Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-12-0666

8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, April 13, 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 – MARCH 2012 

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

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

the all items index increased 2.7 percent before seasonal adjustment. 

The indexes for food, energy, and all items less food and energy all increased in March. The gasoline 

index continued to rise, more than offsetting a decline in the household energy index and leading to a 0.9 

percent increase in the energy index. The food index rose 0.2 percent as the index for meats, poultry, 

fish, and eggs increased notably. 

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

February. Most of the major components increased in March, with the indexes for shelter and used cars 

and trucks accounting for about half the total increase for all items less food and energy. The indexes for 

medical care, apparel, recreation, new vehicles, and airline fares increased as well, while the indexes for 

tobacco and household furnishings and operations were among the few to decline in March. 

The all items index has risen 2.7 percent over the last 12 months, a decline from last month’s 2.9 percent 

figure. The energy index has risen 4.6 percent and the food index has increased 3.3 percent; both 

increases are smaller than last month. In contrast, the 12-month change in the index for all items less 

food and energy, which was 2.2 percent last month, edged up to 2.3 percent in March. 

 

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

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

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

Percent change

 0.5

 0.4

 0.3

 0.1

 0.3 0.3 0.3

 0.0

 0.1

 0.0

 0.2

 0.4

 0.3
-2-

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

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

Consumer Price Index Data for March 2012 

Food 

The food index rose 0.2 percent in March after being unchanged in February. The index for food at 

home, unchanged in February, rose 0.1 percent in March. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs 

rose 0.8 percent, its largest increase since May. The index for other food at home also rose in March, 

increasing 0.3 percent. The other four major grocery store food groups declined. The fruits and 

vegetables index fell 0.4 percent, its sixth consecutive decline, as the fresh vegetables index fell 1.6 

percent. The index for cereals and bakery products fell 0.2 percent, as did the index for nonalcoholic 

beverages. The index for dairy and related products fell 0.1 percent, its fourth decline in five months. 

The food at home index has risen 3.6 percent over the last 12 months; this was its smallest 12-month 

change since last March. The fruits and vegetables index has declined 3.9 percent over that period, its 

largest 12-month decline since November 2009. The other five major grocery store food group indexes 

have increased over the past year, with the dairy group posting the largest increase at 6.3 percent. The 

index for food away from home rose 0.2 percent in March after a 0.1 percent increase in February and 

has risen 3.0 percent over the last 12 months. 

Energy

The energy index, which rose 3.2 percent in February, increased 0.9 percent in March. The gasoline 

index rose 1.7 percent following its 6.0 percent February increase. (Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline 

prices increased 8.1 percent in March.) The fuel oil index also continued to rise, increasing 2.7 percent 

in March after rising 2.8 percent in February. In contrast, the index for energy services (comprised of 

electricity and natural gas) fell 0.4 percent. The natural gas index rose 0.9 percent after declining in each 

of the previous five months. The electricity index, however, fell 0.8 percent, its largest decline since 

June. Over the last 12 months, the gasoline index has risen 9.0 percent and the fuel oil index has 

increased 5.3 percent. The electricity index, however, has only increased 0.6 percent and the index for 

natural gas has declined 9.1 percent. 

All items less food and energy 

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in March after a 0.1 percent increase 

in February. The shelter index increased 0.2 percent, the sixth straight such increase, with the indexes 

for rent and owners’ equivalent rent both increasing 0.2 percent. The index for used cars and trucks rose 

sharply in March, increasing 1.3 percent after declining in each of the previous six months. The medical 

care index rose 0.3 percent in March, with the index for medical care commodities increasing 0.4 

percent and the medical care services index advancing 0.3 percent. The apparel index rose 0.5 percent 

after declining in February; similarly, the index for recreation rose 0.2 percent after a February decline 

as the index for recreation services rose 0.4 percent. Other increases in March included the indexes for 

new vehicles (0.2 percent), airline fares (0.4 percent), and personal care (0.4 percent). In contrast, the 

index for tobacco fell 0.3 percent in March, and the indexes for household furnishings and operations 

and for alcoholic beverages both declined 0.2 percent. 

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

shelter has risen 2.1 percent over the period. The apparel index has risen 4.9 percent, the medical care 

index has increased 3.5 percent, and the index for new vehicles has risen 2.5 percent. 
-4-

Not seasonally adjusted CPI measures

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 2.7 percent over the last 12 

months to an index level of 229.392 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.8 percent prior 

to seasonal adjustment. 

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 2.9

percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 226.304 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index 

increased 0.9 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) increased 2.4 percent over the 

last 12 months. For the month, the index increased 0.6 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 April 2012 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 

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

Redesigning the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Press Release Tables 

The format of the tables contained in the CPI news release changed beginning with this CPI news 

release for March, 2012. News release tables are part of the news release pdf and html files, and are 

available independently in html format. The new tables are also 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.

In August 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) restructured the text of the CPI news 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 news release text was also updated in August 2009 

to reflect this new structure. Before August 2009, the text of the CPI news 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 news release was restructured in 2009, seven additional CPI news release 

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

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

categories, CPI item series are further divided into commodities and services. 

Beyond the redesign in the structure of the CPI news 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). 

The new Table 2 shows 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 shows 

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

food and energy structure. 

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

Table 5 shows 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 focuses on 1-month seasonally adjusted changes in the CPI-U, while table 7 focuses on 12-

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

users better interpret index changes. First, these tables 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 
-6-

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 are 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 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 previous tables showed the ‘relative importance’, or weight, of each item 

category as of the previous December. The relative importance columns in the new tables are improved 

in that they are updated monthly to reflect the change in relative prices over time. 

Finally, there are no longer any news 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 news 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. 

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 
-7-

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 

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. 
-8-

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 are shown below. 

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

and Vermont. 

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

and Wisconsin. 

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

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

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

Washington, and Wyoming. 

A Note on Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Data 

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

publishes seasonally adjusted as well as unadjusted changes each month. 

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

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

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

cycles, model changeovers, holidays, and sales. 

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

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

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

before adjustment for seasonal variation. 
-9-

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. 

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,

March 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted indexes Unadjusted percent

change

Seasonally adjusted percent

change

Mar.

2011

Feb.

