News United States 

Department 

of Labor 

Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION: 

Patrick C. Jackman (202) 691-7000 USDL-05-2314 

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INTERNET ADDRESS: http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ Thursday, December 15, 2005 

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: NOVEMBER 2005 

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 0.8 percent in November, before 

seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The November 

level of 197.6 (1982-84=100) was 3.5 percent higher than in November 2004. 

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) decreased 0.9 percent in 

November, prior to seasonal adjustment. The November level of 193.4 was 3.5 percent higher than in November 

2004. 

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) decreased 0.5 percent in November 

on a not seasonally adjusted basis. The November level of 114.4 (December 1999=100) was 2.8 percent higher than 

in November 2004. Please note that the indexes for the post-2003 period are subject to revision. 

CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U decreased 0.6 percent in November, its largest decline since a 0.9 drop in 

July 1949. The index for energy declined for the second consecutive month, down a record 8.0 percent in 

November. Within energy, a 15.2 percent decrease in the index for petroleum-based energy more than offset a 2.1 

percent increase in the index for energy services. The index for food rose 0.3 percent in November, the same as in 

each of the preceding two months. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in November, the 

same as in October, after registering increases of 0.1 percent in each of the preceding five months. Shelter costs 

rose 0.3 percent in November, largely as a result of a 1.3 percent increase in the index for lodging away from home, 

and accounted for over half of the advance in the index for all items less food and energy. 

 Table A. Percent changes in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)

 Seasonally adjusted Un-

 Compound adjusted

Expenditure Changes from preceding month annual rate 12-mos. 

Category 2005 3-mos. ended ended

 May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Nov. ’05 Nov. ’05 

All Items -.1 .0 .5 .5 1.2 .2 -.6 3.5 3.5

 Food and beverages .1 .0 .2 .1 .2 .3 .3 3.2 2.2 

 Housing .1 .1 .4 .2 .4 .9 .5 7.6 4.0 

 Apparel .0 -.7 -.9 1.0 -.1 -.4 .2 -1.3 -1.2 

 Transportation -1.0 -.1 1.5 2.2 5.1 -1.3 -4.8 -4.9 5.0 

 Medical care .3 .2 .4 .0 .3 .5 .6 5.8 4.5 

 Recreation .3 -.3 .1 .3 .4 .2 .0 2.2 1.0 

 Education and 

 communication .0 .1 .2 -.1 .7 -.1 .4 4.3 2.3 

 Other goods and 

 services .4 .0 .6 .2 .1 .1 .3 2.2 3.0 

 Special Indexes 

 Energy -2.0 -.5 3.8 5.0 12.0 -.2 -8.0 11.6 18.3 

 Food .1 .1 .2 .0 .3 .3 .3 3.4 2.2 

 All Items less 

 food and energy .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .2 2.4 2.1 
During the first 11 months of 2005, the CPI-U rose at a 3.8 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate 

(SAAR). This compares with an increase of 3.3 percent for all of 2004. The index for energy, which 

increased 16.6 percent in 2004, advanced at a 21.7 percent SAAR in the first 11 months of 2005. Petroleumbased energy costs increased at a 22.0 percent annual rate and charges for energy services rose at a 21.3 

percent annual rate. The food index has increased at a 2.4 percent rate thus far in 2005, following a 2.7 

percent rise for all of 2004. Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U advanced at a 2.1 percent SAAR in the 

first 11 months of 2005 after advancing 2.2 percent in 2004. 

The food and beverages index rose 0.3 percent in November. The index for food at home also 

increased 0.3 percent, the same as in each of the preceding two months. While the overall increases were the 

same, the composition was markedly different in November. The index for fruits and vegetables, which 

advanced sharply in September and October, decreased 0.2 percent in November. Declines in the indexes for 

fresh vegetables and for processed fruits and vegetables--down 0.8 and 0.2 percent, respectively--more than 

offset a 0.5 percent increase in the index for fresh fruits. The index for other food at home, which increased 

0.4 percent in October, declined 0.3 percent in November. The indexes for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, for 

nonalcoholic beverages, and for dairy products each turned up in November. The index for meats, poultry, 

fish, and eggs increased 0.7 percent after declining 0.2 percent in October. The indexes for meats, for poultry, 

and for fish and seafood rose 0.8, 0.6, and 1.0 percent, respectively, while the index for eggs declined 1.9 

percent. The index for nonalcoholic beverages, which declined 0.1 percent in October, rose 0.8 percent in 

November, reflecting an upturn in prices for carbonated drinks. The index for dairy products rose 0.9 percent, 

following no change in October. The index for cereals and bakery products rose 0.2 percent, following a 0.6 

percent increase in October. The other two components of the food and beverage index--food away from 

home and alcoholic beverages--each increased 0.2 percent. 

The index for housing rose 0.5 percent in November, following an increase of 0.9 percent in October. . 

Shelter costs rose 0.3 percent in November. The index for lodging away from home increased 1.3 percent, 

following a 3.5 percent advance in October. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, charges for lodging away from 

home declined 3.5 percent.) The indexes for rent and owners’ equivalent rent each increased 0.2 percent. 

(Prior to seasonal adjustment, the indexes for rent and owners’ equivalent rent increased 0.3 and 0.2 percent, 

respectively.) The index for fuels and utilities registered its fifth consecutive increase of more than one 

percent 

--up 1.4 percent in November. A 3.8 percent increase in the index for electricity more than offset declines in 

the indexes for fuel oil and natural gas--down 6.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, 

the index for natural gas increased 2.7 percent in November.) During the last 12 months, charges for natural 

gas have risen 36.1 percent, fuel oil prices 26.5 percent, and charges for electricity 11.4 percent. The index 

for household furnishings and operations increased 0.2 percent in November, the same as in October. 

The index for apparel increased 0.2 percent in November. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, apparel prices 

fell 1.0 percent, reflecting seasonal discounting on women’s and girls’ apparel.) 

The transportation index declined 4.8 percent in November, reflecting a 16.0 percent decrease in the 

index for motor fuels. Gasoline prices have fallen 20.1 percent from their peak level recorded in September. 

The index for new and used motor vehicles declined 0.3 percent in November. The index for new vehicles 

decreased 0.1 percent. (As of November, about 55 percent of the new vehicle sample was represented by 

2006 models. The 2006 models will continue to be phased in, with appropriate adjustments for quality 

change, over the next several months as they replace old models at dealerships. For a report on quality 

changes for the 2006 vehicles represented in the Producer Price Index sample, see news release USDL-05-

2199, dated November 15, 2005.) The indexes for used cars and trucks and for leased cars and trucks declined 

0.9 and 0.5 percent, respectively, while the index for car and truck rental increased 2.4 percent. Airline fares, 

which rose 1.5 percent in October, declined 1.5 percent in November to a level 6.4 percent higher than in 

November 2004. 

Medical care costs rose 0.6 percent in November to a level 4.5 percent above a year ago. The index for 

medical care commodities--prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and medical supplies--rose 0.6 percent, 

as did the index for medical care services. Charges for professional services and for hospital and related 

services increased 0.3 and 1.1 percent, respectively. 
The index for recreation was unchanged in November. Increases in the indexes for recreation services 

and for pets, pet products and services were offset by declines in the indexes for video and audio, for sporting 

goods, and for toys. 

The index for education and communication rose 0.4 percent in November. Educational costs rose 0.6 

percent and the index for communication rose 0.2 percent. Within the communication index, charges for 

telephone services increased 0.6 percent, reflecting a 2.0 percent rise in land-line long distance charges. The 

index for personal computers and peripheral equipment declined 1.6 percent in November and has fallen 15.5 

percent over the last 12 months. 

The index for other goods and services rose 0.3 percent in November. The indexes for tobacco and 

smoking products and for personal care each increased 0.4 percent. 

CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers decreased 0.8 

percent in November. 

 Table B. Percent changes in CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)

 Seasonally adjusted Un-

 Compound adjusted

Expenditure Changes from preceding month annual rate 12-mos. 

Category 2005 3-mos. ended ended

 May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Nov. ’05 Nov. ’05 

All Items -.1 .0 .6 .6 1.4 .1 -.8 2.9 3.5

 Food and beverages .1 .0 .2 .1 .2 .3 .3 3.4 2.1 

 Housing .2 .2 .4 .2 .5 .9 .5 8.0 4.3 

 Apparel .1 -.8 -.6 .8 -.3 -.4 .1 -2.7 -1.3 

 Transportation -1.0 -.1 1.6 2.4 5.4 -1.4 -5.1 -5.5 5.4 

 Medical care .4 .2 .4 .0 .2 .6 .7 6.3 4.6 

 Recreation .4 -.4 .0 .3 .4 .3 -.1 2.3 .8 

 Education and 

 communication .0 -.1 .2 -.2 .7 -.1 .4 4.4 1.9 

 Other goods and 

 services .3 .0 .7 .3 .2 .0 .3 2.2 3.3 

 Special Indexes 

 Energy -2.1 -.6 4.1 5.1 12.3 -.5 -8.5 9.0 18.0 

 Food .1 -.1 .2 .1 .2 .3 .3 3.4 2.2 

 All Items less 

 food and energy .2 .1 .2 .2 .1 .2 .2 2.1 2.0 

Consumer Price Index data for December are scheduled for release on Wednesday, January 18, 2006, at 

8:30 A.M. (EST). Releases for the remainder of 2006: 

 Feb. 22 Aug. 16 

 Mar. 16 Sep. 15 

 Apr. 19 Oct. 18 

 May 17 Nov. 16 

 June 14 Dec. 15 

 July 19 Jan. 18, 2007 
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. For a recorded message of Summary CPI 

data, call (202) 691-5200.

