0 .1 -.1 

Personal care products 1 ....................................................... .656 161.256 160.616 -.4 -.4 -.5 .3 -.4 

Personal care services 1 ........................................................ .633 232.039 232.907 1.2 .4 .0 -.1 .4 

Miscellaneous personal services ........................................... 1.081 367.934 367.968 2.6 .0 .5 -.1 -.1 

Commodity and service group

Commodities ................................................................................ 39.966 184.636 186.279 4.1 .9 -.3 .3 .9 

Food and beverages .................................................................. 15.256 232.559 232.453 3.8 .0 .2 .2 .1 

Commodities less food and beverages ...................................... 24.710 159.117 161.451 4.4 1.5 -.6 .4 1.4 

Nondurables less food and beverages ..................................... 15.742 206.834 211.182 6.2 2.1 -.7 .8 1.9 

Apparel ................................................................................... 3.562 122.105 123.312 4.2 1.0 -.1 .9 -.9

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .................... 12.179 264.289 270.682 6.7 2.4 -1.0 .6 2.8 

Durables ................................................................................... 8.968 112.399 112.780 1.4 .3 .0 -.1 .2

Services ....................................................................................... 60.034 268.459 268.819 2.0 .1 .2 .2 .1 

Rent of shelter 4 ......................................................................... 31.190 265.060 265.628 2.0 .2 .2 .1 .1 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ....................................... .348 129.929 129.158 2.1 -.6 .5 .3 -.6 

Energy services 3 ....................................................................... 3.873 189.942 187.962 -1.0 -1.0 -.2 -.8 -.8 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ....................... 1.156 183.984 185.499 4.7 .8 .5 .3 .7 

Household operations 1 2 ........................................................... .727 153.634 154.198 1.9 .4 .1 .6 .4 

Transportation services .............................................................. 5.797 269.438 269.535 1.6 .0 .1 .0 -.2 

Medical care services ................................................................. 5.345 432.583 434.832 3.4 .5 .4 .2 .0 

Other services ............................................................................ 11.598 319.100 319.510 2.4 .1 .4 .4 .1

Special indexes

All items less food ........................................................................ 85.692 225.739 226.927 2.7 .5 .0 .2 .5

All items less shelter .................................................................... 68.461 218.378 219.580 3.3 .6 -.1 .2 .5

All items less medical care ........................................................... 92.939 217.804 218.737 2.8 .4 .0 .2 .4 

Commodities less food ................................................................. 25.658 161.685 163.994 4.3 1.4 -.5 .5 1.4

Nondurables less food ................................................................. 16.690 208.277 212.459 5.9 2.0 -.7 .8 1.9

Nondurables less food and apparel ............................................. 13.127 259.979 265.898 6.4 2.3 -.9 .7 2.7 

Nondurables ................................................................................. 30.997 220.325 222.634 5.0 1.0 -.3 .5 1.0 

Services less rent of shelter 4 ...................................................... 28.844 293.269 293.406 2.0 .0 .3 .1 -.1 

Services less medical care services ............................................ 54.689 255.881 256.123 1.9 .1 .2 .1 .0 

Energy .......................................................................................... 9.679 236.942 242.663 7.0 2.4 -1.3 .2 3.2 

All items less energy .................................................................... 90.321 227.422 227.925 2.4 .2 .2 .2 .1

All items less food and energy ................................................... 76.013 227.237 227.865 2.2 .3 .1 .2 .1 

Commodities less food and energy commodities ..................... 19.852 145.963 146.628 2.0 .5 -.1 .2 .1 

Energy commodities ............................................................... 5.806 296.886 310.685 12.4 4.6 -2.0 .9 5.7 

Services less energy services .................................................. 56.161 276.432 277.027 2.2 .2 .2 .2 .1 

Purchasing power of the consumer dollar (1982-84=$1.00) ........ -

 $ .441 $ .439 - ----

Purchasing power of the consumer dollar (1967=$1.00) ............. - $ .147 $ .147 - ----

1 Not seasonally adjusted. 2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. 3 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other

item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. 4 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

5 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base. 6 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base. - Data not available.

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): Seasonally adjusted U.S. city average, by expenditure category

and commodity and service group

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-U

Seasonally adjusted indexes Seasonally adjusted annual rate percent

change for

3 months ended— 6 months

ended—

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

May

2011

Aug.

2011

Nov.

2011

Feb.

2012 Aug.

2011

Feb.

2012

Expenditure category

All items .............................................................................. 227.014 227.033 227.505 228.433 4.8 2.9 1.3 2.5 3.9 1.9 

Food and beverages ......................................................... 231.136 231.610 232.080 232.208 5.8 4.6 2.8 1.9 5.2 2.3

Food ................................................................................ 231.298 231.778 232.154 232.245 6.0 5.0 3.0 1.6 5.5 2.3 

Food at home ................................................................ 230.256 230.805 230.851 230.784 8.0 6.0 3.2 .9 7.0 2.1

Cereals and bakery products ...................................... 266.541 267.370 266.995 267.562 6.9 7.0 6.0 1.5 6.9 3.8 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ..................................... 227.639 229.103 229.463 229.080 13.8 2.7 4.2 2.6 8.1 3.4 

Dairy and related products 1 ....................................... 218.767 218.458 220.492 219.377 16.3 10.6 3.8 1.1 13.4 2.5 

Fruits and vegetables .................................................. 284.772 283.333 279.700 278.347 -2.1 7.4 -3.5 -8.7 2.5 -6.2

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials ....... 169.448 169.798 169.236 169.152 7.5 4.5 3.6 -.7 6.0 1.4 

Other food at home ..................................................... 201.152 201.996 203.003 203.834 6.4 6.6 4.3 5.4 6.5 4.8 

Sugar and sweets 1 .................................................. 210.039 210.846 213.700 213.902 2.2 9.1 .5 7.6 5.6 4.0 

Fats and oils .............................................................. 227.351 230.188 233.400 231.653 14.4 12.0 9.0 7.8 13.2 8.4 

Other foods ............................................................... 213.041 213.648 214.073 215.460 6.0 5.3 4.2 4.6 5.6 4.4

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ................................ 125.702 126.293 125.536 127.193 6.4 6.1 1.6 4.8 6.3 3.2 

Food away from home 1 ............................................... 234.046 234.435 235.268 235.603 3.4 3.5 2.7 2.7 3.4 2.7 

Other food away from home 1 2 .................................. 164.120 164.095 165.884 165.566 1.6 2.4 1.6 3.6 2.0 2.6 

Alcoholic beverages ........................................................ 227.465 227.849 229.704 230.398 2.7 .6 .4 5.3 1.6 2.8

Housing ............................................................................. 220.691 221.005 221.246 221.490 1.7 2.0 1.9 1.5 1.9 1.7 