2012

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

All items................................................ 100.000 223.467 227.663 229.392 2.7 0.8 0.2 0.4 0.3

Food.................................................. 14.255 225.350 232.486 232.792 3.3 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.2

Food at home.................................... 8.608 223.430 231.180 231.383 3.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

Cereals and bakery products................ 1.240 255.482 267.821 267.101 4.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.2 -0.2

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs............... 1.941 218.808 228.610 230.485 5.3 0.8 0.2 -0.2 0.8

Dairy and related products1 ................. 0.912 206.161 219.377 219.131 6.3 -0.1 0.9 -0.5 -0.1

Fruits and vegetables......................... 1.264 290.279 281.072 279.057 -3.9 -0.7 -1.3 -0.5 -0.4

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage

materials..................................... 0.960 165.038 169.758 169.513 2.7 -0.1 -0.3 0.0 -0.2

Other food at home........................... 2.291 194.747 204.001 204.574 5.0 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.3

Food away from home1 ........................ 5.648 229.282 235.603 236.073 3.0 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.2

Energy............................................... 10.022 242.516 242.663 253.599 4.6 4.5 0.2 3.2 0.9

Energy commodities............................. 6.222 307.589 310.685 334.427 8.7 7.6 0.9 5.7 1.7

Fuel oil1 ........................................ 0.237 375.042 384.747 395.016 5.3 2.7 1.4 2.8 2.7

Motor fuel...................................... 5.872 303.565 306.348 330.834 9.0 8.0 0.8 6.0 1.7

Gasoline (all types)......................... 5.681 302.574 305.076 329.780 9.0 8.1 0.9 6.0 1.7

Energy services2 ................................ 3.800 190.213 187.962 186.784 -1.8 -0.6 -0.8 -0.8 -0.4

Electricity2 ..................................... 2.894 191.028 193.183 192.148 0.6 -0.5 0.0 0.0 -0.8

Utility (piped) gas service2 .................. 0.907 185.110 169.753 168.196 -9.1 -0.9 -2.9 -3.4 0.9

All items less food and energy................... 75.722 223.690 227.865 228.735 2.3 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2

Commodities less food and energy

commodities................................... 19.773 144.632 146.628 147.644 2.1 0.7 0.2 0.1 0.2

Apparel......................................... 3.527 121.286 123.312 127.258 4.9 3.2 0.9 -0.9 0.5

New vehicles.................................. 3.197 140.860 144.326 144.350 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.2

Used cars and trucks......................... 1.882 144.072 147.011 148.677 3.2 1.1 -1.0 -0.2 1.3

Medical care commodities1 ................. 1.725 322.691 331.867 333.188 3.3 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4

Alcoholic beverages.......................... 0.953 225.693 230.704 230.193 2.0 -0.2 0.8 0.3 -0.2

Tobacco and smoking products1 ........... 0.798 830.693 847.880 845.760 1.8 -0.3 0.5 -0.4 -0.3

Services less energy services................. 55.949 271.468 277.027 277.780 2.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2

Shelter.......................................... 31.413 250.310 254.931 255.609 2.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Rent of primary residence2 ............... 6.453 252.145 258.184 258.569 2.5 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences2 ,

3 ........................................... 23.823 258.263 262.812 263.317 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2

Medical care services........................ 5.358 420.852 434.832 435.721 3.5 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3

Physicians’ services2 ...................... 1.600 339.532 343.564 343.867 1.3 0.1 -0.1 -0.5 0.2

Hospital services2,4 ...................... 1.522 238.223 250.560 250.638 5.2 0.0 0.3 -0.1 0.2

Transportation services...................... 5.739 266.754 269.535 270.604 1.4 0.4 0.0 -0.2 0.3

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair1

.......................................................... 1.151 250.820 256.968 256.616 2.3 -0.1 0.3 0.2 -0.1

Motor vehicle insurance................... 2.401 385.479 395.516 396.393 2.8 0.2 0.1 -0.2 0.5

Airline fare................................... 0.759 306.256 298.477 303.843 -0.8 1.8 -0.9 -0.1 0.4

1 Not seasonally adjusted.

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

3 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

4 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

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

March 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

All items.................................................................. 100.000 2.7 0.8 0.2 0.4 0.3

Food.................................................................... 14.255 3.3 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.2

Food at home...................................................... 8.608 3.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

Cereals and bakery products.................................. 1.240 4.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.2 -0.2

Cereals and cereal products................................ 0.478 4.1 -0.3 0.0 -0.4 -0.3

Flour and prepared flour mixes.......................... 0.053 7.3 0.6 -1.3 -0.7 1.6

Breakfast cereal1 .......................................... 0.292 3.6 0.0 -0.3 -0.3 0.0

Rice, pasta, cornmeal1 ................................... 0.133 3.9 -1.3 0.3 -0.3 -1.3

Rice1,2,3 .............................................. 3.5 -1.4 1.6 -0.7 -1.4

Bakery products............................................ 0.762 4.9 -0.2 -0.3 0.8 -0.2

Bread2 ................................................... 0.223 5.6 0.0 -1.0 1.1 -0.4

White bread1,3 ...................................... 5.0 -0.6 -1.4 1.8 -0.6

Bread other than white1,3 ......................... 5.9 -0.2 -2.4 1.8 -0.2

Fresh biscuits, rolls, muffins1,2 ...................... 0.114 3.9 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.1

Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies........................ 0.184 5.6 0.0 0.3 0.6 0.3

Cookies1,3 ........................................... 5.0 -0.7 1.2 0.4 -0.6

Fresh cakes and cupcakes1,3 .................... 6.8 0.6 -1.2 1.6 0.6

Other bakery products.................................. 0.241 3.9 -0.8 0.2 0.6 -0.6

Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts1,3 . .. 7.8 -0.1 1.9 0.7 -0.1

Crackers, bread, and cracker products3 .......... 3.6 -2.0 -0.8 1.6 -1.7

Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies,

tarts, turnovers3 ................................... 3.0 0.5 0.6 -0.5 0.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs................................. 1.941 5.3 0.8 0.2 -0.2 0.8

Meats, poultry, and fish...................................... 1.833 5.4 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.7

Meats........................................................ 1.194 5.4 0.8 -0.1 0.4 0.5

Beef and veal1 .......................................... 0.551 6.8 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.8

Uncooked ground beef1 ............................ 0.216 6.7 0.4 1.8 1.0 0.4

Uncooked beef roasts1,2 .......................... 0.081 5.9 0.0 -0.3 1.1 0.0

Uncooked beef steaks1,2 .......................... 0.202 7.3 1.4 1.0 -0.9 1.4

Uncooked other beef and veal1,2 ................ 0.051 7.1 1.2 1.0 -0.4 1.2

Pork....................................................... 0.374 3.4 0.7 -1.1 0.3 -0.2

Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products2

............................................................................ 0.143 4.3 -0.4 -0.8 0.8 0.2

Bacon and related products3 .................... 8.5 -0.5 0.0 0.1 0.5

Breakfast sausage and related products1,2,3

............................................................................ 1.3 -0.9 -0.5 2.2 -0.9

Ham.................................................... 0.077 3.0 4.7 -2.2 -0.5 2.4

Ham, excluding canned3 ......................... 2.6 5.3 -2.0 -0.9 2.5

Pork chops............................................ 0.061 1.6 -0.1 -0.4 -2.2 -0.4

Other pork including roasts and picnics2 ......... 0.093 3.6 -0.4 -1.6 0.3 -1.2

Other meats.............................................. 0.268 5.7 0.7 -1.1 1.0 0.7

Frankfurters3 ......................................... 6.5 1.6 -3.5 2.3 0.7

Lunchmeats1,2,3 .................................. 4.5 0.2 -0.7 0.4 0.2

Lamb and organ meats1,3 ........................ 5.4 0.2 -0.3 1.0 0.2

Lamb and mutton1,2,3 ............................ 15.4 0.5 -3.1 3.4 0.5

Poultry.................................................... 0.337 6.5 1.4 1.1 0.3 1.4

Chicken2 .............................................. 0.262 5.3 1.3 1.2 0.1 1.3