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 32 percent of the total population and (2) the CPI for All 

Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), which cover 

approximately 87 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 in 87 urban areas across the country from about 50,000 housing units and approximately 23,000 retail 

establishments-department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service 

establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index. 

Prices of 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 CCPI-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 100.0. 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 116.5. This change can also be 

expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period market basket of goods and services in the CPI has 

risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. 

 For further details 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. 
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 115.7 

Less previous index 111.2 

Equals index point change 4.5 

Percent Change

Index point difference 4.5 

Divided by the previous index 111.2 

Equals 0.040 

Results multiplied by one hundred 0.040x100 

Equals percent change 4.0

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. 
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 unadjusted 

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 2000 through December 2004 

were replaced in January 2005. 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.

The seasonal movement of All items and 54 other aggregations is derived by combining the seasonal 

movement of 73 selected components. Each year the seasonal status of every series is reevaluated based upon 

certain statistical criteria. If any of the 73 components change their seasonal adjustment status from seasonally 

adjusted to not seasonally adjusted, not seasonally adjusted data will be used for the last 5 years, but the 

seasonally adjusted indexes will be used before that period. Note: 43 of the 73 components are seasonally 

adjusted for 2005. 

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

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

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

enhanced seasonal adjustment procedure called Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment for some CPI series. 

Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment allows for better estimates of seasonally adjusted data. Extreme 

values and/or sharp movements which might distort the seasonal pattern are estimated and removed from the 

data prior to calculation of seasonal factors. Beginning with the calculation of seasonal factors for 1996, X-12-

ARIMA software was used for Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment. 

 For the fuel oil, utility (piped) gas, motor fuels, and educational books and supplies indexes, this 

procedure was used to offset the effects that extreme price volatility would otherwise have had on the estimates 

of seasonally adjusted data for those series. For the Nonalcoholic beverages index, the procedure was used to 

offset the effects of labor and supply problems for coffee. The procedure was used to account for unusual 

butter fat supply reductions, changes in milk supply, and large swings in soybean oil inventories affecting the 

Fats and oils series. For Dairy products, it mitigated the effects of significant changes in milk, butter and 

cheese production levels. For Fresh vegetable series, the method was used to account for the effects of 

hurricane-related disruptions. For Electricity, it was used to offset an increase in demand due to warmer than 
expected weather, increased rates to conserve supplies, and declining natural gas inventories. For new vehicle 

series, the procedure was used to offset the effects of a model changeover combined with financing incentives. 

 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 Daniel Chow on 

(202) 691-6968 by e-mail at Chow.Daniel@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

2004

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Nov. 2005 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Nov.

2004

Oct.

2005

Aug. to

Sep.

Sep. to

Oct.

Oct. to

Nov.

Expenditure category

All items ...................................................................................... 100.000 199.2 197.6 3.5 -0.8 1.2 0.2 -0.6 

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

 596.7 592.0 - - - - -

Food and beverages ................................................................ 15.291 192.5 192.8 2.2 .2 .2 .3 .3 

Food ....................................................................................... 14.295 192.1 192.4 2.2 .2 .3 .3 .3 

Food at home ....................................................................... 8.183 190.8 191.0 1.5 .1 .3 .3 .3 

Cereals and bakery products ............................................. 1.185 209.4 209.1 1.1 -.1 -.4 .6 .2 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ............................................ 2.272 184.6 185.8 1.9 .7 .5 -.2 .7 

Dairy and related products ................................................. .849 182.6 183.5 1.4 .5 -1.2 .0 .9 

Fruits and vegetables ......................................................... 1.276 245.7 246.4 -.8 .3 1.5 1.3 -.2 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials .............. .884 145.6 145.5 4.2 -.1 .8 -.1 .8 

Other food at home ............................................................ 1.716 168.3 167.3 1.8 -.6 .0 .4 -.3 

Sugar and sweets ............................................................. .296 166.3 166.5 2.1 .1 .9 .5 .7 

Fats and oils ..................................................................... .258 168.6 166.2 -1.0 -1.4 1.1 -.9 .1 

Other foods 1 .................................................................... 1.163 184.0 183.0 2.3 -.5 -.4 .5 -.5 

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ....................................... .301 112.1 112.7 2.0 .5 -.3 .5 .5 

Food away from home 1 ....................................................... 6.113 195.2 195.6 3.2 .2 .2 .3 .2 

Other food away from home 2 ............................................ .332 133.5 133.7 5.5 .1 .3 .1 .2 

Alcoholic beverages 1 ............................................................ .996 196.8 197.1 1.6 .2 .4 .1 .2 

Housing .................................................................................... 41.993 198.4 198.5 4.0 .1 .4 .9 .5 

Shelter .................................................................................... 32.686 225.7 225.4 2.5 -.1 -.1 .5 .3

Rent of primary residence 3 ................................................. 6.133 219.3 220.0 3.2 .3 .1 .4 .2 

Lodging away from home 2 .................................................. 3.008 129.7 125.2 2.7 -3.5 -2.5 3.5 1.3 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 3 4 ................. 23.158 231.7 232.2 2.4 .2 .1 .1 .2 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ................................. .387 115.8 115.9 -1.5 .1 -1.0 -.7 .1 

Fuels and utilities .................................................................... 4.951 192.8 194.6 17.5 .9 4.2 4.4 1.4 

Fuels ..................................................................................... 4.021 176.2 178.0 20.4 1.0 5.1 5.2 1.6 

Fuel oil and other fuels ....................................................... .300 241.1 231.5 24.1 -4.0 11.8 .9 -4.3 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ............................................... 3.722 180.7 183.4 20.1 1.5 4.6 5.6 2.1 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ................. .930 131.9 132.5 5.0 .5 .3 .4 .5 

Household furnishings and operations ................................... 4.355 125.9 126.1 .2 .2 -.2 .2 .2 

Household operations 1 2 ..................................................... .707 131.6 132.5 4.3 .7 .2 .5 .7 

Apparel ..................................................................................... 3.841 122.7 121.5 -1.2 -1.0 -.1 -.4 .2 

Men’s and boys’ apparel ........................................................ .977 117.2 117.4 -1.3 .2 -1.0 .3 -.3 

Women’s and girls’ apparel .................................................... 1.638 115.1 113.9 -2.5 -1.0 -.4 -.4 1.5 

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel ................................................. .188 116.3 115.3 -4.2 -.9 -1.0 -.6 -.7 

Footwear ................................................................................ .765 126.7 124.3 2.1 -1.9 1.5 -.7 -1.7 

Transportation .......................................................................... 17.414 184.0 175.6 5.0 -4.6 5.1 -1.3 -4.8 

Private transportation ............................................................. 16.385 180.5 171.8 5.0 -4.8 5.4 -1.5 -5.1 

New and used motor vehicles 2 ........................................... 7.744 95.7 95.8 .6 .1 .4 .0 -.3 

New vehicles ...................................................................... 4.692 137.1 138.0 .1 .7 .4 .5 -.1 

Used cars and trucks 1 ....................................................... 2.037 140.6 139.4 2.0 -.9 -.4 -.6 -.9 

Motor fuel ............................................................................. 3.969 237.1 199.7 16.2 -15.8 17.8 -4.4 -16.0 

Gasoline (all types) ............................................................. 3.934 235.9 198.6 16.1 -15.8 17.9 -4.5 -16.0 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ................................... .364 113.0 113.6 3.4 .5 .3 .3 .5 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair ................................. 1.341 209.8 210.5 3.7 .3 .7 .4 .2 

Public transportation ............................................................... 1.029 222.7 220.8 5.8 -.9 .1 1.4 .0 

Medical care ............................................................................. 6.132 326.2 328.1 4.5 .6 .3 .5 .6 

Medical care commodities ...................................................... 1.484 278.9 280.3 3.4 .5 .3 .5 .6 

Medical care services ............................................................. 4.649 339.7 341.7 4.8 .6 .3 .5 .6 

Professional services ........................................................... 2.767 284.0 284.5 3.8 .2 .4 .5 .3 

Hospital and related services 3 ............................................ 1.516 443.6 449.6 5.8 1.4 .3 .8 1.1 

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

2004

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Nov. 2005 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Nov.

2004

Oct.