Shelter ............................................................................. 253.645 254.112 254.613 255.034 1.1 2.6 2.2 2.2 1.8 2.2 

Rent of primary residence 3 .......................................... 256.307 256.894 257.285 257.867 1.6 2.8 3.2 2.5 2.2 2.8 

Lodging away from home 2 ........................................... 137.839 137.482 137.802 140.404 6.3 5.1 -2.6 7.7 5.7 2.4 

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences 134 .................. 261.503 261.982 262.543 262.812 .8 2.5 2.1 2.0 1.6 2.0 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 134 .... 261.479 261.960 262.522 262.788 .8 2.5 2.0 2.0 1.6 2.0 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ......................... 128.777 129.480 129.929 129.158 .8 2.6 3.8 1.2 1.7 2.5 

Fuels and utilities ............................................................ 221.545 221.347 220.362 219.632 6.3 -1.0 1.2 -3.4 2.6 -1.1 

Household energy ......................................................... 194.147 193.673 192.424 191.248 6.8 -2.1 .2 -5.8 2.3 -2.9

Fuel oil and other fuels 1 ............................................. 342.823 340.512 344.644 350.482 26.9 -12.1 8.4 9.2 5.6 8.8 

Energy services 3 ........................................................ 194.630 194.233 192.643 191.073 5.1 -1.1 -.5 -7.1 2.0 -3.9 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 .......... 182.373 183.235 183.712 184.996 4.8 3.2 4.9 5.9 4.0 5.4 

Household furnishings and operations ............................ 125.503 125.646 125.732 126.072 .9 1.4 1.0 1.8 1.2 1.4 

Household operations 1 2 ............................................. 152.578 152.729 153.634 154.198 1.0 .9 1.4 4.3 .9 2.8 

Apparel .............................................................................. 124.618 124.539 125.646 124.534 4.0 12.5 .9 -.3 8.2 .3 

Men’s and boys’ apparel ................................................. 118.407 117.795 118.920 116.920 3.9 14.5 7.0 -4.9 9.1 .9

Women’s and girls’ apparel ............................................. 111.555 111.303 112.767 111.841 4.0 15.9 -1.3 1.0 9.8 -.1

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel .......................................... 116.365 117.848 119.698 118.652 4.0 15.4 2.3 8.1 9.5 5.1

Footwear ......................................................................... 128.512 128.846 128.516 128.605 2.5 3.1 -3.1 .3 2.8 -1.4 

Transportation ................................................................... 214.432 212.861 213.465 217.846 16.0 3.4 -2.0 6.5 9.5 2.2 

Private transportation ...................................................... 209.701 208.050 208.812 213.445 17.1 3.8 -2.4 7.3 10.2 2.4 

New and used motor vehicles 2 .................................... 100.347 100.034 99.631 99.795 10.6 4.3 -3.0 -2.2 7.4 -2.6 

New vehicles ............................................................... 142.712 142.470 142.407 143.277 10.2 2.4 -2.0 1.6 6.3 -.2 

Used cars and trucks .................................................. 150.890 149.907 148.412 148.047 13.7 11.4 -4.6 -7.3 12.5 -6.0

Motor fuel ...................................................................... 306.556 300.149 302.700 320.746 37.5 4.2 -6.1 19.8 19.7 6.1 

Gasoline (all types) ..................................................... 305.245 298.833 301.449 319.615 37.8 4.2 -6.7 20.2 19.8 5.9 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ............................ 146.338 147.499 148.126 148.230 7.0 6.3 2.2 5.3 6.7 3.7 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair 1 ....................... 255.663 255.644 256.405 256.968 2.5 1.5 3.7 2.1 2.0 2.9 

Public transportation ....................................................... 271.334 271.330 269.105 268.594 3.2 -1.7 3.5 -4.0 .7 -.3 

Medical care ...................................................................... 405.533 406.879 408.096 408.930 3.3 2.7 4.1 3.4 3.0 3.7 

Medical care commodities 1 ............................................ 326.624 327.254 329.201 331.867 4.1 .0 2.8 6.6 2.0 4.7 

Medical care services ..................................................... 430.140 431.762 432.639 432.682 3.1 3.6 4.5 2.4 3.3 3.4

Professional services .................................................... 338.426 339.288 338.778 338.091 1.6 2.2 2.4 -.4 1.9 1.0

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

and commodity and service group-Continued

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-U

Seasonally adjusted indexes Seasonally adjusted annual rate percent

change for

3 months ended— 6 months

ended—

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

May

2011

Aug.

2011

Nov.

2011

Feb.

2012 Aug.

2011

Feb.

2012

Expenditure category

Hospital and related services ........................................ 654.547 657.425 659.286 659.271 6.1 5.6 5.1 2.9 5.9 4.0 

Recreation 2 ...................................................................... 113.396 113.753 114.448 114.365 1.1 .0 -.5 3.5 .6 1.5 

Video and audio 2 ........................................................... 98.699 98.759 99.306 99.433 .2 -.7 2.0 3.0 -.3 2.5 

Education and communication 2 ....................................... 132.361 132.569 132.930 133.226 1.3 1.6 2.2 2.6 1.4 2.4 

Education 2 ..................................................................... 211.371 212.078 212.673 213.268 4.3 4.8 4.7 3.6 4.5 4.2 

Educational books and supplies ................................... 541.592 541.542 545.675 546.465 5.5 2.6 9.4 3.6 4.0 6.5 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare ...................... 607.338 609.518 611.041 612.808 4.2 5.0 4.4 3.7 4.6 4.0 

Communication 2 ............................................................ 83.065 83.050 83.255 83.398 -1.5 -1.4 -.3 1.6 -1.4 .7 

Information and information processing 2 ..................... 79.637 79.619 79.842 79.890 -1.7 -1.5 -.5 1.3 -1.6 .4 

Telephone services 1 2 ............................................... 101.259 101.397 101.687 101.728 -.6 -.6 1.0 1.9 -.6 1.4 

Information technology, hardware and services 5 ....... 8.871 8.827 8.849 8.859 -4.6 -4.3 -4.8 -.5 -4.5 -2.7 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 6 ..... 66.002 64.590 64.192 64.297 -9.7 -16.5 -7.7 -9.9 -13.2 -8.8 

Other goods and services ................................................. 390.660 390.983 391.639 391.195 .0 2.5 3.1 .5 1.2 1.8 

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ................................... 843.604 847.063 851.016 847.880 -1.8 5.8 3.0 2.0 1.9 2.5 

Personal care .................................................................. 210.281 210.213 210.462 210.301 .6 1.3 3.1 .0 1.0 1.6 

Personal care products 1 .............................................. 161.585 160.825 161.256 160.616 -4.5 -1.2 6.6 -2.4 -2.8 2.0 