Fresh whole chicken1,3 ......................... 8.7 1.5 -1.1 0.6 1.5

Fresh and frozen chicken parts1,3 ............ 4.3 1.4 -0.1 0.4 1.4

Other poultry including turkey2 ..................... 0.075 11.2 1.5 -0.1 1.7 1.5

Fish and seafood1 ...................................... 0.303 3.9 0.6 -0.3 -0.7 1.0

Fresh fish and seafood1,2 ......................... 0.156 1.9 0.9 0.6 -1.5 0.9

Processed fish and seafood2 ...................... 0.146 6.3 0.2 0.0 -0.9 1.7

Shelf stable fish and seafood1,3 ............... 3.6 -0.2 1.1 -0.3 -0.2

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Frozen fish and seafood1,3 ..................... 5.7 0.2 -0.6 -1.5 0.2

Eggs......................................................... 0.108 5.1 0.5 1.8 -6.4 2.3

Dairy and related products1 ................................... 0.912 6.3 -0.1 0.9 -0.5 -0.1

Milk1,2 ........................................................ 0.295 4.0 -0.4 0.7 -1.3 -0.4

Fresh whole milk1,3 ..................................... 3.7 -0.2 0.2 -1.1 -0.2

Fresh milk other than whole1,2,3 ..................... 4.1 -0.5 1.1 -1.5 -0.5

Cheese and related products1 ............................. 0.293 8.7 -0.2 0.2 -0.4 -0.6

Ice cream and related products............................ 0.137 6.4 0.5 0.9 -1.4 1.8

Other dairy and related products2 ......................... 0.188 6.2 0.2 -0.2 0.5 0.3

Fruits and vegetables........................................... 1.264 -3.9 -0.7 -1.3 -0.5 -0.4

Fresh fruits and vegetables................................. 0.956 -6.6 -0.7 -1.4 -1.0 -0.4

Fresh fruits.................................................. 0.495 0.1 -0.4 -1.8 1.3 0.7

Apples.................................................... 0.085 3.3 -1.8 0.8 -0.7 -1.5

Bananas.................................................. 0.082 -0.4 -0.2 -0.6 -2.1 0.6

Citrus fruits2 ............................................. 0.103 -5.4 -0.1 -2.3 -1.4 1.4

Oranges, including tangerines3 .................... 0.1 0.4 -0.9 -3.5 2.0

Other fresh fruits2 ...................................... 0.225 1.2 -0.2 -3.1 4.8 1.5

Fresh vegetables.......................................... 0.462 -12.6 -1.1 -1.0 -3.5 -1.6

Potatoes.................................................. 0.083 1.0 0.8 -1.6 1.3 -0.3

Lettuce.................................................... 0.062 -20.5 -2.2 -1.5 -4.5 -0.4

Tomatoes1 ............................................... 0.078 -28.8 0.1 0.1 -5.7 0.1

Other fresh vegetables................................. 0.239 -7.9 -1.8 -2.8 -4.4 -0.2

Processed fruits and vegetables2 ....................... 0.308 5.5 -0.6 -0.8 1.2 -0.2

Canned fruits and vegetables2 ....................... 0.154 4.6 -0.8 -0.4 1.5 -0.5

Canned fruits2,3 .................................... 3.3 -1.4 -1.2 1.4 -1.0

Canned vegetables2,3 ............................. 5.7 -0.4 0.2 1.0 0.2

Frozen fruits and vegetables2 ........................ 0.097 6.9 -0.8 -1.7 1.1 -0.4

Frozen vegetables3 .................................. 5.9 -0.9 -2.1 1.0 -0.8

Other processed fruits and vegetables including

dried2 .................................................. 0.057 5.9 0.2 0.6 1.2 0.8

Dried beans, peas, and lentils1,2,3 ............. 15.4 -0.6 -0.2 1.8 -0.6

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials........... 0.960 2.7 -0.1 -0.3 0.0 -0.2

Juices and nonalcoholic drinks2 ........................... 0.717 2.0 -0.1 -0.3 0.2 -0.1

Carbonated drinks......................................... 0.296 2.3 -0.8 0.4 -0.1 -0.8

Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks1,2 .......... 0.014 11.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4

Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks1,2 ...... 0.407 1.5 0.4 0.3 -0.5 0.4

Beverage materials including coffee and tea2 ........... 0.244 4.7 -0.3 -0.6 -0.8 -0.4

Coffee....................................................... 0.149 9.8 0.0 -0.8 -0.9 -0.5

Roasted coffee3 ........................................ 11.0 0.4 -0.7 -1.3 -0.2

Instant and freeze dried coffee1,3 .................. 2.0 -2.6 -0.3 -1.1 -2.6

Other beverage materials including tea2 ............... 0.094 -0.6 -0.8 -0.6 -0.5 -1.1

Other food at home............................................. 2.291 5.0 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.3

Sugar and sweets1 .......................................... 0.308 4.6 0.5 1.4 0.1 0.5

Sugar and artificial sweeteners.......................... 0.062 4.3 -1.6 0.6 -0.6 -1.0

Candy and chewing gum1,2 ............................ 0.183 5.2 1.6 0.7 0.2 1.6

Other sweets2 ............................................. 0.064 3.4 -0.4 -0.6 1.2 -1.2

Fats and oils.................................................. 0.267 8.9 0.1 1.4 -0.7 0.8

Butter and margarine2 .................................... 0.077 1.5 -1.6 -0.4 -0.3 0.1

Butter3 ................................................... -8.5 -3.5 3.7 -2.3 -3.5

Margarine3 .............................................. 11.1 0.4 -1.3 0.1 1.7

Salad dressing1,2 ........................................ 0.067 4.3 0.5 1.4 -1.3 0.5

Other fats and oils including peanut butter2 ........... 0.122 16.7 1.0 2.9 -0.7 1.1

Peanut butter1,2,3 ................................... 40.7 0.8 6.9 2.8 0.8

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Other foods................................................. 1.715 4.5 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.1

Soups..................................................... 0.097 6.0 3.1 0.8 1.1 1.5

Frozen and freeze dried prepared foods1 ........... 0.303 3.0 1.0 0.5 -0.4 1.0

Snacks1 .................................................. 0.325 8.0 0.3 1.0 1.1 0.3

Spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces............ 0.292 3.5 -0.3 0.2 0.6 0.0

Salt and other seasonings and spices2,3 ....... 7.6 -1.3 2.8 -0.1 -1.0

Olives, pickles, relishes1,2,3 ..................... -0.5 0.5 8.9 -0.9 0.5

Sauces and gravies2,3 ............................. 2.5 0.4 -0.4 1.2 0.5

Other condiments1,3 ............................... 4.2 -0.9 4.5 0.2 -0.9

Baby food1,2 ........................................... 0.072 6.1 0.0 0.5 -0.1 0.0

Other miscellaneous foods1,2 ....................... 0.626 3.4 -0.3 -0.6 1.3 -0.3

Prepared salads1,3,4 ............................. 3.1 0.3 -0.4 0.0 0.3

Food away from home1 .......................................... 5.648 3.0 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.2

Full service meals and snacks1,2 ........................... 2.682 2.7 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.2

Limited service meals and snacks1,2 ...................... 2.266 3.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.3