2005

Aug. to

Sep.

Sep. to

Oct.

Oct. to

Nov.

Expenditure category

Recreation 2 ............................................................................. 5.733 109.9 109.8 1.0 -0.1 0.4 0.2 0.0 

Video and audio 2 ................................................................... 1.691 104.4 104.2 .2 -.2 .5 -.1 -.2 

Education and communication 2 .............................................. 5.846 115.1 115.3 2.3 .2 .7 -.1 .4 

Education 2 ............................................................................. 2.931 157.4 157.5 6.1 .1 .8 .3 .6 

Educational books and supplies ........................................... .220 373.9 373.6 5.4 -.1 1.8 .5 .6 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare .............................. 2.712 454.7 455.1 6.2 .1 .7 .2 .6 

Communication 2 .................................................................... 2.914 84.2 84.4 -1.4 .2 .7 -.5 .2 

Information and information processing 1 2 .......................... 2.737 82.0 82.2 -1.6 .2 .7 -.5 .2 

Telephone services 1 2 ....................................................... 2.187 94.6 95.2 .3 .6 1.1 -.5 .6 

Information technology, hardware and services 1 5 ........... .550 13.3 13.1 -8.4 -1.5 -.7 .0 -1.5 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 1 2 .......... .192 12.2 12.0 -15.5 -1.6 -.8 -.8 -1.6 

Other goods and services ........................................................ 3.750 315.3 316.2 3.0 .3 .1 .1 .3 

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ........................................... .804 509.4 511.2 6.1 .4 .7 -.1 .4 

Personal care ......................................................................... 2.946 186.4 186.9 2.1 .3 -.1 .2 .4 

Personal care products 1 ...................................................... .658 155.0 155.0 .8 .0 -.3 .1 .0 

Personal care services 1 ...................................................... .652 204.8 205.2 2.6 .2 .2 .1 .2 

Miscellaneous personal services .......................................... 1.454 305.0 305.9 3.0 .3 .3 .2 .3 

Commodity and service group

Commodities .............................................................................. 40.239 165.1 161.5 2.7 -2.2 2.4 -.5 -2.2 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 15.291 192.5 192.8 2.2 .2 .2 .3 .3 

Commodities less food and beverages .................................... 24.948 148.9 143.6 3.0 -3.6 3.7 -1.0 -3.5 

Nondurables less food and beverages ................................... 13.980 182.0 171.1 5.6 -6.0 5.4 -1.2 -4.9 

Apparel ................................................................................. 3.841 122.7 121.5 -1.2 -1.0 -.1 -.4 .2 

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .................. 10.139 222.8 205.9 8.3 -7.6 8.5 -1.9 -7.6 

Durables ................................................................................. 10.967 114.9 114.9 -.3 .0 .2 .1 -.3 

Services ...................................................................................... 59.761 233.0 233.5 4.0 .2 .4 .7 .5 

Rent of shelter 4 ....................................................................... 32.300 235.1 234.9 2.6 -.1 -.2 .6 .3 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ..................................... .387 115.8 115.9 -1.5 .1 -1.0 -.7 .1 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ..................................................... 3.722 180.7 183.4 20.1 1.5 4.6 5.6 2.1 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ..................... .930 131.9 132.5 5.0 .5 .3 .4 .5 

Household operations 1 2 ......................................................... .707 131.6 132.5 4.3 .7 .2 .5 .7 

Transportation services ............................................................ 6.235 227.6 228.4 2.5 .4 .4 .0 .2 

Medical care services ............................................................... 4.649 339.7 341.7 4.8 .6 .3 .5 .6 

Other services .......................................................................... 10.833 271.5 272.1 3.0 .2 .6 .1 .4 

Special indexes

All items less food ...................................................................... 85.705 200.4 198.5 3.7 -.9 1.4 .2 -.7 

All items less shelter ................................................................... 67.314 191.1 189.0 3.9 -1.1 1.8 .1 -1.0 

All items less medical care ......................................................... 93.868 192.6 190.9 3.4 -.9 1.3 .2 -.7 

Commodities less food ............................................................... 25.943 150.8 145.6 3.0 -3.4 3.6 -1.0 -3.4 

Nondurables less food ................................................................ 14.976 183.0 172.7 5.4 -5.6 5.3 -1.4 -4.5 

Nondurables less food and apparel ............................................ 11.135 219.6 204.2 7.6 -7.0 7.8 -1.8 -7.0 

Nondurables ............................................................................... 29.271 188.0 182.4 3.9 -3.0 2.8 -.5 -2.4 

Services less rent of shelter 4 .................................................... 27.462 248.2 249.5 5.5 .5 1.0 .9 .7 

Services less medical care services ........................................... 55.113 224.1 224.4 3.8 .1 .4 .9 .4 

Energy ........................................................................................ 7.991 204.3 187.6 18.3 -8.2 12.0 -.2 -8.0 

All items less energy .................................................................. 92.009 200.1 200.2 2.1 .0 .2 .3 .3 

All items less food and energy ................................................. 77.714 202.3 202.3 2.1 .0 .1 .2 .2 

Commodities less food and energy commodities ................... 21.674 141.0 140.8 .1 -.1 .1 .0 -.1 

Energy commodities ............................................................. 4.269 238.6 202.7 16.8 -15.0 17.4 -4.1 -15.2 

Services less energy services ................................................ 56.040 238.4 238.6 2.9 .1 .1 .3 .4 

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

 $ .502 $ .506 - - - - -

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

 $ .168 $ .169 - - - - -

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. - 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—

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Feb.

2005

May

2005

Aug.

2005

Nov.

2005

May

2005

Nov.

2005

Expenditure category

All items ...................................................................................... 196.1 198.5 198.9 197.8 1.7 4.4 4.2 3.5 3.1 3.8 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 191.5 191.9 192.5 193.0 .6 3.9 1.1 3.2 2.2 2.1 

Food ....................................................................................... 191.0 191.5 192.1 192.6 .6 3.9 1.1 3.4 2.2 2.2 

Food at home ....................................................................... 189.7 190.2 190.8 191.4 -1.7 5.2 -.8 3.6 1.7 1.4 

Cereals and bakery products ............................................. 209.3 208.5 209.8 210.3 .4 1.7 .4 1.9 1.1 1.2 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ............................................ 183.9 184.8 184.4 185.7 4.0 3.5 -3.6 4.0 3.8 .1 

Dairy and related products ................................................. 183.3 181.1 181.1 182.8 3.4 3.8 .0 -1.1 3.6 -.5 

Fruits and vegetables ......................................................... 240.4 244.1 247.2 246.7 -21.4 14.9 -3.4 10.9 -4.9 3.5 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials .............. 144.5 145.7 145.6 146.8 1.7 9.1 -.3 6.5 5.3 3.1 

Other food at home ............................................................ 167.6 167.6 168.2 167.7 .7 2.7 3.4 .2 1.7 1.8 

Sugar and sweets ............................................................. 164.4 165.8 166.6 167.8 -2.9 -.7 3.5 8.5 -1.8 6.0 

Fats and oils ..................................................................... 167.1 168.9 167.4 167.6 -.9 -3.5 -.5 1.2 -2.2 .4 

Other foods 1 .................................................................... 183.9 183.1 184.0 183.0 1.8 5.2 4.2 -1.9 3.5 1.1 

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ....................................... 111.8 111.5 112.1 112.7 -.7 1.8 3.7 3.3 .5 3.5 

Food away from home 1 ....................................................... 194.2 194.6 195.2 195.6 3.9 2.5 3.4 2.9 3.2 3.1 

Other food away from home 2 ............................................ 132.7 133.1 133.2 133.4 7.1 5.4 7.2 2.1 6.3 4.7 

Alcoholic beverages 1 ............................................................ 195.9 196.6 196.8 197.1 2.5 .6 .8 2.5 1.6 1.6 

Housing .................................................................................... 195.9 196.7 198.5 199.5 2.7 3.4 2.7 7.6 3.0 5.1 

Shelter .................................................................................... 224.9 224.6 225.7 226.4 2.9 2.4 2.2 2.7 2.6 2.4 

Rent of primary residence 3 ................................................. 218.3 218.6 219.5 220.0 3.2 3.0 3.6 3.2 3.1 3.4 

Lodging away from home 2 .................................................. 128.9 125.7 130.1 131.8 2.8 .9 -1.8 9.3 1.9 3.6 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 3 4 ................. 230.9 231.2 231.5 232.0 2.7 2.7 2.3 1.9 2.7 2.1 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ................................. 117.8 116.6 115.8 115.9 3.4 -2.3 -.7 -6.3 .5 -3.5 

Fuels and utilities .................................................................... 178.0 185.5 193.6 196.4 3.6 11.3 10.8 48.2 7.4 28.1 

Fuels ..................................................................................... 160.2 168.4 177.2 180.0 2.7 13.3 12.1 59.4 7.9 33.6 