Personal care services 1 ............................................... 232.216 232.302 232.039 232.907 .6 .5 2.5 1.2 .5 1.9 

Miscellaneous personal services .................................. 366.920 368.883 368.638 368.381 2.8 3.3 2.9 1.6 3.0 2.2 

Commodity and service group

Commodities ....................................................................... 185.800 185.269 185.883 187.596 9.1 4.1 -.1 3.9 6.6 1.9 

Food and beverages ......................................................... 231.136 231.610 232.080 232.208 5.8 4.6 2.8 1.9 5.2 2.3

Commodities less food and beverages ............................. 161.280 160.361 161.056 163.389 11.1 3.8 -1.7 5.3 7.3 1.8 

Nondurables less food and beverages ........................... 210.858 209.290 210.895 215.005 15.1 3.5 -1.4 8.1 9.2 3.3 

Apparel .......................................................................... 124.618 124.539 125.646 124.534 4.0 12.5 .9 -.3 8.2 .3 

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .......... 269.443 266.827 268.523 276.068 18.6 1.4 -2.0 10.2 9.6 3.9 

Durables .......................................................................... 112.812 112.785 112.618 112.884 4.9 3.8 -3.2 .3 4.3 -1.5 

Services .............................................................................. 267.932 268.503 268.937 269.085 2.0 2.1 2.3 1.7 2.0 2.0 

Rent of shelter 4 ................................................................ 264.414 265.018 265.379 265.702 1.2 2.3 2.6 2.0 1.7 2.3 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ............................. 128.777 129.480 129.929 129.158 .8 2.6 3.8 1.2 1.7 2.5 

Energy services 3 .............................................................. 194.630 194.233 192.643 191.073 5.1 -1.1 -.5 -7.1 2.0 -3.9 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 .............. 182.373 183.235 183.712 184.996 4.8 3.2 4.9 5.9 4.0 5.4 

Household operations 1 2 ................................................. 152.578 152.729 153.634 154.198 1.0 .9 1.4 4.3 .9 2.8 

Transportation services ..................................................... 269.984 270.283 270.368 269.913 3.2 .4 2.7 -.1 1.8 1.3

Medical care services ....................................................... 430.140 431.762 432.639 432.682 3.1 3.6 4.5 2.4 3.3 3.4 

Other services ................................................................... 316.934 318.190 319.362 319.650 2.1 1.8 2.3 3.5 2.0 2.9 

Special indexes

All items less food ............................................................... 226.360 226.305 226.794 227.861 4.6 2.6 1.1 2.7 3.6 1.9 

All items less shelter ........................................................... 219.178 219.019 219.470 220.622 6.6 3.1 1.0 2.7 4.8 1.8 

All items less medical care .................................................. 218.261 218.228 218.669 219.595 4.9 3.0 1.1 2.5 3.9 1.8 

Commodities less food ........................................................ 163.735 162.849 163.582 165.883 10.7 3.6 -1.6 5.4 7.1 1.8 

Nondurables less food ........................................................ 211.951 210.490 212.097 216.034 14.5 3.3 -1.3 7.9 8.7 3.2 

Nondurables less food and apparel .................................... 264.418 262.078 263.793 270.788 17.3 1.2 -1.8 10.0 9.0 3.9

Nondurables ........................................................................ 221.919 221.266 222.270 224.565 10.9 3.7 .7 4.9 7.2 2.8 

Services less rent of shelter 4 ............................................. 293.003 293.840 294.175 294.003 2.9 1.3 2.5 1.4 2.1 1.9 

Services less medical care services ................................... 255.628 256.245 256.504 256.549 1.8 1.8 2.5 1.4 1.8 2.0 

Energy ................................................................................. 246.041 242.746 243.121 250.868 23.8 1.6 -3.6 8.1 12.2 2.1 

All items less energy ........................................................... 226.892 227.246 227.722 227.924 2.9 3.1 1.9 1.8 3.0 1.9 

All items less food and energy .......................................... 226.856 227.188 227.684 227.907 2.4 2.8 1.7 1.9 2.6 1.8

Commodities less food and energy commodities ........... 146.533 146.378 146.685 146.760 4.1 4.0 -.4 .6 4.0 .1 

Energy commodities ..................................................... 310.498 304.251 306.902 324.465 36.9 3.2 -5.3 19.2 18.9 6.2

Services less energy services ......................................... 275.412 276.075 276.695 277.008 1.8 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.0 2.4 

1 Not seasonally adjusted. 2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. 3 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other

item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means

estimator.

4 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. 5 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base. 6 Indexes on a December 2007=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): Selected areas, all items index 

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-U

All items 

Pricing

schedule 1

Indexes Percent change to

Feb.2012 from—

Percent change to

Jan.2012 from—

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2011

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

U.S. city average ............................................ M 226.230 225.672 226.665 227.663 2.9 0.9 0.4 2.9 0.2 0.4 

Region and area size2

Northeast urban .............................................. M 242.652 241.987 242.879 243.850 2.8 .8 .4 2.9 .1 .4 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 244.076 243.328 244.296 245.179 2.7 .8 .4 2.8 .1 .4 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 145.335 145.062 145.456 146.217 3.3 .8 .5 3.2 .1 .3 

Midwest urban ................................................ M 215.614 215.173 216.368 216.855 2.7 .8 .2 2.8 .3 .6 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 216.097 215.633 216.883 217.320 2.8 .8 .2 2.8 .4 .6 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 138.453 138.186 138.903 139.191 2.6 .7 .2 2.8 .3 .5 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 212.907 212.505 213.649 214.524 3.1 1.0 .4 2.9 .3 .5 

South urban .................................................... M 219.961 219.469 220.497 221.802 3.3 1.1 .6 3.2 .2 .5 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 220.654 220.152 221.185 222.711 3.0 1.2 .7 2.8 .2 .5 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 140.218 139.838 140.388 141.133 3.3 .9 .5 3.3 .1 .4 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 224.714 224.892 226.902 228.117 4.3 1.4 .5 4.7 1.0 .9 

West urban ..................................................... M 228.771 228.117 228.980 229.995 2.5 .8 .4 2.6 .1 .4 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 232.851 232.106 233.044 234.173 2.5 .9 .5 2.5 .1 .4 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 138.411 138.017 138.465 138.997 2.3 .7 .4 2.6 .0 .3 

Size classes

A 4 .............................................................. M 206.201 205.636 206.562 207.469 2.7 .9 .4 2.7 .2 .5 

B/C 3 ........................................................... M 140.225 139.881 140.418 141.040 3.0 .8 .4 3.1 .1 .4 

D ................................................................. M 220.020 219.950 221.362 222.324 3.5 1.1 .4 3.7 .6 .6 