Food at employee sites and schools2 ....................... 0.258 3.8 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.3

Food at elementary and secondary schools1,3,5 . . . .. 3.5 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0

Food from vending machines and mobile vendors1,2 .... 0.082 4.0 -0.3 0.8 0.0 -0.3

Other food away from home1,2 ............................. 0.361 2.2 -0.1 1.1 -0.2 -0.1

Energy................................................................. 10.022 4.6 4.5 0.2 3.2 0.9

Energy commodities............................................... 6.222 8.7 7.6 0.9 5.7 1.7

Fuel oil and other fuels1 ....................................... 0.350 4.3 1.8 1.2 1.7 1.8

Fuel oil1 ....................................................... 0.237 5.3 2.7 1.4 2.8 2.7

Propane, kerosene, and firewood1,6 ..................... 0.113 2.4 -0.2 -1.3 0.0 -0.1

Motor fuel........................................................ 5.872 9.0 8.0 0.8 6.0 1.7

Gasoline (all types)........................................... 5.681 9.0 8.1 0.9 6.0 1.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular3 ............................. 9.1 8.2 0.9 6.1 1.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade3,7 ...................... 9.0 8.2 0.8 5.7 2.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium3 ........................... 8.7 7.6 0.7 5.8 1.7

Other motor fuels2 ........................................... 0.191 6.2 4.9 1.9 1.5 3.7

Energy services8 .................................................. 3.800 -1.8 -0.6 -0.8 -0.8 -0.4

Electricity8 ....................................................... 2.894 0.6 -0.5 0.0 0.0 -0.8

Utility (piped) gas service8 .................................... 0.907 -9.1 -0.9 -2.9 -3.4 0.9

All items less food and energy..................................... 75.722 2.3 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2

Commodities less food and energy commodities.............. 19.773 2.1 0.7 0.2 0.1 0.2

Household furnishings and supplies9 ........................ 3.379 0.8 -0.1 0.3 0.5 -0.1

Window and floor coverings and other linens1,2 ....... 0.279 -1.4 0.3 -0.2 0.0 0.3

Floor coverings1,2 ....................................... 0.039 0.3 -0.4 -0.6 -0.1 -0.4

Window coverings1,2 .................................... 0.077 -0.6 -0.9 0.1 0.5 -0.9

Other linens1,2 ........................................... 0.163 -2.4 1.0 -0.3 -0.2 1.0

Furniture and bedding1 ..................................... 0.718 2.1 0.8 -0.4 -0.2 0.8

Bedroom furniture1 ........................................ 0.235 1.4 0.9 -1.3 -1.2 0.9

Living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture1,2 ... 0.341 3.2 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.6

Other furniture2 ............................................ 0.135 0.6 1.3 -0.7 0.1 -1.0

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

Appliances2 ................................................... 0.293 4.6 -0.1 1.6 0.9 0.2

Major appliances2 ......................................... 0.168 9.0 0.7 2.2 1.6 0.7

Laundry equipment3 ................................... 11.5 1.1 2.9 2.0 1.1

Other appliances1,2 ..................................... 0.122 -1.5 -1.1 1.6 0.7 -1.1

Other household equipment and furnishings1,2 ........ 0.503 -4.9 -1.4 0.6 0.8 -1.4

Clocks, lamps, and decorator items1 ................... 0.266 -7.1 -1.9 0.8 0.7 -1.9

Indoor plants and flowers10 .............................. 0.104 -1.3 -0.7 -0.9 0.5 -0.9

Dishes and flatware1,2 .................................. 0.049 -7.3 -2.2 2.6 0.3 -2.2

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Nonelectric cookware and tableware2 .................. 0.084 -0.6 -0.1 0.2 -1.2 -0.4

Tools, hardware, outdoor equipment and supplies2 . . .. 0.687 -0.3 -0.2 0.5 0.4 -0.7

Tools, hardware and supplies1,2 ...................... 0.174 2.6 -0.2 0.4 0.8 -0.2

Outdoor equipment and supplies2 ...................... 0.366 -1.4 -0.2 0.4 0.5 -0.9

Housekeeping supplies1 .................................... 0.899 3.7 -0.2 0.1 0.5 -0.2

Household cleaning products1,2 ....................... 0.366 2.9 0.0 -0.3 0.2 0.0

Household paper products1,2 .......................... 0.243 4.6 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.2

Miscellaneous household products1,2 ................ 0.291 3.8 -0.7 0.3 0.8 -0.7

Apparel........................................................... 3.527 4.9 3.2 0.9 -0.9 0.5

Men’s and boys’ apparel.................................... 0.850 6.2 2.5 1.0 -1.7 0.8

Men’s apparel.............................................. 0.677 5.1 1.5 1.7 -1.7 -0.2

Men’s suits, sport coats, and outerwear............. 0.123 5.1 2.6 6.3 -3.0 -0.4

Men’s furnishings....................................... 0.179 5.5 0.6 -0.2 -1.7 -0.5

Men’s shirts and sweaters2 ........................... 0.208 4.8 1.1 0.1 -1.9 -0.8

Men’s pants and shorts................................ 0.160 6.2 2.3 1.9 0.1 -0.1

Boys’ apparel............................................... 0.173 10.4 6.2 -0.8 -0.5 6.2

Women’s and girls’ apparel................................. 1.482 5.5 5.0 1.3 -0.8 0.3

Women’s apparel.......................................... 1.232 4.9 5.1 1.2 -0.5 0.3

Women’s outerwear..................................... 0.086 3.1 1.1 0.4 1.8 -3.4

Women’s dresses....................................... 0.163 15.3 19.0 -3.7 10.7 8.8

Women’s suits and separates2 ....................... 0.579 1.3 4.2 2.7 -1.5 -1.5

Women’s underwear, nightwear, sportswear and

accessories2 .......................................... 0.389 5.4 1.7 0.8 -3.4 -1.1

Girls’ apparel............................................... 0.249 8.9 4.4 1.9 -2.6 0.5

Footwear....................................................... 0.669 1.2 1.9 -0.3 0.1 0.6

Men’s footwear1 ........................................... 0.208 1.7 0.1 -0.3 0.9 0.1

Boys’ and girls’ footwear.................................. 0.148 -0.3 1.8 0.0 -1.4 1.0

Women’s footwear......................................... 0.313 1.5 3.1 -0.1 -0.1 1.0

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel............................... 0.199 7.5 1.5 1.6 -0.9 0.2

Jewelry and watches6 ....................................... 0.327 5.3 0.6 0.7 -1.0 0.5

Watches1,6 ............................................... 0.089 1.2 1.6 0.6 0.8 1.6

Jewelry6 .................................................... 0.239 5.9 0.2 1.6 -1.6 0.2

Transportation commodities less motor fuel9 ............... 5.585 2.9 0.4 -0.3 0.3 0.6

New vehicles.................................................. 3.197 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.2

New cars and trucks2,3 ................................. 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.2

New cars3 ............................................... 2.7 -0.1 -0.2 0.5 0.2

New trucks3 , 11 ........................................ 2.2 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.2

Used cars and trucks...................................... 1.882 3.2 1.1 -1.0 -0.2 1.3