Fuel oil and other fuels ....................................................... 217.1 242.7 245.0 234.5 -20.3 35.2 61.4 36.1 3.8 48.2 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ............................................... 164.5 172.0 181.6 185.4 5.0 11.4 9.0 61.4 8.2 32.6 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ................. 130.9 131.3 131.8 132.5 7.2 3.1 4.4 5.0 5.1 4.7 

Household furnishings and operations ................................... 126.0 125.8 126.0 126.3 -.3 2.6 -2.2 1.0 1.1 -.6 

Household operations 1 2 ..................................................... 130.7 131.0 131.6 132.5 5.1 3.5 3.1 5.6 4.3 4.4 

Apparel ..................................................................................... 119.4 119.3 118.8 119.0 -1.3 .7 -2.6 -1.3 -.3 -2.0 

Men’s and boys’ apparel ........................................................ 115.7 114.6 114.9 114.6 4.9 .7 -6.3 -3.7 2.8 -5.0 

Women’s and girls’ apparel .................................................... 110.2 109.8 109.4 111.0 -9.8 1.8 -3.9 2.9 -4.2 -.5 

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel ................................................. 115.6 114.4 113.7 112.9 2.4 2.7 -12.1 -9.0 2.6 -10.6 

Footwear ................................................................................ 123.4 125.2 124.3 122.2 11.1 -3.2 4.7 -3.8 3.7 .3 

Transportation .......................................................................... 177.3 186.4 183.9 175.1 -.2 11.0 15.6 -4.9 5.2 4.9 

Private transportation ............................................................. 173.6 183.0 180.3 171.1 .2 11.0 15.9 -5.6 5.5 4.6 

New and used motor vehicles 2 ........................................... 95.5 95.9 95.9 95.6 2.1 .8 -.8 .4 1.5 -.2 

New vehicles ...................................................................... 136.4 137.0 137.7 137.5 4.7 -1.4 -5.9 3.3 1.6 -1.4 

Used cars and trucks 1 ....................................................... 142.0 141.5 140.6 139.4 2.7 3.5 9.5 -7.1 3.1 .9 

Motor fuel ............................................................................. 209.1 246.3 235.5 197.9 -6.4 45.6 66.4 -19.8 16.7 15.6 

Gasoline (all types) ............................................................. 208.1 245.3 234.3 196.8 -6.2 45.5 66.5 -20.0 16.8 15.4 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ................................... 112.4 112.7 113.0 113.6 3.7 .4 5.1 4.3 2.0 4.7 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair ................................. 207.5 208.9 209.8 210.3 1.8 4.6 3.3 5.5 3.2 4.4 

Public transportation ............................................................... 220.6 220.9 224.0 224.0 -6.6 15.7 9.4 6.3 3.9 7.8 

Medical care ............................................................................. 324.1 325.0 326.7 328.7 5.2 4.2 2.6 5.8 4.7 4.2 

Medical care commodities ...................................................... 276.5 277.4 278.9 280.6 2.2 2.2 2.8 6.1 2.2 4.4 

Medical care services ............................................................. 337.7 338.6 340.4 342.4 6.0 4.9 2.6 5.7 5.5 4.2 

Professional services ........................................................... 282.1 283.3 284.6 285.4 4.4 4.8 1.1 4.8 4.6 2.9

Hospital and related services 3 ............................................ 440.0 441.1 444.5 449.6 7.4 5.7 1.3 9.0 6.6 5.1 

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—

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Feb.

2005

May

2005

Aug.

2005

Nov.

2005

May

2005

Nov.

2005

Expenditure category

Recreation 2 ............................................................................. 109.4 109.8 110.0 110.0 -0.4 1.9 0.4 2.2 0.7 1.3 

Video and audio 2 ................................................................... 104.3 104.8 104.7 104.5 -1.9 1.9 .0 .8 .0 .4 

Education and communication 2 .............................................. 113.6 114.4 114.3 114.8 1.8 2.5 .7 4.3 2.2 2.5 

Education 2 ............................................................................. 153.6 154.8 155.2 156.1 5.3 7.7 4.8 6.7 6.5 5.7 

Educational books and supplies ........................................... 365.3 371.7 373.6 375.8 .7 6.4 3.0 12.0 3.5 7.4 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare .............................. 443.9 447.0 448.0 450.6 5.6 7.8 5.1 6.2 6.7 5.6 

Communication 2 .................................................................... 84.0 84.6 84.2 84.4 -.9 -2.3 -4.2 1.9 -1.6 -1.2 

Information and information processing 1 2 .......................... 81.8 82.4 82.0 82.2 -1.0 -2.9 -4.3 2.0 -1.9 -1.2 

Telephone services 1 2 ....................................................... 94.1 95.1 94.6 95.2 .8 -1.3 -2.9 4.8 -.2 .8 

Information technology, hardware and services 1 5 ........... 13.4 13.3 13.3 13.1 -8.1 -5.6 -11.1 -8.7 -6.9 -9.9 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 1 2 .......... 12.4 12.3 12.2 12.0 -18.3 -8.6 -22.1 -12.3 -13.6 -17.4 

Other goods and services ........................................................ 314.7 315.0 315.3 316.4 4.4 2.2 3.1 2.2 3.3 2.6

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ........................................... 506.5 510.1 509.4 511.2 12.5 1.5 7.0 3.8 6.9 5.4 

Personal care ......................................................................... 186.3 186.1 186.4 187.1 2.4 2.2 2.2 1.7 2.3 2.0 

Personal care products 1 ...................................................... 155.2 154.8 155.0 155.0 .3 1.3 2.1 -.5 .8 .8 

Personal care services 1 ...................................................... 204.1 204.6 204.8 205.2 5.9 -.2 2.6 2.2 2.8 2.4 

Miscellaneous personal services .......................................... 304.2 305.0 305.6 306.5 2.3 4.1 2.7 3.1 3.2 2.9 

Commodity and service group

Commodities .............................................................................. 161.5 165.4 164.6 161.0 .3 6.0 6.2 -1.2 3.1 2.4 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 191.5 191.9 192.5 193.0 .6 3.9 1.1 3.2 2.2 2.1 

Commodities less food and beverages .................................... 144.3 149.6 148.1 142.9 -.3 7.4 9.7 -3.8 3.5 2.7 

Nondurables less food and beverages ................................... 173.2 182.5 180.3 171.5 -5.8 8.0 27.5 -3.9 .9 10.7 

Apparel ................................................................................. 119.4 119.3 118.8 119.0 -1.3 .7 -2.6 -1.3 -.3 -2.0 

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .................. 209.2 226.9 222.6 205.7 -3.1 19.3 27.2 -6.5 7.5 9.0 

Durables ................................................................................. 114.9 115.1 115.2 114.9 2.1 -.7 -2.4 .0 .7 -1.2 

Services ...................................................................................... 230.5 231.4 233.0 234.2 2.9 3.6 2.8 6.6 3.2 4.7 

Rent of shelter 4 ....................................................................... 234.3 233.8 235.1 235.8 3.2 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.4 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ..................................... 117.8 116.6 115.8 115.9 3.4 -2.3 -.7 -6.3 .5 -3.5 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ..................................................... 164.5 172.0 181.6 185.4 5.0 11.4 9.0 61.4 8.2 32.6 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ..................... 130.9 131.3 131.8 132.5 7.2 3.1 4.4 5.0 5.1 4.7 

Household operations 1 2 ......................................................... 130.7 131.0 131.6 132.5 5.1 3.5 3.1 5.6 4.3 4.4 

Transportation services ............................................................ 227.1 227.9 228.0 228.4 -.9 4.2 4.5 2.3 1.6 3.4 

Medical care services ............................................................... 337.7 338.6 340.4 342.4 6.0 4.9 2.6 5.7 5.5 4.2 

Other services .......................................................................... 268.6 270.3 270.7 271.7 2.6 3.2 1.5 4.7 2.9 3.1 

Special indexes

All items less food ...................................................................... 197.0 199.7 200.1 198.6 1.7 4.7 4.8 3.3 3.2 4.0 

All items less shelter ................................................................... 187.1 190.5 190.7 188.8 1.1 5.6 5.3 3.7 3.3 4.5 

All items less medical care ......................................................... 189.6 192.0 192.4 191.1 1.5 4.6 4.3 3.2 3.1 3.8 

Commodities less food ............................................................... 146.2 151.5 150.0 144.9 -.3 7.3 9.0 -3.5 3.4 2.5 

Nondurables less food ................................................................ 174.6 183.8 181.3 173.1 -5.0 7.6 25.1 -3.4 1.1 9.9 

Nondurables less food and apparel ............................................ 207.2 223.4 219.4 204.0 -2.5 17.6 24.6 -6.0 7.1 8.2 

Nondurables ............................................................................... 182.8 188.0 187.1 182.6 -2.3 6.6 12.5 -.4 2.1 5.8 

Services less rent of shelter 4 .................................................... 243.5 245.9 248.2 250.0 2.2 5.1 3.9 11.1 3.7 7.4 

Services less medical care services ........................................... 221.6 222.4 224.3 225.1 2.8 3.5 2.8 6.5 3.2 4.6 

Energy ........................................................................................ 182.7 204.6 204.1 187.8 -2.0 28.7 38.2 11.6 12.3 24.2 

All items less energy .................................................................. 199.0 199.3 199.8 200.3 1.8 2.7 1.2 2.6 2.3 1.9 

All items less food and energy ................................................. 201.2 201.4 201.9 202.4 2.4 2.2 1.4 2.4 2.3 1.9 

Commodities less food and energy commodities ................... 140.1 140.3 140.3 140.2 1.1 .6 -1.4 .3 .9 -.6 

Energy commodities ............................................................. 210.7 247.3 237.2 201.2 -7.4 44.8 66.4 -16.9 15.8 17.6 

Services less energy services ................................................ 237.2 237.5 238.3 239.2 2.8 2.9 2.4 3.4 2.9 2.9 

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.