Selected local areas5

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI ................... M 219.181 218.180 219.585 219.626 1.6 .7 .0 2.1 .2 .6 

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA ... M 232.731 231.567 233.441 234.537 2.1 1.3 .5 2.1 .3 .8 

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

NY-NJ-CT-PA ......................................... M 249.317 248.307 249.322 250.285 2.6 .8 .4 2.8 .0 .4 

Boston-Brockton-Nashua, MA-NH-ME-CT ..... 1 245.030 -

 245.891 ---- 2.5 .4 -

Cleveland-Akron, OH ...................................... 1 211.225 - 211.985 ---- 2.1 .4 -

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX ..................................... 1 209.283 - 209.203 ---- 3.0 .0 -

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV 6 ...... 1 147.565 - 148.163 ---- 2.7 .4 -

Atlanta, GA ..................................................... 2 - 208.590 - 210.600 2.4 1.0 ----

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI .............................. 2 - 213.505 - 214.836 3.9 .6 ----

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX .................... 2 - 200.477 - 204.291 3.6 1.9 ----

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL ............................. 2 - 231.794 - 234.043 2.9 1.0 ----

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD ........................................ 2 - 234.312 - 235.857 2.2 .7 ----

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA ........... 2 - 234.327 - 236.880 3.0 1.1 ----

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA .................... 2 - 234.812 - 235.744 2.7 .4 ----

1 Foods, fuels, and several other items priced every month in all areas;

 most other goods and services 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. See technical notes. 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. - Data not available.

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 4. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): U.S. city average, by expenditure category

and commodity and service group

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-W

Relative

importance,

December

2011

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Feb. 2012 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Jan.

2012

Nov. to

Dec.

Dec. to

Jan.

Jan. to

Feb.

Expenditure category

All items ........................................................................................ 100.000 223.216 224.317 3.1 0.5 0.0 0.2 0.5 

All items (1967=100) .................................................................... -

 664.891 668.171 - ----

Food and beverages .................................................................. 15.940 232.052 231.971 3.9 .0 .2 .2 .1 

Food ......................................................................................... 15.071 231.980 231.806 4.0 -.1 .2 .2 .0 

Food at home ......................................................................... 9.460 230.631 230.148 4.6 -.2 .2 .0 .0 

Cereals and bakery products ............................................... 1.338 267.512 268.245 5.2 .3 .2 -.1 .1 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs .............................................. 2.278 229.739 228.787 5.9 -.4 .6 .1 .0 

Dairy and related products 1 ................................................ .991 219.185 218.218 7.8 -.4 .0 .8 -.4 

Fruits and vegetables ........................................................... 1.318 282.588 278.626 -1.9 -1.4 -.5 -1.2 -.6 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials ................ 1.093 169.594 168.825 3.4 -.5 .2 -.4 -.1 

Other food at home .............................................................. 2.442 201.995 203.131 5.7 .6 .4 .5 .3 

Sugar and sweets 1 ............................................................ .334 212.860 213.086 4.8 .1 .3 1.5 .1 

Fats and oils ....................................................................... .291 235.791 234.241 11.2 -.7 1.4 1.5 -.9 

Other foods ........................................................................ 1.817 213.520 215.327 5.0 .8 .2 .2 .6 

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ......................................... .633 125.367 127.047 4.5 1.3 .4 -.7 1.3 

Food away from home 1 ......................................................... 5.611 235.423 235.782 3.1 .2 .2 .3 .2 

Other food away from home 1 2 ........................................... .352 166.216 165.955 2.0 -.2 .0 .6 -.2 

Alcoholic beverages ................................................................. .869 231.821 233.328 2.9 .7 .1 .9 .6 

Housing ...................................................................................... 39.848 217.528 217.717 1.8 .1 .2 .1 .1 

Shelter ...................................................................................... 30.486 248.435 248.868 2.0 .2 .2 .2 .2 

Rent of primary residence 3 ................................................... 8.926 255.800 256.292 2.5 .2 .2 .1 .2 

Lodging away from home 2 .................................................... .433 132.580 137.590 3.3 3.8 -.1 -.1 1.7 

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences 134 ........................... 20.821 237.848 238.085 1.8 .1 .2 .2 .1 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 134 .............. 20.165 237.840 238.078 1.8 .1 .2 .2 .1 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ................................... .306 131.182 130.565 2.0 -.5 .6 .4 -.5 

Fuels and utilities ..................................................................... 5.903 216.589 215.460 .8 -.5 -.1 -.5 -.4

Household energy .................................................................. 4.676 187.786 186.170 -.2 -.9 -.2 -.7 -.6 

Fuel oil and other fuels 1 ...................................................... .282 344.055 350.169 7.1 1.8 -.7 1.1 1.8 

Energy services 3 ................................................................. 4.394 189.143 187.193 -.7 -1.0 -.2 -.8 -.8 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ................... 1.227 184.533 185.943 4.7 .8 .5 .4 .6 

Household furnishings and operations ..................................... 3.458 121.770 122.201 1.4 .4 .1 .1 .2 

Household operations 1 2 ....................................................... .357 156.727 156.914 2.1 .1 .1 .6 .1 

Apparel ....................................................................................... 3.618 121.896 123.044 4.7 .9 .1 .9 -.9 

Men’s and boys’ apparel .......................................................... .882 116.817 117.088 5.0 .2 -.3 .7 -1.5 

Women’s and girls’ apparel ...................................................... 1.407 107.583 109.862 5.0 2.1 .1 1.2 -1.1 

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel ................................................... .280 122.603 121.768 7.9 -.7 1.5 1.6 -1.1 

Footwear .................................................................................. .813 127.300 128.188 1.4 .7 .2 -.2 .0

Transportation ............................................................................ 19.031 211.599 215.665 6.3 1.9 -.8 .4 2.3 

Private transportation ............................................................... 18.154 208.363 212.481 6.6 2.0 -.9 .4 2.4 

New and used motor vehicles 2 ............................................. 6.239 99.037 99.279 2.6 .2 -.3 -.5 .2 

New vehicles ........................................................................ 3.035 144.431 145.475 3.1 .7 -.1 -.1 .7 

Used cars and trucks ........................................................... 2.736 148.197 148.055 2.9 -.1 -.7 -1.0 -.2 

Motor fuel ............................................................................... 7.015 293.496 307.606 12.7 4.8 -2.1 .9 5.9 

Gasoline (all types) .............................................................. 6.773 292.151 306.466 12.6 4.9 -2.1 .9 6.0 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ..................................... .511 147.804 147.905 5.1 .1 .7 .4 .1 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair 1 ................................ 1.153 259.076 259.689 2.4 .2 .0 .3 .2 

Public transportation ................................................................ .877 262.018 264.030 .6 .8 .0 -.7 -.1 

Medical care ............................................................................... 5.670 410.459 413.022 3.5 .6 .3 .3 .2

Medical care commodities 1 ..................................................... 1.344 321.314 323.842 3.5 .8 .2 .6 .8 

Medical care services ............................................................... 4.327 436.798 439.305 3.5 .6 .4 .3 .1 

Professional services ............................................................. 2.390 342.491 342.887 1.5 .1 .2 -.1 -.3 

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 4. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): U.S. city average, by expenditure category

and commodity and service group-Continued

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-W

Relative

importance,

December

2011

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Feb. 2012 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Jan.