Motor vehicle parts and equipment1 .................... 0.436 5.4 0.0 0.4 0.1 0.0

Tires1 .................................................... 0.298 5.8 -0.3 0.7 0.1 -0.3

Vehicle accessories other than tires1,2 ............ 0.139 4.6 0.7 -0.1 0.0 0.7

Vehicle parts and equipment other than tires1,3

............................................................................ 2.3 0.4 -0.1 0.2 0.4

Motor oil, coolant, and fluids1,3 .................. 15.2 1.8 0.1 -0.4 1.8

Medical care commodities1 ................................... 1.725 3.3 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4

Medicinal drugs1,9 ......................................... 1.646 3.4 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4

Prescription drugs......................................... 1.335 4.2 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.3

Nonprescription drugs1,9 ............................... 0.311 0.1 1.0 -0.4 -0.5 1.0

Medical equipment and supplies1,9 ...................... 0.079 0.5 -0.3 0.1 0.7 -0.3

Recreation commodities9 ...................................... 2.340 -1.3 -0.1 0.2 0.3 -0.2

Video and audio products9 ................................. 0.432 -9.3 -0.8 -0.2 -0.6 -1.2

Televisions.................................................. 0.172 -18.7 -1.5 -1.0 -1.9 -2.6

Other video equipment1,2 .............................. 0.028 -11.4 -2.3 -1.4 1.5 -2.3

Audio equipment1 ......................................... 0.074 -6.2 -0.5 0.4 -0.8 -0.5

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Audio discs, tapes and other media1,2 ............... 0.045 -3.7 -0.2 0.3 0.2 -0.2

Pets and pet products1 ..................................... 0.690 2.6 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.5

Pet food1,2,3 ............................................ 3.2 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.6

Purchase of pets, pet supplies, accessories1,2,3 ... 1.1 0.6 -0.9 0.8 0.6

Sporting goods1 .............................................. 0.464 -0.3 -0.3 0.2 0.6 -0.3

Sports vehicles including bicycles1 ..................... 0.244 2.0 -0.4 -0.1 0.5 -0.4

Sports equipment1 ........................................ 0.210 -3.1 -0.1 0.6 0.7 -0.1

Photographic equipment and supplies..................... 0.054 -2.4 -0.6 -1.5 0.9 -1.0

Film and photographic supplies1,2,3 ................. 8.3 0.4 -0.4 1.0 0.4

Photographic equipment2,3 ............................. -4.6 -0.6 -2.0 0.9 -0.7

Recreational reading materials1 ........................... 0.222 1.5 0.7 0.5 -0.5 0.7

Newspapers and magazines1,2 ........................ 0.120 4.8 1.1 1.3 -0.7 1.1

Recreational books1,2 ................................... 0.099 -2.4 0.3 -0.4 -0.2 0.3

Other recreational goods2 .................................. 0.477 -2.3 -0.7 0.9 0.7 -0.7

Toys1 ....................................................... 0.357 -3.3 -0.9 1.1 1.1 -0.9

Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment1

,2,3 ................................................... 0.2 -1.0 1.3 2.2 -1.0

Sewing machines, fabric and supplies2 ................ 0.061 1.8 0.6 -0.8 -0.6 0.6

Music instruments and accessories2 ................... 0.039 -1.1 -0.2 0.1 -0.3 -0.2

Education and communication commodities9 ............... 0.608 -3.5 -0.4 0.0 0.1 -0.5

Educational books and supplies............................ 0.202 5.3 0.4 0.8 0.1 0.6

College textbooks1 , 3 , 12 ................................ 5.6 0.4 1.4 0.2 0.4

Information technology commodities9 ..................... 0.406 -8.8 -0.8 -0.3 0.0 -1.0

Personal computers and peripheral equipment4 ...... 0.268 -11.1 -0.9 -0.6 0.2 -1.3

Computer software and accessories1,2 ............... 0.049 -3.3 -0.8 -0.2 -1.7 -0.8

Telephone hardware, calculators, and other

consumer information items1,2 ...................... 0.089 -4.4 -0.2 0.5 0.5 -0.2

Alcoholic beverages............................................ 0.953 2.0 -0.2 0.8 0.3 -0.2

Alcoholic beverages at home............................... 0.576 0.9 -0.1 0.8 -0.1 0.0

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages at home......... 0.275 2.5 0.0 0.8 0.5 0.1

Distilled spirits at home1 ................................. 0.072 0.3 -0.6 0.6 -0.4 -0.3

Whiskey at home3 ...................................... 1.2 -1.0 0.9 -1.7 -1.2

Distilled spirits, excluding whiskey, at home1,3 . .. 0.5 0.0 1.2 0.3 0.0

Wine at home.............................................. 0.229 -1.1 -0.2 0.6 -0.4 -0.1

Alcoholic beverages away from home1 ................... 0.377 3.6 -0.4 0.8 0.5 -0.4

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages away from

home1,2,3 ............................................. 1.7 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0

Wine away from home1,2,3 ........................... 2.7 0.1 0.7 0.5 0.1

Distilled spirits away from home1,2,3 ................ 4.2 -0.8 0.8 0.7 -0.8

Other goods9 .................................................... 1.656 1.3 0.4 0.4 -0.4 0.3

Tobacco and smoking products1 .......................... 0.798 1.8 -0.3 0.5 -0.4 -0.3

Cigarettes1,2 ............................................. 0.738 1.7 -0.3 0.5 -0.4 -0.3

Tobacco products other than cigarettes1,2 ........... 0.054 3.5 0.2 0.5 -0.1 0.2

Personal care products1 .................................... 0.649 1.0 1.2 0.3 -0.4 1.2

Hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal

care products1,2 ....................................... 0.340 0.8 1.5 0.2 0.0 1.5

Cosmetics, perfume, bath, nail preparations and

implements1 ............................................. 0.303 1.1 1.0 0.3 -0.9 1.0

Miscellaneous personal goods2 ............................ 0.209 -0.3 -0.1 0.7 -0.2 -0.5

Stationery, stationery supplies, gift wrap3 ............. 0.4 -0.1 0.5 -0.5 -0.4

Infants’ equipment1,3,5 ................................ -3.5 0.2 -0.2 -0.1 0.2

Services less energy services................................... 55.949 2.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2

Shelter............................................................ 31.413 2.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Rent of shelter13 ............................................. 31.068 2.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2

Rent of primary residence8 .............................. 6.453 2.5 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Lodging away from home2 ............................... 0.793 3.5 3.3 0.2 1.9 0.3

Housing at school, excluding board8 , 13 ............ 0.154 3.8 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.3

Other lodging away from home including hotels

and motels............................................. 0.639 3.4 4.1 0.2 2.2 0.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences8 , 13 ........... 23.823 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence8 , 13

............................................................................ 22.416 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2

Tenants’ and household insurance1,2 ................ 0.345 3.3 0.6 0.3 -0.6 0.6

Water and sewer and trash collection services2 ........ 1.163 4.8 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.6

Water and sewerage maintenance8 .................... 0.874 5.6 0.5 0.3 0.8 0.7

Garbage and trash collection1 , 11 ...................... 0.288 2.5 0.3 0.0 0.4 0.3