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

Nov.2005 from—

Percent change to

Oct.2005 from—

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Nov.

2004

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Oct.

2004

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

U.S. city average ............................................ M 196.4 198.8 199.2 197.6 3.5 -0.6 -0.8 4.3 1.4 0.2 

Region and area size2

Northeast urban .............................................. M 208.7 210.8 211.5 210.0 3.7 -.4 -.7 4.4 1.3 .3 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 211.2 213.2 213.8 212.2 3.7 -.5 -.7 4.5 1.2 .3 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 123.0 124.5 125.2 124.3 3.5 -.2 -.7 4.2 1.8 .6 

Midwest urban ................................................ M 189.7 192.5 192.1 190.3 3.0 -1.1 -.9 4.1 1.3 -.2 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 191.5 193.8 193.7 192.1 2.8 -.9 -.8 3.7 1.1 -.1 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 120.9 123.1 122.6 121.3 3.1 -1.5 -1.1 4.4 1.4 -.4 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 184.6 187.2 186.8 185.0 4.1 -1.2 -1.0 5.5 1.2 -.2 

South urban .................................................... M 189.4 192.0 192.5 190.7 3.8 -.7 -.9 4.8 1.6 .3 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 191.0 193.9 194.5 192.9 4.3 -.5 -.8 5.1 1.8 .3 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 120.9 122.3 122.5 121.4 3.4 -.7 -.9 4.3 1.3 .2 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 188.6 191.9 193.6 190.7 4.5 -.6 -1.5 5.9 2.7 .9 

West urban ..................................................... M 199.6 201.7 202.6 201.4 3.2 -.1 -.6 3.9 1.5 .4 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 202.4 204.5 205.4 204.2 3.3 -.1 -.6 4.0 1.5 .4 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 122.0 123.1 123.6 122.8 2.9 -.2 -.6 3.7 1.3 .4 

Size classes

A 4 .............................................................. M 179.6 181.7 182.1 180.8 3.6 -.5 -.7 4.3 1.4 .2 

B/C 3 ........................................................... M 121.3 122.9 123.1 122.0 3.2 -.7 -.9 4.2 1.5 .2 

D ................................................................. M 188.7 191.5 192.2 190.2 3.9 -.7 -1.0 5.1 1.9 .4 

Selected local areas5

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI ................... M 195.8 198.3 197.9 197.3 3.5 -.5 -.3 3.7 1.1 -.2 

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA ... M 203.1 205.8 206.9 205.6 4.4 -.1 -.6 5.4 1.9 .5 

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

NY-NJ-CT-PA ......................................... M 214.1 215.8 216.6 215.3 3.9 -.2 -.6 4.5 1.2 .4 

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

 220.1 - 218.6 3.3 -.7 - - - -

Cleveland-Akron, OH ...................................... 1 - 191.6 - 189.9 3.7 -.9 - - - -

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

 188.9 - 187.8 4.4 -.6 - - - -

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV 6 ...... 1 - 126.7 - 125.4 3.7 -1.0 - - - -

Atlanta, GA ..................................................... 2 189.5 -

 193.9 - - - - 5.4 2.3 -

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI .............................. 2 192.2 -

 195.1 - - - - 4.0 1.5 -

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX .................... 2 175.5 - 179.2 - - - - 4.3 2.1 -

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL ............................. 2 195.6 -

 198.8 - - - - 6.3 1.6 -

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD ........................................ 2 206.6 -

 207.5 - - - - 3.6 .4 -

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA ........... 2 203.0 -

 205.9 - - - - 2.8 1.4 -

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA .................... 2 199.9 - 203.3 - - - - 3.5 1.7 -

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

2004

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Nov. 2005 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Nov.

2004

Oct.

2005

Aug. to

Sep.

Sep. to

Oct.

Oct. to

Nov.

Expenditure category

All items ...................................................................................... 100.000 195.2 193.4 3.5 -0.9 1.4 0.1 -0.8 

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

 581.5 576.1 - - - - -

Food and beverages ................................................................ 17.024 191.8 192.1 2.1 .2 .2 .3 .3 

Food ....................................................................................... 15.940 191.4 191.7 2.2 .2 .2 .3 .3 

Food at home ....................................................................... 9.540 189.9 190.1 1.5 .1 .2 .3 .4 

Cereals and bakery products ............................................. 1.342 209.2 208.9 1.0 -.1 -.3 .7 .2 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ............................................ 2.845 184.5 185.8 1.9 .7 .3 -.2 .8 

Dairy and related products ................................................. .962 182.4 183.3 1.4 .5 -1.2 .0 .8 

Fruits and vegetables ......................................................... 1.407 243.4 243.4 -1.2 .0 1.3 1.4 .0 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials .............. 1.051 144.9 144.8 4.2 -.1 1.0 -.2 .9 

Other food at home ............................................................ 1.934 167.7 166.9 1.9 -.5 .0 .4 -.2 

Sugar and sweets ............................................................. .311 165.6 165.7 2.2 .1 .9 .7 .6 

Fats and oils ..................................................................... .311 168.6 166.3 -.8 -1.4 1.0 -.8 .1 

Other foods 1 .................................................................... 1.312 184.1 183.4 2.3 -.4 -.4 .5 -.4 

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ....................................... .341 112.5 113.2 1.9 .6 -.2 .5 .6 

Food away from home 1 ....................................................... 6.400 195.1 195.5 3.2 .2 .2 .4 .2 

Other food away from home 2 ............................................ .251 133.3 133.5 5.3 .2 .1 .2 .3 

Alcoholic beverages 1 ............................................................ 1.084 196.5 197.0 1.4 .3 .4 .3 .3 

Housing .................................................................................... 38.973 194.1 194.4 4.3 .2 .5 .9 .5 

Shelter .................................................................................... 29.902 218.8 218.9 2.6 .0 -.1 .4 .3 

Rent of primary residence 3 ................................................. 8.025 218.4 219.1 3.2 .3 .3 .3 .3 

Lodging away from home 2 .................................................. 1.742 129.2 124.5 2.2 -3.6 -3.5 3.4 .9 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 3 4 ................. 19.795 210.2 210.7 2.4 .2 .1 .1 .2 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ................................. .339 116.0 116.2 -1.6 .2 -1.0 -.8 .2 

Fuels and utilities .................................................................... 5.288 191.0 193.0 17.3 1.0 4.1 4.2 1.5 

Fuels ..................................................................................... 4.336 173.5 175.5 20.0 1.2 4.9 5.0 1.7 

Fuel oil and other fuels ....................................................... .281 241.2 231.3 24.0 -4.1 11.8 1.3 -4.3 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ............................................... 4.055 178.8 181.6 19.7 1.6 4.3 5.3 2.2 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ................. .952 132.2 132.7 5.0 .4 .3 .5 .4 

Household furnishings and operations ................................... 3.783 121.8 121.8 .2 .0 .0 .2 .0 

Household operations 1 2 ..................................................... .321 134.5 135.3 4.7 .6 -.1 .7 .6 

Apparel ..................................................................................... 4.208 121.9 121.0 -1.3 -.7 -.3 -.4 .1 

Men’s and boys’ apparel ........................................................ 1.063 116.6 116.9 -1.4 .3 -1.0 .4 -.4 

Women’s and girls’ apparel .................................................... 1.664 114.3 113.4 -3.0 -.8 -.7 -.4 1.4 

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel ................................................. .242 118.7 117.8 -4.3 -.8 -1.4 -.2 -.6 

Footwear ................................................................................ .991 125.4 123.2 2.2 -1.8 1.1 -.9 -1.7 

Transportation .......................................................................... 19.845 183.7 174.7 5.4 -4.9 5.4 -1.4 -5.1 

Private transportation ............................................................. 19.072 181.1 171.9 5.3 -5.1 5.6 -1.5 -5.3 

New and used motor vehicles 2 ........................................... 9.146 94.9 94.9 1.0 .0 .3 -.1 -.4 

New vehicles ...................................................................... 4.725 138.2 139.1 .1 .7 .5 .5 -.1 

Used cars and trucks 1 ....................................................... 3.536 141.4 140.2 2.0 -.8 -.3 -.7 -.8 

Motor fuel ............................................................................. 4.843 238.0 200.5 16.4 -15.8 17.8 -4.3 -15.9 

Gasoline (all types) ............................................................. 4.803 236.8 199.4 16.2 -15.8 17.7 -4.2 -15.9 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ................................... .449 112.6 113.2 3.5 .5 .4 .3 .5 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair ................................. 1.357 212.4 213.1 4.0 .3 .7 .5 .2 

Public transportation ............................................................... .773 220.9 219.4 5.9 -.7 .3 1.7 -.1 

Medical care ............................................................................. 5.014 325.8 327.9 4.6 .6 .2 .6 .7 

Medical care commodities ...................................................... 1.126 271.8 273.4 3.2 .6 .1 .7 .8 

Medical care services ............................................................. 3.888 340.4 342.6 5.0 .6 .3 .6 .6 

Professional services ........................................................... 2.270 286.6 287.1 3.7 .2 .4 .4 .4 

Hospital and related services 3 ............................................ 1.276 439.8 446.4 6.0 1.5 .3 .9 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

2004

Unadjusted

indexes

Unadjusted

percent change to

Nov. 2005 from—

Seasonally adjusted

percent change from—

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Nov.