2012

Nov. to

Dec.

Dec. to

Jan.

Jan. to

Feb.

Expenditure category

Hospital and related services ................................................. 1.399 662.841 669.040 5.2 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.2 

Recreation 2 ............................................................................... 5.579 110.556 110.881 1.1 .3 .3 .6 .0 

Video and audio 2 .................................................................... 2.060 99.563 100.192 1.3 .6 .1 .7 .0 

Education and communication 2 ................................................ 6.800 126.735 126.853 1.4 .1 .1 .2 .2 

Education 2 .............................................................................. 2.686 209.865 209.868 4.2 .0 .3 .2 .2 

Educational books and supplies ............................................. .214 554.390 554.958 5.5 .1 .1 .6 .1 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare ................................ 2.472 589.117 589.075 4.0 .0 .3 .2 .3 

Communication 2 ..................................................................... 4.114 85.761 85.892 -.3 .2 .0 .2 .1 

Information and information processing 2 .............................. 3.999 83.391 83.455 -.5 .1 .0 .2 .1 

Telephone services 1 2 ......................................................... 2.984 101.014 101.050 .3 .0 .1 .2 .0 

Information technology, hardware and services 5 ................ 1.015 9.404 9.423 -3.2 .2 -.4 .2 .1 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 6 ............... .247 64.382 64.729 -10.3 .5 -1.7 -.7 .2 

Other goods and services .......................................................... 3.515 421.572 421.412 1.5 .0 .1 .2 -.1 

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ............................................ 1.227 856.419 853.214 2.3 -.4 .4 .5 -.4 

Personal care ........................................................................... 2.288 207.814 207.958 1.1 .1 .0 .1 .0 

Personal care products 1 ....................................................... .611 161.473 161.121 -.5 -.2 -.5 .3 -.2 

Personal care services 1 ........................................................ .577 232.093 232.964 1.1 .4 .0 -.1 .4 

Miscellaneous personal services ........................................... .921 368.843 369.051 2.4 .1 .4 -.1 .0 

Commodity and service group

Commodities ................................................................................ 42.665 188.931 190.816 4.6 1.0 -.3 .4 1.1 

Food and beverages .................................................................. 15.940 232.052 231.971 3.9 .0 .2 .2 .1 

Commodities less food and beverages ...................................... 26.725 165.511 168.180 5.0 1.6 -.6 .5 1.7 

Nondurables less food and beverages ..................................... 17.285 218.318 223.359 6.8 2.3 -.8 .9 2.2 

Apparel ................................................................................... 3.618 121.896 123.044 4.7 .9 .1 .9 -.9

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .................... 13.667 282.875 290.400 7.4 2.7 -1.1 .7 3.1 

Durables ................................................................................... 9.440 114.105 114.470 1.8 .3 -.1 -.2 .3 

Services ....................................................................................... 57.335 263.615 263.904 2.0 .1 .2 .1 .0 

Rent of shelter 4 ......................................................................... 30.181 239.387 239.820 2.0 .2 .2 .2 .1 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ....................................... .306 131.182 130.565 2.0 -.5 .6 .4 -.5 

Energy services 3 ....................................................................... 4.394 189.143 187.193 -.7 -1.0 -.2 -.8 -.8 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ....................... 1.227 184.533 185.943 4.7 .8 .5 .4 .6 

Household operations 1 2 ........................................................... .357 156.727 156.914 2.1 .1 .1 .6 .1 

Transportation services .............................................................. 5.641 270.972 271.019 2.1 .0 .2 .1 -.1 

Medical care services ................................................................. 4.327 436.798 439.305 3.5 .6 .4 .3 .1 

Other services ............................................................................ 10.903 303.344 303.908 2.1 .2 .4 .3 .1

Special indexes

All items less food ........................................................................ 84.929 221.476 222.792 3.0 .6 -.1 .2 .6 

All items less shelter .................................................................... 69.514 216.427 217.801 3.6 .6 -.1 .2 .6

All items less medical care ........................................................... 94.330 215.653 216.699 3.1 .5 .0 .2 .5 

Commodities less food ................................................................. 27.594 167.821 170.476 4.9 1.6 -.6 .5 1.6

Nondurables less food ................................................................. 18.154 219.315 224.205 6.6 2.2 -.8 .9 2.1

Nondurables less food and apparel ............................................. 14.536 277.315 284.362 7.1 2.5 -1.0 .8 2.9 

Nondurables ................................................................................. 33.225 226.025 228.711 5.4 1.2 -.3 .5 1.2 

Services less rent of shelter 4 ...................................................... 27.154 258.616 258.697 2.0 .0 .3 .1 -.1 

Services less medical care services ............................................ 53.008 251.705 251.882 1.9 .1 .2 .1 .0 

Energy .......................................................................................... 11.691 238.978 245.158 7.5 2.6 -1.4 .2 3.4 

All items less energy .................................................................... 88.309 222.298 222.758 2.5 .2 .2 .2 .1

All items less food and energy ................................................... 73.238 220.736 221.318 2.2 .3 .2 .2 .1 

Commodities less food and energy commodities ..................... 20.297 148.645 149.277 2.3 .4 -.1 .2 .0 

Energy commodities ............................................................... 7.297 297.049 310.990 12.5 4.7 -2.0 .9 5.8 

Services less energy services .................................................. 52.941 271.762 272.318 2.2 .2 .3 .2 .1 

Purchasing power of the consumer dollar (1982-84=$1.00) ........ -

 $ .448 $ .446 - ----

Purchasing power of the consumer dollar (1967=$1.00) ............. - $ .150 $ .150 - ----

1 Not seasonally adjusted. 2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. 3 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other

item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. 4 Indexes on a December 1984=100 base

5 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base. 6 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base. - Data not available.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 5. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): Seasonally adjusted U.S. city average, by

expenditure category and commodity and service group

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-W

Seasonally adjusted indexes Seasonally adjusted annual rate percent

change for

3 months ended— 6 months

ended—

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

May

2011

Aug.

2011

Nov.

2011

Feb.

2012 Aug.

2011

Feb.