Household operations1,2 .................................. 0.727 2.5 0.1 0.6 0.4 0.1

Domestic services1,2 .................................... 0.250 1.2 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

Gardening and lawncare services1,2 .................. 0.238 2.1 0.0 1.0 0.1 0.0

Moving, storage, freight expense1,2 .................. 0.091 4.5 0.5 0.3 2.6 0.5

Repair of household items1,2 .......................... 0.076 6.2 0.3 0.2 -0.1 0.3

Medical care services........................................ 5.358 3.5 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3

Professional services...................................... 2.989 1.4 0.1 -0.2 -0.2 0.2

Physicians’ services8 .................................. 1.600 1.3 0.1 -0.1 -0.5 0.2

Dental services8 ........................................ 0.760 2.2 0.1 0.1 -0.1 0.2

Eyeglasses and eye care6 ............................ 0.251 0.5 -0.1 0.1 -0.2 0.2

Services by other medical professionals1,8,6 . . .. 0.378 1.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1

Hospital and related services............................ 1.745 4.8 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.2

Hospital services8 , 14 .................................. 1.522 5.2 0.0 0.3 -0.1 0.2

Inpatient hospital services8 , 14 , 3 ................. 5.3 0.0 0.4 -0.5 0.1

Outpatient hospital services8,3,6 ................ 4.9 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.2

Nursing homes and adult day services8 , 14 ........ 0.137 3.3 0.1 0.5 0.6 0.3

Care of invalids and elderly at home1,5 ............ 0.086 1.2 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0

Health insurance1,5 ..................................... 0.624 11.3 1.3 1.8 1.6 1.3

Transportation services...................................... 5.739 1.4 0.4 0.0 -0.2 0.3

Leased cars and trucks12 ................................ 0.392 -4.3 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 0.0

Car and truck rental2 ................................... 0.066 -1.7 3.7 -0.6 -2.6 2.0

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair1 ................ 1.151 2.3 -0.1 0.3 0.2 -0.1

Motor vehicle body work1 ............................. 0.057 1.9 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3

Motor vehicle maintenance and servicing1 ......... 0.458 2.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Motor vehicle repair1,2 ............................... 0.600 2.3 -0.4 0.4 0.3 -0.4

Motor vehicle insurance................................... 2.401 2.8 0.2 0.1 -0.2 0.5

Motor vehicle fees1,2 .................................... 0.563 3.0 0.0 1.4 -0.1 0.0

State motor vehicle registration and license fees1 ,

8,2 .................................................... 0.328 0.9 0.0 -0.2 -0.3 0.0

Parking and other fees1,2 ............................ 0.212 6.4 0.0 3.9 0.2 0.0

Parking fees and tolls1,2,3 ....................... 8.8 0.1 5.0 0.3 0.1

Automobile service clubs1,2,3 ................... 0.9 0.1 0.8 -0.1 0.1

Public transportation....................................... 1.166 -0.3 1.4 -0.8 -0.2 0.5

Airline fare............................................... 0.759 -0.8 1.8 -0.9 -0.1 0.4

Other intercity transportation.......................... 0.146 -2.8 0.6 -1.0 -0.2 0.1

Intercity bus fare1,3,4 ............................. 1.0 -1.2 -2.7 1.0

Intercity train fare1,3,4 ............................ -4.5 4.5 -5.9 -0.6 4.5

Ship fare1,2,3 ...................................... -3.5 -0.3 -1.5 0.0 -0.3

Intracity transportation1 ................................ 0.258 3.0 0.7 0.0 0.5 0.7

Intracity mass transit1,3,9 ........................ 2.0 0.0 0.1 0.6 0.0

Recreation services9 ........................................ 3.695 2.9 0.6 0.8 -0.3 0.4

Video and audio services9 ............................... 1.497 4.4 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.5

Cable and satellite television and radio service11 .. 1.385 4.4 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.5

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Video discs and other media, including rental of

video and audio1,2 ................................. 0.112 3.4 0.3 0.6 -1.4 0.3

Video discs and other media1,2,3 ............... -6.9 0.4 -0.9 -1.7 0.4

Rental of video or audio discs and other media1 ,

2,3 .................................................. 13.2 0.6 1.7 -0.3 0.6

Pet services including veterinary2 ...................... 0.407 3.2 0.4 0.0 -0.3 0.3

Pet services1,2,3 ..................................... 2.8 0.4 0.5 -0.1 0.4

Veterinarian services2,3 .............................. 2.8 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 0.1

Photographers and film processing1,2 ................ 0.058 2.6 0.3 -0.3 -0.2 0.3

Photographer fees1,2,3 ............................. 3.4 0.1 0.0 -0.5 0.1

Film processing1,2,3 ................................. 2.6 0.3 -0.3 0.1 0.3

Other recreation services2 ............................... 1.732 1.6 0.4 1.1 -0.8 0.4

Club dues and fees for participant sports and

group exercises2 ..................................... 0.568 3.4 0.9 0.3 -0.8 0.9

Admissions1 ............................................. 0.629 0.5 0.1 2.1 -0.9 0.1

Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts1,2

, 3 .................................................... 0.3 -0.1 1.9 -1.0 -0.1

Admission to sporting events1,2,3 .............. 1.3 0.7 3.0 -1.0 0.7

Fees for lessons or instructions1,6 ................. 0.230 0.6 -0.1 0.4 0.2 -0.1

Education and communication services9 ................. 6.153 2.5 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare............... 2.990 4.3 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3

College tuition and fees................................ 1.678 5.4 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.5

Elementary and high school tuition and fees........ 0.379 3.6 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.2

Child care and nursery school10 ..................... 0.772 2.4 0.0 0.4 0.1 0.2

Technical and business school tuition and fees2 ... 0.059 6.4 0.2 0.3 1.0 0.6

Postage and delivery services2 ......................... 0.150 4.1 0.0 -0.2 2.8 0.2

Postage1 ................................................. 0.139 3.9 0.0 -0.6 3.1 0.2

Delivery services1,2 ................................... 0.010 6.7 -0.1 4.6 -0.8 -0.1

Telephone services1,2 .................................. 2.416 0.5 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.1

Wireless telephone services1,2 ..................... 1.471 -0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Land-line telephone services1,9 ..................... 0.945 2.1 0.1 0.8 0.1 0.1

Internet services and electronic information

providers1,2 ............................................ 0.583 0.1 0.3 0.7 0.2 0.3

Other personal services9 ................................... 1.701 2.2 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.2

Personal care services1 .................................. 0.629 1.4 0.2 -0.1 0.4 0.2

Haircuts and other personal care services1,2 ..... 0.629 1.4 0.2 -0.1 0.4 0.2

Miscellaneous personal services........................ 1.072 2.7 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 0.2

Legal services6 ......................................... 0.295 2.0 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.3

Funeral expenses6 ..................................... 0.159 1.9 -0.5 0.3 0.2 -0.5

Laundry and dry cleaning services2 ................. 0.239 1.6 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.1

Apparel services other than laundry and dry

cleaning1,2 .......................................... 0.030 4.7 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.3

Financial services1,6 .................................. 0.208 5.7 1.0 0.0 -0.9 1.0

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

March 2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted percent

change Seasonally adjusted percent change

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Checking account and other bank services1,2,

3 ..................................................... 8.9 0.1 0.0 2.0 0.1

Tax return preparation and other accounting

fees2,3 ............................................. 5.8 1.4 -1.3 0.5 1.4

1 Not seasonally adjusted.

2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

3 Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

4 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

5 Indexes on a December 2005=100 base.

6 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

7 Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

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

9 Indexes on a December 2009=100 base.

10 Indexes on a December 1990=100 base.

11 Indexes on a December 1983=100 base.

12 Indexes on a December 2001=100 base.

13 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

14 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

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

March 2012

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Special aggregate indexes

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Unadjusted indexes Unadjusted percent

change

Seasonally adjusted percent

change

Mar.