2004

Oct.

2005

Aug. to

Sep.

Sep. to

Oct.

Oct. to

Nov.

Expenditure category

Recreation 2 ............................................................................. 5.546 107.3 107.2 0.8 -0.1 0.4 0.3 -0.1 

Video and audio 2 ................................................................... 1.878 103.7 103.5 .2 -.2 .3 .0 -.2 

Education and communication 2 .............................................. 5.498 112.4 112.7 1.9 .3 .7 -.1 .4 

Education 2 ............................................................................. 2.361 155.3 155.5 5.9 .1 .6 .3 .7 

Educational books and supplies ........................................... .217 375.1 374.8 5.3 -.1 1.7 .5 .5 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare .............................. 2.145 439.7 440.3 5.9 .1 .5 .3 .6 

Communication 2 .................................................................... 3.137 85.9 86.2 -1.1 .3 .8 -.6 .3 

Information and information processing 1 2 .......................... 2.990 84.4 84.7 -1.2 .4 .8 -.5 .4 

Telephone services 1 2 ....................................................... 2.473 94.8 95.3 .2 .5 1.1 -.5 .5 

Information technology, hardware and services 1 5 ........... .517 13.8 13.7 -8.1 -.7 -.7 -.7 -.7 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 1 2 .......... .171 12.0 11.8 -15.1 -1.7 -.8 -.8 -1.7 

Other goods and services ........................................................ 3.891 324.5 325.4 3.3 .3 .2 .0 .3 

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ........................................... 1.244 511.3 513.2 6.4 .4 .7 -.2 .4 

Personal care ......................................................................... 2.648 184.7 185.1 1.9 .2 .0 .1 .3 

Personal care products 1 ...................................................... .712 155.0 154.9 .4 -.1 -.3 .0 -.1 

Personal care services 1 ...................................................... .611 205.0 205.5 2.4 .2 .2 .1 .2 

Miscellaneous personal services .......................................... 1.160 305.4 306.2 2.9 .3 .3 .2 .2 

Commodity and service group

Commodities .............................................................................. 44.809 166.8 162.8 3.0 -2.4 2.6 -.5 -2.4 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 17.024 191.8 192.1 2.1 .2 .2 .3 .3 

Commodities less food and beverages .................................... 27.786 151.8 145.9 3.5 -3.9 4.0 -1.0 -3.8 

Nondurables less food and beverages ................................... 15.322 188.2 176.1 6.1 -6.4 5.8 -1.3 -5.5 

Apparel ................................................................................. 4.208 121.9 121.0 -1.3 -.7 -.3 -.4 .1 

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .................. 11.113 233.5 214.2 9.0 -8.3 9.2 -2.0 -8.3 

Durables ................................................................................. 12.464 115.0 114.9 .1 -.1 .1 .2 -.3 

Services ...................................................................................... 55.191 228.6 229.3 4.0 .3 .5 .7 .5 

Rent of shelter 4 ....................................................................... 29.562 210.8 210.9 2.6 .0 .0 .4 .2 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ..................................... .339 116.0 116.2 -1.6 .2 -1.0 -.8 .2 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ..................................................... 4.055 178.8 181.6 19.7 1.6 4.3 5.3 2.2 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ..................... .952 132.2 132.7 5.0 .4 .3 .5 .4 

Household operations 1 2 ......................................................... .321 134.5 135.3 4.7 .6 -.1 .7 .6 

Transportation services ............................................................ 6.166 227.5 228.5 2.3 .4 .3 .0 .2 

Medical care services ............................................................... 3.888 340.4 342.6 5.0 .6 .3 .6 .6 

Other services .......................................................................... 9.907 262.6 263.2 2.7 .2 .6 .2 .4 

Special indexes

All items less food ...................................................................... 84.060 195.8 193.5 3.8 -1.2 1.7 .1 -1.0 

All items less shelter ................................................................... 70.098 188.7 186.2 4.0 -1.3 2.1 .1 -1.3 

All items less medical care ......................................................... 94.986 189.6 187.7 3.5 -1.0 1.4 .1 -.8 

Commodities less food ............................................................... 28.870 153.5 147.8 3.4 -3.7 3.8 -1.0 -3.7 

Nondurables less food ................................................................ 16.406 188.9 177.4 5.8 -6.1 5.5 -1.2 -5.1 

Nondurables less food and apparel ............................................ 12.197 229.3 211.8 8.4 -7.6 8.5 -1.9 -7.6 

Nondurables ............................................................................... 32.346 190.9 184.7 4.1 -3.2 3.0 -.5 -2.7 

Services less rent of shelter 4 .................................................... 25.628 220.4 221.7 5.7 .6 1.1 1.1 .7 

Services less medical care services ........................................... 51.303 220.1 220.7 4.0 .3 .4 .7 .5 

Energy ........................................................................................ 9.179 204.8 187.1 18.0 -8.6 12.3 -.5 -8.5 

All items less energy .................................................................. 90.821 194.8 195.0 2.0 .1 .1 .3 .2 

All items less food and energy ................................................. 74.881 195.9 196.1 2.0 .1 .1 .2 .2 

Commodities less food and energy commodities ................... 23.745 141.3 141.2 .4 -.1 .0 .0 -.1 

Energy commodities ............................................................. 5.124 239.0 202.8 16.8 -15.1 17.5 -4.0 -15.3 

Services less energy services ................................................ 51.136 234.0 234.4 2.8 .2 .1 .3 .3 

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

 $ .512 $ .517 - - - - -

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

 $ .172 $ .174 - - - - -

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. - 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—

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Feb.

2005

May

2005

Aug.

2005

Nov.

2005

May

2005

Nov.

2005

Expenditure category

All items ...................................................................................... 192.0 194.7 194.9 193.4 1.7 4.6 4.9 2.9 3.1 3.9 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 190.8 191.2 191.8 192.4 .4 3.9 .8 3.4 2.1 2.1

Food ....................................................................................... 190.4 190.8 191.4 192.0 .4 4.1 .8 3.4 2.2 2.1 

Food at home ....................................................................... 188.9 189.3 189.8 190.5 -1.7 5.2 -.8 3.4 1.7 1.3 

Cereals and bakery products ............................................. 209.0 208.3 209.7 210.2 .6 1.9 -.6 2.3 1.3 .9 

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs ............................................ 184.1 184.7 184.3 185.7 3.8 3.3 -3.0 3.5 3.5 .2 

Dairy and related products ................................................. 183.2 181.0 181.0 182.4 3.1 4.3 -.2 -1.7 3.7 -1.0 

Fruits and vegetables ......................................................... 238.2 241.3 244.6 244.5 -22.9 15.1 -3.1 11.0 -5.8 3.7 

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials .............. 143.7 145.1 144.8 146.1 1.7 9.7 -.8 6.8 5.6 2.9 

Other food at home ............................................................ 167.0 167.0 167.6 167.3 1.2 2.2 3.2 .7 1.7 1.9 

Sugar and sweets ............................................................. 163.5 164.9 166.0 167.0 -1.0 -2.7 4.3 8.8 -1.8 6.5

Fats and oils ..................................................................... 167.3 168.9 167.6 167.7 -1.2 -2.6 -.5 1.0 -1.9 .2 

Other foods 1 .................................................................... 184.0 183.2 184.1 183.4 2.3 4.7 3.8 -1.3 3.5 1.2 

Other miscellaneous foods 1 2 ....................................... 112.1 111.9 112.5 113.2 -.7 1.5 2.9 4.0 .4 3.4 

Food away from home 1 ....................................................... 194.0 194.4 195.1 195.5 3.6 2.5 3.4 3.1 3.1 3.2 