2012

Expenditure category

All items .............................................................................. 223.717 223.684 224.148 225.250 5.6 3.1 1.2 2.8 4.3 2.0 

Food and beverages ......................................................... 230.666 231.158 231.622 231.754 6.0 4.7 3.0 1.9 5.4 2.5

Food ................................................................................ 230.660 231.162 231.529 231.594 6.3 5.0 3.1 1.6 5.6 2.4 

Food at home ................................................................ 229.277 229.833 229.919 229.814 8.3 5.8 3.4 .9 7.0 2.2

Cereals and bakery products ...................................... 267.440 268.006 267.803 268.004 6.8 7.0 6.3 .8 6.9 3.5 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ..................................... 227.665 229.098 229.355 229.260 14.6 2.3 4.3 2.8 8.2 3.5 

Dairy and related products 1 ....................................... 217.557 217.503 219.185 218.218 17.1 10.7 3.1 1.2 13.9 2.1 

Fruits and vegetables .................................................. 282.533 281.176 277.918 276.351 -3.1 7.3 -2.6 -8.5 2.0 -5.6

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials ....... 168.584 168.908 168.287 168.103 7.3 4.3 3.4 -1.1 5.8 1.1 

Other food at home ..................................................... 200.399 201.182 202.272 202.972 6.5 6.6 4.4 5.2 6.6 4.8 

Sugar and sweets 1 .................................................. 209.091 209.639 212.860 213.086 1.6 8.9 1.1 7.9 5.1 4.4 

Fats and oils .............................................................. 228.447 231.558 235.062 232.860 14.4 13.1 9.3 8.0 13.7 8.6 

Other foods ............................................................... 213.066 213.598 214.023 215.306 6.3 5.1 4.3 4.3 5.7 4.3

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ................................ 125.761 126.235 125.367 127.047 7.0 5.5 1.4 4.2 6.2 2.8 

Food away from home 1 ............................................... 234.240 234.666 235.423 235.782 3.4 3.8 2.7 2.7 3.6 2.7 

Other food away from home 1 2 .................................. 165.228 165.205 166.216 165.955 1.9 2.6 1.7 1.8 2.3 1.7 

Alcoholic beverages ........................................................ 229.320 229.662 231.733 233.018 3.1 .6 1.5 6.6 1.8 4.0

Housing ............................................................................. 217.422 217.764 217.930 218.097 1.8 2.0 2.0 1.2 1.9 1.6 

Shelter ............................................................................. 247.512 248.039 248.481 248.869 1.0 2.5 2.3 2.2 1.8 2.3 

Rent of primary residence 3 .......................................... 254.439 255.050 255.369 255.957 1.6 2.8 3.1 2.4 2.2 2.7 

Lodging away from home 2 ........................................... 139.050 138.932 138.797 141.111 6.8 3.6 -2.9 6.1 5.2 1.5 

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences 134 .................. 236.869 237.350 237.848 238.085 .7 2.4 2.1 2.1 1.5 2.1 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 134 .... 236.859 237.342 237.840 238.078 .7 2.4 2.1 2.1 1.5 2.1 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ......................... 129.912 130.695 131.182 130.565 -.5 2.7 3.7 2.0 1.1 2.9 

Fuels and utilities ............................................................ 220.091 219.922 218.917 218.074 6.3 -.4 1.1 -3.6 2.9 -1.3 

Household energy ......................................................... 192.117 191.695 190.399 189.184 6.7 -1.4 .2 -6.0 2.6 -3.0

Fuel oil and other fuels 1 ............................................. 342.717 340.375 344.055 350.169 25.2 -12.0 9.6 9.0 4.9 9.3 

Energy services 3 ........................................................ 193.891 193.537 191.946 190.425 5.3 -.5 -.6 -7.0 2.4 -3.8 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 .......... 182.744 183.611 184.306 185.386 4.8 3.2 4.9 5.9 4.0 5.4 

Household furnishings and operations ............................ 121.768 121.857 121.930 122.141 1.5 1.7 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.2 

Household operations 1 2 ............................................. 155.567 155.744 156.727 156.914 1.8 1.3 1.8 3.5 1.5 2.6 

Apparel .............................................................................. 123.937 124.119 125.293 124.138 4.6 12.1 1.8 .7 8.3 1.2 

Men’s and boys’ apparel ................................................. 118.799 118.421 119.207 117.459 4.3 11.4 9.5 -4.4 7.8 2.3

Women’s and girls’ apparel ............................................. 111.174 111.270 112.645 111.458 4.7 15.7 -.8 1.0 10.1 .1

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel .......................................... 119.892 121.697 123.626 122.247 4.5 18.7 1.2 8.1 11.4 4.6

Footwear ......................................................................... 129.147 129.348 129.142 129.127 4.2 4.1 -2.3 -.1 4.2 -1.2 

Transportation ................................................................... 215.570 213.811 214.570 219.572 17.7 4.1 -2.5 7.6 10.7 2.5 

Private transportation ...................................................... 212.198 210.392 211.254 216.417 18.4 4.3 -2.7 8.2 11.1 2.6 

New and used motor vehicles 2 .................................... 99.974 99.627 99.128 99.284 11.3 5.7 -3.0 -2.7 8.4 -2.9 

New vehicles ............................................................... 143.707 143.506 143.417 144.448 10.2 2.4 -1.9 2.1 6.2 .1 

Used cars and trucks .................................................. 151.951 150.961 149.463 149.093 13.7 11.5 -4.5 -7.3 12.6 -5.9

Motor fuel ...................................................................... 307.658 301.259 303.958 322.030 37.5 4.4 -6.4 20.0 19.8 6.0 

Gasoline (all types) ..................................................... 306.470 300.075 302.847 321.034 37.8 4.4 -7.1 20.4 19.9 5.8 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ............................ 146.151 147.223 147.804 147.905 7.3 6.1 2.1 4.9 6.7 3.5 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair 1 ....................... 258.342 258.355 259.076 259.689 2.4 1.6 3.6 2.1 2.0 2.8 

Public transportation ....................................................... 268.353 268.487 266.645 266.487 3.1 -1.4 3.7 -2.8 .8 .4 

Medical care ...................................................................... 407.721 409.115 410.534 411.483 3.4 2.7 4.3 3.7 3.1 4.0 

Medical care commodities 1 ............................................ 318.671 319.396 321.314 323.842 4.3 .3 3.0 6.7 2.3 4.8 

Medical care services ..................................................... 434.106 435.752 436.902 437.159 3.1 3.5 4.7 2.8 3.3 3.8

Professional services .................................................... 342.229 343.032 342.799 341.810 1.6 2.3 2.5 -.5 2.0 1.0

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 5. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): Seasonally adjusted U.S. city average, by

expenditure category and commodity and service group-Continued

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-W

Seasonally adjusted indexes Seasonally adjusted annual rate percent

change for

3 months ended— 6 months

ended—

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

May

2011

Aug.