2011

Feb.

2012

Mar.

2012

Mar.

2011-

Mar.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

Dec.

2011-

Jan.

2012

Jan.

2012-

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2012-

Mar.

2012

All items less food.................................... 85.745 223.192 226.927 228.887 2.6 0.9 0.2 0.5 0.3

All items less shelter.................................. 68.587 215.505 219.580 221.744 2.9 1.0 0.2 0.5 0.3

All items less food and shelter...................... 54.332 212.646 215.995 218.608 2.8 1.2 0.2 0.7 0.4

All items less food, shelter, and energy............ 44.309 209.189 213.123 214.112 2.4 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.3

All items less food, shelter, energy, and used

cars and trucks..................................... 42.427 213.108 217.090 218.033 2.3 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.2

All items less medical care.......................... 92.917 214.907 218.737 220.483 2.6 0.8 0.2 0.4 0.3

All items less energy................................. 89.978 223.315 227.925 228.705 2.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2

Commodities........................................... 40.250 182.728 186.279 189.201 3.5 1.6 0.3 0.9 0.4

Commodities less food, energy, and used cars

and trucks......................................... 17.891 145.418 147.311 148.264 2.0 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1

Commodities less food............................ 25.995 161.804 163.994 167.858 3.7 2.4 0.5 1.4 0.6

Commodities less food and beverages.......... 25.041 159.351 161.451 165.413 3.8 2.5 0.4 1.4 0.6

Services................................................ 59.750 263.956 268.819 269.396 2.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2

Services less rent of shelter1 .................... 28.682 288.077 293.406 293.886 2.0 0.2 0.1 -0.1 0.2

Services less medical care services............. 54.392 251.834 256.123 256.675 1.9 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.1

Durables................................................ 8.930 111.707 112.780 112.926 1.1 0.1 -0.1 0.2 0.1

Nondurables........................................... 31.320 217.791 222.634 227.039 4.2 2.0 0.5 1.0 0.6

Nondurables less food............................. 17.065 209.282 212.459 219.940 5.1 3.5 0.8 1.9 0.8

Nondurables less food and beverages.......... 16.112 208.134 211.182 219.086 5.3 3.7 0.8 1.9 0.9

Nondurables less food, beverages, and

apparel............................................ 12.585 266.993 270.682 281.225 5.3 3.9 0.6 2.8 1.1

Nondurables less food and apparel.............. 13.538 262.068 265.898 275.483 5.1 3.6 0.7 2.7 1.0

Housing................................................. 40.832 217.707 221.117 221.487 1.7 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1

Education and communication2 .................... 6.761 130.682 133.199 133.235 2.0 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.2

Education2 .......................................... 3.192 204.251 213.039 213.132 4.3 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.3

Communication2 ................................... 3.569 83.730 83.446 83.456 -0.3 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0

Information and information processing2 . . .. 3.420 80.364 79.928 79.939 -0.5 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0

Information technology, hardware and

services3 ....................................... 1.004 9.196 8.873 8.862 -3.6 -0.1 0.2 0.1 -0.2

Recreation2 ........................................... 6.035 113.261 114.333 114.675 1.2 0.3 0.6 -0.1 0.2

Video and audio2 .................................. 1.930 98.719 99.371 99.856 1.2 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.1

Pets, pet products and services2 ................ 1.097 157.510 161.251 161.992 2.8 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.4

Photography2 ....................................... 0.114 78.758 79.287 79.173 0.5 -0.1 -0.7 0.3 -0.3

Food and beverages.................................. 15.209 225.479 232.453 232.708 3.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1

Domestically produced farm food4 .............. 7.263 229.655 237.911 238.154 3.7 0.1 0.7 -0.1 0.1

Other services......................................... 11.549 312.310 319.510 320.315 2.6 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.3

Apparel less footwear................................ 2.858 115.256 117.821 121.954 5.8 3.5 1.2 -1.1 0.5

Fuels and utilities..................................... 5.313 216.672 217.189 216.667 0.0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.3 -0.1

Household energy.................................. 4.151 190.071 188.393 187.591 -1.3 -0.4 -0.6 -0.6 -0.2

Medical care........................................... 7.083 397.726 410.466 411.498 3.5 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3

Transportation......................................... 17.196 211.014 214.429 220.842 4.7 3.0 0.3 2.1 0.9

Private transportation.............................. 16.030 206.165 210.013 216.536 5.0 3.1 0.4 2.2 0.9

New and used motor vehicles2 ............... 5.607 98.275 99.889 100.325 2.1 0.4 -0.4 0.2 0.6

Utilities and public transportation................... 9.930 204.571 205.398 205.637 0.5 0.1 -0.2 0.0 0.0

Household furnishings and operations............. 4.106 124.735 126.180 126.107 1.1 -0.1 0.1 0.3 -0.2

Other goods and services............................ 3.357 385.637 391.236 392.364 1.7 0.3 0.2 -0.1 0.2

Personal care....................................... 2.559 207.758 210.330 211.289 1.7 0.5 0.1 -0.1 0.4

1 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

2 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

3 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base.

4 Not seasonally adjusted.

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

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Area Pricing

Schedule1

Percent change to Mar. 2012 from: Percent change to Feb. 2012 from:

Mar.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

U.S. city average.......................... M 2.7 1.2 0.8 2.9 0.9 0.4

Region and area size2

Northeast urban......................... M 2.5 0.9 0.5 2.8 0.8 0.4

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 2.4 0.9 0.5 2.7 0.8 0.4

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 2.8 1.0 0.5 3.3 0.8 0.5

Midwest urban........................... M 2.8 1.2 1.0 2.7 0.8 0.2

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 2.7 1.1 0.9 2.8 0.8 0.2

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 3.0 1.5 1.2 2.6 0.7 0.2

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less

than 50,000)........................ M 2.9 1.0 0.6 3.1 1.0 0.4

South urban.............................. M 2.8 1.3 0.7 3.3 1.1 0.6

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 2.7 1.4 0.7 3.0 1.2 0.7

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 2.8 1.2 0.7 3.3 0.9 0.5

Size D - Nonmetropolitan (less

than 50,000)........................ M 3.5 1.3 0.8 4.3 1.4 0.5

West urban.............................. M 2.4 1.3 0.9 2.5 0.8 0.4

Size A - More than 1,500,000. . . . .. M 2.4 1.4 0.9 2.5 0.9 0.5

Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,0003 ... M 2.2 1.3 0.9 2.3 0.7 0.4