Other food away from home 2 ............................................ 132.6 132.7 132.9 133.3 6.1 4.4 8.9 2.1 5.3 5.5 

Alcoholic beverages 1 ............................................................ 195.3 196.0 196.5 197.0 2.1 .2 .0 3.5 1.1 1.7 

Housing .................................................................................... 191.4 192.4 194.2 195.1 3.0 3.4 3.0 8.0 3.2 5.4 

Shelter .................................................................................... 218.1 217.9 218.7 219.4 3.0 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.4 

Rent of primary residence 3 ................................................. 217.1 217.7 218.4 219.1 3.0 2.8 3.0 3.7 2.9 3.4 

Lodging away from home 2 .................................................. 129.6 125.1 129.4 130.6 5.1 -.9 1.2 3.1 2.0 2.2 

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence 3 4 ................. 209.5 209.7 210.0 210.5 3.1 1.9 2.5 1.9 2.5 2.2 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ................................. 118.1 116.9 116.0 116.2 2.7 -2.0 -.7 -6.3 .3 -3.5 

Fuels and utilities .................................................................... 177.0 184.2 192.0 194.9 3.9 11.7 10.3 47.0 7.7 27.4 

Fuels ..................................................................................... 158.5 166.2 174.5 177.5 3.0 13.8 11.6 57.3 8.3 32.5 

Fuel oil and other fuels ....................................................... 216.5 242.1 245.3 234.8 -23.0 39.2 59.7 38.3 3.5 48.6 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ............................................... 163.6 170.7 179.7 183.6 5.0 12.4 8.8 58.6 8.6 31.3 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ................. 131.2 131.6 132.2 132.7 7.8 2.8 4.7 4.7 5.3 4.7 

Household furnishings and operations ................................... 121.6 121.6 121.9 121.9 .3 2.3 -2.6 1.0 1.3 -.8 

Household operations 1 2 ..................................................... 133.6 133.5 134.5 135.3 5.0 4.4 4.3 5.2 4.7 4.7 

Apparel ..................................................................................... 119.1 118.7 118.2 118.3 .3 -.7 -2.3 -2.7 -.2 -2.5 

Men’s and boys’ apparel ........................................................ 115.3 114.1 114.6 114.1 4.9 -.3 -5.7 -4.1 2.3 -4.9 

Women’s and girls’ apparel .................................................... 109.8 109.0 108.6 110.1 -8.9 .7 -4.6 1.1 -4.2 -1.8 

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel ................................................. 118.0 116.4 116.2 115.5 3.4 1.7 -13.1 -8.2 2.5 -10.7 

Footwear ................................................................................ 122.8 124.2 123.1 121.0 13.1 -3.2 5.4 -5.7 4.6 -.3 

Transportation .......................................................................... 176.7 186.2 183.6 174.2 -.2 11.6 17.3 -5.5 5.5 5.2 

Private transportation ............................................................. 174.0 183.7 180.9 171.3 .0 11.5 17.6 -6.1 5.6 5.1 

New and used motor vehicles 2 ........................................... 94.9 95.2 95.1 94.7 2.1 .9 1.3 -.8 1.5 .2 

New vehicles ...................................................................... 137.4 138.1 138.8 138.7 4.1 -1.4 -5.6 3.8 1.3 -1.0 

Used cars and trucks 1 ....................................................... 142.9 142.4 141.4 140.2 2.6 3.5 9.8 -7.3 3.1 .9 

Motor fuel ............................................................................. 209.8 247.1 236.5 198.9 -6.4 45.1 67.2 -19.2 16.5 16.2 

Gasoline (all types) ............................................................. 208.9 245.8 235.4 197.9 -6.6 46.0 66.5 -19.5 16.7 15.8 

Motor vehicle parts and equipment 1 ................................... 111.9 112.3 112.6 113.2 3.7 .4 5.2 4.7 2.0 4.9 

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair ................................. 209.9 211.3 212.4 212.9 2.0 4.7 3.5 5.8 3.3 4.7 

Public transportation ............................................................... 218.2 218.8 222.5 222.3 -5.6 13.4 9.3 7.7 3.5 8.5 

Medical care ............................................................................. 323.6 324.4 326.3 328.6 5.2 4.7 2.1 6.3 5.0 4.2 

Medical care commodities ...................................................... 269.6 270.0 271.8 273.9 1.7 1.8 2.9 6.5 1.7 4.7 

Medical care services ............................................................. 338.2 339.1 341.0 343.2 6.3 5.5 2.0 6.0 5.9 4.0 

Professional services ........................................................... 285.0 286.1 287.2 288.3 4.1 4.3 1.8 4.7 4.2 3.3

Hospital and related services 3 ............................................ 435.7 436.8 440.6 446.4 7.7 6.0 .6 10.2 6.9 5.3 

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—

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Feb.

2005

May

2005

Aug.

2005

Nov.

2005

May

2005

Nov.

2005

Expenditure category

Recreation 2 ............................................................................. 106.8 107.2 107.5 107.4 -0.4 1.9 -0.4 2.3 0.8 0.9 

Video and audio 2 ................................................................... 103.7 104.0 104.0 103.8 -1.5 1.6 .4 .4 .0 .4 

Education and communication 2 .............................................. 111.1 111.9 111.8 112.3 1.8 1.8 -.4 4.4 1.8 2.0 

Education 2 ............................................................................. 151.9 152.8 153.3 154.3 5.3 6.9 4.9 6.5 6.1 5.7 

Educational books and supplies ........................................... 366.6 372.9 374.7 376.7 .8 7.1 2.0 11.5 3.9 6.6 

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare .............................. 430.0 432.2 433.6 436.4 5.7 7.2 4.9 6.1 6.4 5.5 

Communication 2 .................................................................... 85.7 86.4 85.9 86.2 -.9 -2.3 -3.6 2.4 -1.6 -.7 

Information and information processing 1 2 .......................... 84.1 84.8 84.4 84.7 -.9 -2.3 -4.2 2.9 -1.6 -.7 

Telephone services 1 2 ....................................................... 94.3 95.3 94.8 95.3 .8 -1.7 -2.5 4.3 -.4 .8 

Information technology, hardware and services 1 5 ........... 14.0 13.9 13.8 13.7 -7.8 -8.0 -8.1 -8.3 -7.9 -8.2 

Personal computers and peripheral equipment 1 2 .......... 12.2 12.1 12.0 11.8 -16.2 -8.7 -22.4 -12.5 -12.5 -17.6 

Other goods and services ........................................................ 323.8 324.6 324.5 325.6 5.4 1.5 4.1 2.2 3.5 3.1

Tobacco and smoking products 1 ........................................... 508.5 512.2 511.3 513.2 12.5 1.5 8.1 3.7 6.8 5.9 

Personal care ......................................................................... 184.6 184.6 184.7 185.3 2.2 1.5 2.2 1.5 1.9 1.9 

Personal care products 1 ...................................................... 155.4 155.0 155.0 154.9 -.3 .8 2.4 -1.3 .3 .5 

Personal care services 1 ...................................................... 204.4 204.8 205.0 205.5 5.5 -.4 2.6 2.2 2.5 2.4 

Miscellaneous personal services .......................................... 304.6 305.4 306.1 306.8 1.6 5.0 2.3 2.9 3.3 2.6 

Commodity and service group

Commodities .............................................................................. 163.0 167.2 166.3 162.3 .3 6.5 7.2 -1.7 3.3 2.6 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 190.8 191.2 191.8 192.4 .4 3.9 .8 3.4 2.1 2.1

Commodities less food and beverages .................................... 146.8 152.6 151.0 145.2 .0 8.2 11.1 -4.3 4.0 3.1 

Nondurables less food and beverages ................................... 178.7 189.0 186.6 176.4 -5.6 8.6 30.2 -5.0 1.2 11.2 

Apparel ................................................................................. 119.1 118.7 118.2 118.3 .3 -.7 -2.3 -2.7 -.2 -2.5 

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel .................. 218.0 238.0 233.3 214.0 -3.2 21.0 29.9 -7.1 8.2 9.8 

Durables ................................................................................. 115.0 115.1 115.3 115.0 1.8 -.3 -1.0 .0 .7 -.5 

Services ...................................................................................... 226.0 227.1 228.7 229.8 3.1 3.3 2.9 6.9 3.2 4.9 

Rent of shelter 4 ....................................................................... 210.0 209.9 210.8 211.3 3.1 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.8 2.4 

Tenants’ and household insurance 1 2 ..................................... 118.1 116.9 116.0 116.2 2.7 -2.0 -.7 -6.3 .3 -3.5 

Gas (piped) and electricity 3 ..................................................... 163.6 170.7 179.7 183.6 5.0 12.4 8.8 58.6 8.6 31.3 

Water and sewer and trash collection services 2 ..................... 131.2 131.6 132.2 132.7 7.8 2.8 4.7 4.7 5.3 4.7 

Household operations 1 2 ......................................................... 133.6 133.5 134.5 135.3 5.0 4.4 4.3 5.2 4.7 4.7 