2011

Nov.

2011

Feb.

2012 Aug.

2011

Feb.

2012

Expenditure category

Hospital and related services ........................................ 657.880 660.972 662.755 663.750 6.2 5.6 5.2 3.6 5.9 4.4 

Recreation 2 ...................................................................... 109.905 110.249 110.877 110.893 1.4 .0 -.6 3.6 .7 1.5 

Video and audio 2 ........................................................... 99.444 99.583 100.249 100.265 .4 -1.0 2.5 3.3 -.3 2.9 

Education and communication 2 ....................................... 126.135 126.323 126.612 126.838 .8 .9 1.8 2.2 .8 2.0 

Education 2 ..................................................................... 208.259 208.927 209.422 209.945 4.2 4.1 5.0 3.3 4.2 4.1 

Educational books and supplies ................................... 548.282 548.831 552.247 552.720 5.2 3.3 10.2 3.3 4.3 6.7 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare ...................... 584.757 586.751 587.964 589.517 4.1 4.2 4.5 3.3 4.2 3.9 

Communication 2 ............................................................ 85.524 85.553 85.741 85.854 -1.4 -1.2 -.2 1.6 -1.3 .7 

Information and information processing 2 ..................... 83.151 83.179 83.377 83.424 -1.4 -1.3 -.4 1.3 -1.4 .5 

Telephone services 1 2 ............................................... 100.620 100.764 101.014 101.050 -.6 -.8 .9 1.7 -.7 1.3 

Information technology, hardware and services 5 ....... 9.415 9.379 9.398 9.409 -4.4 -3.2 -4.8 -.3 -3.8 -2.5 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 6 ..... 65.790 64.651 64.202 64.338 -10.6 -14.8 -6.9 -8.5 -12.7 -7.7 

Other goods and services ................................................. 420.462 420.998 421.681 421.310 -.5 3.0 2.8 .8 1.2 1.8

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ................................... 848.791 852.435 856.419 853.214 -2.0 6.1 3.0 2.1 2.0 2.6 

Personal care .................................................................. 207.847 207.746 207.885 207.881 .3 1.3 2.7 .1 .8 1.4 

Personal care products 1 .............................................. 161.716 160.954 161.473 161.121 -4.6 -1.1 5.3 -1.5 -2.8 1.8 

Personal care services 1 ............................................... 232.222 232.313 232.093 232.964 .5 .3 2.3 1.3 .4 1.8 

Miscellaneous personal services .................................. 368.267 369.704 369.334 369.317 2.5 3.0 2.8 1.1 2.7 2.0 

Commodity and service group

Commodities ....................................................................... 190.308 189.707 190.404 192.449 10.1 4.5 -.1 4.6 7.2 2.2 

Food and beverages ......................................................... 230.666 231.158 231.622 231.754 6.0 4.7 3.0 1.9 5.4 2.5

Commodities less food and beverages ............................. 168.025 166.976 167.752 170.554 12.5 4.3 -1.9 6.2 8.4 2.0 

Nondurables less food and beverages ........................... 222.755 220.944 222.849 227.803 16.8 3.7 -1.7 9.4 10.1 3.7 

Apparel .......................................................................... 123.937 124.119 125.293 124.138 4.6 12.1 1.8 .7 8.3 1.2 

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .......... 289.013 285.869 288.013 296.863 20.0 1.9 -2.3 11.3 10.6 4.3 

Durables .......................................................................... 114.733 114.642 114.372 114.741 5.9 5.2 -3.7 .0 5.5 -1.9 

Services .............................................................................. 263.053 263.648 264.025 264.147 2.0 2.0 2.4 1.7 2.0 2.0 

Rent of shelter 4 ................................................................ 238.554 239.075 239.434 239.753 1.3 2.2 2.5 2.0 1.8 2.3 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ............................. 129.912 130.695 131.182 130.565 -.5 2.7 3.7 2.0 1.1 2.9 

Energy services 3 .............................................................. 193.891 193.537 191.946 190.425 5.3 -.5 -.6 -7.0 2.4 -3.8 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 .............. 182.744 183.611 184.306 185.386 4.8 3.2 4.9 5.9 4.0 5.4 

Household operations 1 2 ................................................. 155.567 155.744 156.727 156.914 1.8 1.3 1.8 3.5 1.5 2.6 

Transportation services ..................................................... 270.697 271.151 271.447 271.090 3.6 1.0 3.3 .6 2.3 1.9

Medical care services ....................................................... 434.106 435.752 436.902 437.159 3.1 3.5 4.7 2.8 3.3 3.8 

Other services ................................................................... 301.510 302.648 303.629 303.953 1.9 1.2 2.1 3.3 1.5 2.7 

Special indexes

All items less food ............................................................... 222.296 222.168 222.638 223.918 5.4 2.8 .9 3.0 4.1 1.9 

All items less shelter ........................................................... 217.444 217.207 217.699 219.101 7.5 3.4 .8 3.1 5.4 1.9 

All items less medical care .................................................. 216.248 216.172 216.604 217.704 5.7 3.1 1.1 2.7 4.4 1.9 

Commodities less food ........................................................ 170.210 169.195 170.019 172.800 12.2 4.2 -1.8 6.2 8.1 2.1 

Nondurables less food ........................................................ 223.365 221.670 223.594 228.396 16.1 3.4 -1.5 9.3 9.6 3.8 

Nondurables less food and apparel .................................... 282.638 279.803 282.002 290.210 18.9 1.6 -2.1 11.2 9.9 4.3

Nondurables ........................................................................ 227.760 227.001 228.186 230.923 12.0 3.7 .6 5.7 7.8 3.1 

Services less rent of shelter 4 ............................................. 258.482 259.241 259.493 259.315 3.0 1.1 2.5 1.3 2.1 1.9 

Services less medical care services ................................... 251.317 251.921 252.171 252.218 2.1 1.6 2.4 1.4 1.8 1.9 

Energy ................................................................................. 248.293 244.867 245.461 253.802 24.7 2.2 -4.0 9.2 12.9 2.4 

All items less energy ........................................................... 221.742 222.119 222.551 222.728 3.2 3.2 2.0 1.8 3.2 1.9 

All items less food and energy .......................................... 220.326 220.679 221.124 221.324 2.6 2.9 1.7 1.8 2.7 1.8

Commodities less food and energy commodities ........... 149.269 149.158 149.414 149.453 4.6 4.6 -.3 .5 4.6 .1 

Energy commodities ..................................................... 310.638 304.362 307.238 325.037 36.9 3.6 -5.8 19.9 19.1 6.3

Services less energy services ......................................... 270.595 271.297 271.896 272.205 1.7 2.2 2.6 2.4 1.9 2.5 

1 Not seasonally adjusted. 2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. 3 This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other

item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means

estimator.

4 Indexes on a December 1984=100 base 5 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base. 6 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 6. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): Selected areas, all items index 

(1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted)

CPI-W

All items 

Pricing

schedule 1

Indexes Percent change to

Feb.2012 from—

Percent change to

Jan.2012 from—

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2011

Nov.

2011

Dec.

2011

U.S. city average ............................................ M 222.813 222.166 223.216 224.317 3.1 1.0 0.5 3.1 0.2 0.5 

Region and area size2

Northeast urban .............................................. M 241.167 240.431 241.321 242.371 3.1 .8 .4 3.2 .1 .4 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 240.912 240.148 241.066 242.040 2.9 .8 .4 3.1 .1 .4 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 146.843 146.432 146.923 147.685 3.5 .9 .5 3.3 .1 .3 

Midwest urban ................................................ M 211.969 211.459 212.756 213.248 3.0 .8 .2 3.2 .4 .6 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 211.505 210.962 212.309 212.714 3.0 .8 .2 3.1 .4 .6 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 139.048 138.741 139.595 139.934 3.0 .9 .2 3.2 .4 .6 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 211.533 211.040 212.052 212.902 3.2 .9 .4 3.1 .2 .5 

South urban .................................................... M 218.030 217.463 218.571 220.080 3.6 1.2 .7 3.5 .2 .5 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 219.215 218.603 219.705 221.592 3.5 1.4 .9 3.1 .2 .5 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 139.721 139.299 139.863 140.726 3.5 1.0 .6 3.4 .1 .4 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 225.404 225.422 227.762 228.966 4.4 1.6 .5 4.9 1.0 1.0 

West urban ..................................................... M 223.785 222.968 223.849 224.956 2.5 .9 .5 2.7 .0 .4 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 226.250 225.267 226.277 227.609 2.6 1.0 .6 2.6 .0 .4 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 138.587 138.157 138.578 139.050 2.4 .6 .3 2.7 .0 .3 

Size classes

A 4 .............................................................. M 205.627 204.954 205.939 206.988 3.0 1.0 .5 3.0 .2 .5 

B/C 3 ........................................................... M 140.330 139.931 140.506 141.179 3.2 .9 .5 3.2 .1 .4 

D ................................................................. M 218.973 218.780 220.339 221.349 3.7 1.2 .5 3.9 .6 .7 

Selected local areas5

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI ................... M 213.704 212.597 214.298 214.022 1.9 .7 -.1 2.5 .3 .8 

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA ... M 225.786 224.444 226.245 227.585 2.1 1.4 .6 2.1 .2 .8 

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

NY-NJ-CT-PA ......................................... M 245.546 244.586 245.541 246.539 2.8 .8 .4 3.0 .0 .4 

Boston-Brockton-Nashua, MA-NH-ME-CT ..... 1 246.349 -

 247.006 ---- 2.7 .3 -

Cleveland-Akron, OH ...................................... 1 202.824 - 203.575 ---- 2.0 .4 -

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX ..................................... 1 214.581 - 214.557 ---- 3.7 .0 -

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV 6 ...... 1 148.038 - 148.489 ---- 2.7 .3 -

Atlanta, GA ..................................................... 2 - 207.654 - 210.269 2.8 1.3 ----

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI .............................. 2 - 210.199 - 212.037 4.5 .9 ----

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX .................... 2 - 199.480 - 203.603 4.1 2.1 ----

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL ............................. 2 - 230.394 - 232.605 3.2 1.0 ----

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD ........................................ 2 - 235.194 - 236.815 2.4 .7 ----

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA ........... 2 - 231.109 - 234.648 3.5 1.5 ----

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA .................... 2 - 231.297 - 232.081 2.8 .3 ----

1 Foods, fuels, and several other items priced every month in all areas;

 most other goods and services 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. See technical notes. 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. - Data not available.

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 7. Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure

category and commodity and service group

(December 1999=100, unless otherwise noted)

C-CPI-U Relative

importance,

2009-2010

 Unadjusted

 indexes

 Unadjusted

 percent change to

 Feb. 2012 from—

 Jan.

 2012

 Feb.

 2012

 Feb.

 2011

 Jan.

 2012

Expenditure category

All items ...................................................................................... 100.000 130.104 130.569 2.6 0.4 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 15.084 134.898 134.845 3.7 .0 

Food ....................................................................................... 14.112 135.182 135.085 3.8 -.1 

Food at home ....................................................................... 8.447 130.832 130.552 4.4 -.2 

Food away from home .......................................................... 5.665 140.953 141.152 3.0 .1 

Alcoholic beverages ............................................................... .971 131.515 132.083 1.5 .4 

Housing .................................................................................... 41.994 130.806 130.960 1.7 .1 

Shelter .................................................................................... 32.159 134.278 134.556 2.0 .2 

Fuels and utilities .................................................................... 5.481 160.021 159.024 .2 -.6 

Household furnishings and operations ................................... 4.355 92.940 93.305 .8 .4 

Apparel ..................................................................................... 3.613 91.559 92.435 3.5 1.0 

Transportation .......................................................................... 15.647 141.008 143.078 5.1 1.5 

Private transportation ............................................................. 14.521 142.034 144.205 5.5 1.5 

Public transportation ............................................................... 1.126 129.003 129.890 -.1 .7 

Medical care ............................................................................. 6.942 157.640 158.549 3.4 .6 

Medical care commodities ...................................................... 1.697 138.286 139.368 3.3 .8 

Medical care services ............................................................. 5.245 164.751 165.592 3.4 .5 

Recreation ................................................................................ 6.393 102.670 102.766 .2 .1 

Education and communication ................................................. 6.936 113.826 113.938 1.3 .1 

Education ............................................................................... 3.074 196.362 196.339 4.3 .0 

Communication ...................................................................... 3.862 70.705 70.836 -1.0 .2 

Other goods and services ........................................................ 3.391 144.296 144.210 2.4 -.1 

Commodity and service group

Services ...................................................................................... 60.782 139.177 139.330 2.0 .1 

Commodities .............................................................................. 39.218 119.250 120.135 3.5 .7 

Durables ................................................................................... 9.295 80.586 80.826 .5 .3 

Nondurables ............................................................................... 29.924 139.240 140.466 4.5 .9 

All items less food and energy ................................................. 77.054 122.897 123.217 2.0 .3 

Energy ........................................................................................ 8.833 198.691 202.464 5.7 1.9 

Indexes for 2012 are initial estimates. Indexes for 2011 are interim adjustments.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.