Transportation services ............................................................ 227.2 227.8 227.9 228.3 -.2 3.3 4.2 2.0 1.5 3.0 

Medical care services ............................................................... 338.2 339.1 341.0 343.2 6.3 5.5 2.0 6.0 5.9 4.0 

Other services .......................................................................... 260.1 261.7 262.1 263.1 2.2 2.8 1.1 4.7 2.5 2.9 

Special indexes

All items less food ...................................................................... 192.1 195.3 195.4 193.5 1.9 4.8 5.6 2.9 3.4 4.3 

All items less shelter ................................................................... 184.5 188.3 188.4 186.0 1.1 5.7 5.8 3.3 3.4 4.6 

All items less medical care ......................................................... 186.4 189.1 189.3 187.7 1.6 4.7 5.1 2.8 3.1 3.9 

Commodities less food ............................................................... 148.6 154.3 152.7 147.0 .3 7.5 10.9 -4.2 3.8 3.1 

Nondurables less food ................................................................ 179.8 189.6 187.4 177.8 -5.1 7.7 28.4 -4.4 1.1 10.8 

Nondurables less food and apparel ............................................ 215.2 233.5 229.1 211.6 -2.8 19.4 27.3 -6.5 7.7 9.1 

Nondurables ............................................................................... 185.4 191.0 190.1 184.9 -2.0 6.0 14.1 -1.1 1.9 6.2 

Services less rent of shelter 4 .................................................... 216.0 218.3 220.6 222.2 2.5 4.8 3.6 12.0 3.6 7.7 

Services less medical care services ........................................... 217.7 218.6 220.1 221.2 2.7 3.2 3.4 6.6 2.9 5.0 

Energy ........................................................................................ 183.3 205.8 204.7 187.3 -2.2 30.0 39.7 9.0 12.7 23.4 

All items less energy .................................................................. 193.9 194.1 194.6 195.0 2.1 2.3 1.5 2.3 2.2 1.9 

All items less food and energy ................................................. 195.0 195.2 195.6 196.0 2.5 2.1 1.4 2.1 2.3 1.8 

Commodities less food and energy commodities ................... 140.7 140.7 140.7 140.6 1.7 .6 -.3 -.3 1.1 -.3 

Energy commodities ............................................................. 210.9 247.8 237.9 201.4 -7.4 44.8 66.7 -16.8 15.8 17.8 

Services less energy services ................................................ 232.9 233.2 233.9 234.7 3.0 2.6 2.4 3.1 2.8 2.8 

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.

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

Nov.2005 from—

Percent change to

Oct.2005 from—

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Nov.

2005

Nov.

2004

Sep.

2005

Oct.

2005

Oct.

2004

Aug.

2005

Sep.

2005

U.S. city average ............................................ M 192.1 195.0 195.2 193.4 3.5 -0.8 -0.9 4.7 1.6 0.1 

Region and area size2

Northeast urban .............................................. M 204.8 207.9 208.1 206.5 3.6 -.7 -.8 4.6 1.6 .1 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 206.0 209.0 208.9 207.3 3.5 -.8 -.8 4.6 1.4 .0 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 122.9 124.8 125.4 124.4 3.5 -.3 -.8 4.4 2.0 .5 

Midwest urban ................................................ M 185.1 188.2 187.6 185.6 3.2 -1.4 -1.1 4.5 1.4 -.3 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 186.1 188.7 188.5 186.7 3.0 -1.1 -1.0 4.1 1.3 -.1 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 120.5 122.9 122.2 120.6 3.2 -1.9 -1.3 4.8 1.4 -.6 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 182.5 185.6 184.9 183.0 4.5 -1.4 -1.0 6.0 1.3 -.4 

South urban .................................................... M 186.6 189.8 190.2 188.0 4.0 -.9 -1.2 5.3 1.9 .2 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 189.2 192.6 193.2 191.1 4.7 -.8 -1.1 5.9 2.1 .3 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 119.5 121.3 121.4 120.0 3.4 -1.1 -1.2 4.7 1.6 .1 

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less than

50,000) ............................................... M 188.8 192.6 194.4 191.0 4.8 -.8 -1.7 6.6 3.0 .9 

West urban ..................................................... M 194.9 197.1 197.8 196.4 3.3 -.4 -.7 4.1 1.5 .4 

Size A - More than 1,500,000 ..................... M 196.1 198.4 199.1 197.7 3.4 -.4 -.7 4.2 1.5 .4 

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000 3 ................ M 121.6 122.8 123.2 122.4 2.9 -.3 -.6 3.8 1.3 .3 

Size classes

A 4 .............................................................. M 178.1 180.7 180.9 179.3 3.6 -.8 -.9 4.7 1.6 .1 

B/C 3 ........................................................... M 120.5 122.4 122.4 121.2 3.3 -1.0 -1.0 4.4 1.6 .0 

D ................................................................. M 187.3 190.7 191.3 189.0 4.4 -.9 -1.2 5.8 2.1 .3 

Selected local areas5

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI ................... M 189.2 192.2 191.9 191.1 3.7 -.6 -.4 4.3 1.4 -.2 

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA ... M 196.4 199.0 200.0 198.4 4.3 -.3 -.8 5.4 1.8 .5 

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

NY-NJ-CT-PA ......................................... M 208.3 211.0 211.0 209.9 3.8 -.5 -.5 4.5 1.3 .0 

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

 220.2 - 217.7 3.2 -1.1 - - - -

Cleveland-Akron, OH ...................................... 1 - 183.1 - 180.8 4.0 -1.3 - - - -

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

 190.8 - 188.9 4.7 -1.0 - - - -

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV 6 ...... 1 - 127.2 - 125.2 4.0 -1.6 - - - -

Atlanta, GA ..................................................... 2 188.3 -

 193.1 - - - - 6.3 2.5 -

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI .............................. 2 187.7 -

 190.5 - - - - 4.1 1.5 -

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX .................... 2 174.4 - 178.4 - - - - 5.3 2.3 -

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL ............................. 2 193.8 -

 197.4 - - - - 6.6 1.9 -

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD ........................................ 2 206.0 -

 207.6 - - - - 3.9 .8 -

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA ........... 2 199.5 -

 202.6 - - - - 3.2 1.6 -

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA .................... 2 195.3 - 198.6 - - - - 3.7 1.7 -

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,

2001-2002

 Unadjusted

 indexes

 Unadjusted

 percent change to

 Nov. 2005 from—

 Oct.

 2005

 Nov.

 2005

 Nov.

 2004

 Oct.

 2005

Expenditure category

All items ...................................................................................... 100.000 115.0 114.4 2.8 -0.5 

Food and beverages ................................................................ 15.076 114.3 114.5 2.2 .2 

Food ....................................................................................... 14.086 114.4 114.6 2.2 .2 

Food at home ....................................................................... 8.062 112.4 112.4 1.5 .0 

Food away from home .......................................................... 6.023 117.1 117.4 3.2 .3 

Alcoholic beverages ............................................................... .990 113.6 113.7 1.5 .1 

Housing .................................................................................... 41.793 118.9 118.8 3.4 -.1 

Shelter .................................................................................... 32.380 119.0 118.9 2.5 -.1 

Fuels and utilities .................................................................... 4.643 146.3 147.3 15.1 .7 

Household furnishings and operations ................................... 4.771 96.1 96.2 -.2 .1 

Apparel ..................................................................................... 4.317 92.1 91.4 -1.5 -.8 

Transportation .......................................................................... 17.315 118.5 115.1 4.1 -2.9 

Private transportation ............................................................. 16.206 119.1 115.5 3.9 -3.0 

Public transportation ............................................................... 1.109 110.2 109.2 5.8 -.9 

Medical care ............................................................................. 5.783 127.5 128.2 4.3 .5 

Medical care commodities ...................................................... 1.466 118.4 119.0 3.2 .5 

Medical care services ............................................................. 4.317 130.6 131.4 4.7 .6 

Recreation ................................................................................ 5.978 104.0 103.8 .3 -.2 

Education and communication ................................................. 6.004 101.1 101.3 .9 .2 

Education ............................................................................... 2.560 144.8 144.9 6.0 .1 

Communication ...................................................................... 3.444 76.1 76.3 -2.7 .3 

Other goods and services ........................................................ 3.734 117.5 117.8 2.8 .3 

Commodity and service group

Services ...................................................................................... 58.567 121.1 121.3 3.6 .2 

Commodities .............................................................................. 41.433 107.3 105.8 1.8 -1.4 

Durables ................................................................................... 12.521 87.3 87.2 -.9 -.1 

Nondurables ............................................................................... 28.912 117.1 114.9 3.0 -1.9 

All items less food and energy ................................................. 78.985 110.8 110.8 1.7 .0 

Energy ........................................................................................ 6.929 174.3 162.0 17.0 -7.1 

Indexes for 2005 are initial estimates. Indexes for 2004 are interim adjustments.

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