Size classes

A4 ........................................ M 2.5 1.2 0.7 2.7 0.9 0.4

B/C3 ...................................... M 2.7 1.2 0.8 3.0 0.8 0.4

D.......................................... M 3.2 1.2 0.8 3.5 1.1 0.4

Selected local areas5

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI. . ... M 2.1 1.3 1.2 1.6 0.7 0.0

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange

County, CA............................ M 2.0 1.5 1.0 2.1 1.3 0.5

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

NY-NJ-CT-PA......................... M 2.6 1.0 0.6 2.6 0.8 0.4

Boston-Brockton-Nashua,

MA-NH-ME-CT........................ 1 1.8 0.5

Cleveland-Akron, OH................... 1 2.6 1.3

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX.................. 1 2.7 1.6

Washington-Baltimore,

DC-MD-VA-WV6 ..................... 1 2.8 1.3

Atlanta, GA.............................. 2 2.4 1.0

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI............. 2 3.9 0.6

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

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

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD........................ 2 2.2 0.7

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

2012 — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Area Pricing

Schedule1

Percent change to Mar. 2012 from: Percent change to Feb. 2012 from:

Mar.

2011

Jan.

2012

Feb.

2012

Feb.

2011

Dec.

2011

Jan.

2012

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose,

CA...................................... 2 3.0 1.1

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA. . . . .. 2 2.7 0.4

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

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

2 Regions defined as the four Census regions.

3 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

4 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

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

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

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

Petersburg-Clearwater, FL.

6 Indexes on a November 1996=100 base.

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

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

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

their escalator clauses.

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

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

[Percent changes]

Month Year

Unadjusted 1-month percent

change

Unadjusted 12-month percent

change

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

to two revisions.

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

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

All items.................................................................. 100.000 0.3 0.03 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Food.................................................................... 14.255 0.2 0.023 0.08 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Food at home...................................................... 8.608 0.1 0.012 0.14 L-Dec.2011 0.2

Cereals and bakery products.................................. 1.240 -0.2 -0.003 0.35 S-Oct.2010 -0.2

Cereals and cereal products................................ 0.478 -0.3 -0.001 0.50 L-Jan.2012 0.0

Flour and prepared flour mixes.......................... 0.053 1.6 0.001 0.88 L-Sep.2011 1.7

Breakfast cereal4 .......................................... 0.292 0.0 0.000 0.69 L-Dec.2011 0.7

Rice, pasta, cornmeal4 ................................... 0.133 -1.3 -0.002 0.72 S-Sep.2009 -1.9

Rice4,5,6 .............................................. -1.4 0.81 S-Sep.2010 -1.4

Bakery products............................................ 0.762 -0.2 -0.001 0.43 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Bread5 ................................................... 0.223 -0.4 -0.001 0.89 S-Jan.2012 -1.0

White bread4,6 ...................................... -0.6 1.19 S-Jan.2012 -1.4

Bread other than white4,6 ......................... -0.2 1.30 S-Jan.2012 -2.4

Fresh biscuits, rolls, muffins4,5 ...................... 0.114 0.1 0.000 0.61 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies........................ 0.184 0.3 0.001 0.88 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Cookies4,6 ........................................... -0.6 0.95 S-Aug.2011 -0.6

Fresh cakes and cupcakes4,6 .................... 0.6 0.97 S-Jan.2012 -1.2

Other bakery products.................................. 0.241 -0.6 -0.001 0.78 S-Dec.2010 -0.9

Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts4,6 . .. -0.1 0.92 S-Dec.2011 -1.1

Crackers, bread, and cracker products6 .......... -1.7 1.17 S-Jun.2010 -1.9

Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies,

tarts, turnovers6 ................................... 0.3 1.11 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs................................. 1.941 0.8 0.016 0.23 L-May 2011 1.2

Meats, poultry, and fish...................................... 1.833 0.7 0.013 0.24 L-Dec.2011 0.8

Meats........................................................ 1.194 0.5 0.006 0.28 L-Dec.2011 0.8

Beef and veal4 .......................................... 0.551 0.8 0.004 0.41 L-Jan.2012 1.1

Uncooked ground beef4 ............................ 0.216 0.4 0.001 0.60 S-Nov.2011 0.1

Uncooked beef roasts4,5 .......................... 0.081 0.0 0.000 1.10 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Uncooked beef steaks4,5 .......................... 0.202 1.4 0.003 0.79 L-Aug.2011 2.3

Uncooked other beef and veal4,5 ................ 0.051 1.2 0.001 0.73 L-Aug.2011 1.7

Pork....................................................... 0.374 -0.2 -0.001 0.48 S-Jan.2012 -1.1

Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products5

............................................................................ 0.143 0.2 0.000 0.84 S-Jan.2012 -0.8

Bacon and related products6 .................... 0.5 1.07 L-Nov.2011 1.9

Breakfast sausage and related products4,5,6

............................................................................ -0.9 1.23 S-Nov.2011 -1.3

Ham.................................................... 0.077 2.4 0.002 0.98 L-Jan.2010 3.4

Ham, excluding canned6 ......................... 2.5 1.04 L-Jan.2010 4.1

Pork chops............................................ 0.061 -0.4 0.000 1.02 L-Jan.2012 -0.4

Other pork including roasts and picnics5 ......... 0.093 -1.2 -0.001 1.09 S-Jan.2012 -1.6

Other meats.............................................. 0.268 0.7 0.002 0.63 S-Jan.2012 -1.1

Frankfurters6 ......................................... 0.7 2.08 S-Jan.2012 -3.5

Lunchmeats4,5,6 .................................. 0.2 0.64 S-Jan.2012 -0.7

Lamb and organ meats4,6 ........................ 0.2 1.06 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Lamb and mutton4,5,6 ............................ 0.5 1.19 S-Jan.2012 -3.1

Poultry.................................................... 0.337 1.4 0.005 0.62 L-Jan.2008 2.0

Chicken5 .............................................. 0.262 1.3 0.004 0.80 L-Jan.2008 1.6

Fresh whole chicken4,6 ......................... 1.5 1.91 L-Dec.2011 2.3

Fresh and frozen chicken parts4,6 ............ 1.4 0.85 L-Nov.2009 1.9

Other poultry including turkey5 ..................... 0.075 1.5 0.001 0.80 S-Jan.2012 -0.1

Fish and seafood4 ...................................... 0.303 1.0 0.003 0.52 L-May 2011 1.4

Fresh fish and seafood4,5 ......................... 0.156 0.9 0.001 0.75 L-May 2011 1.8

Processed fish and seafood5 ...................... 0.146 1.7 0.002 0.70 L-May 2011 1.7

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Shelf stable fish and seafood4,6 ............... -0.2 1.17 L-Jan.2012 1.1

Frozen fish and seafood4,6 ..................... 0.2 1.03 L-Dec.2011 1.7

Eggs......................................................... 0.108 2.3 0.002 0.77 L-Sep.2011 2.6

Dairy and related products4 ................................... 0.912 -0.1 -0.001 0.31 L-Jan.2012 0.9

Milk4,5 ........................................................ 0.295 -0.4 -0.001 0.33 L-Jan.2012 0.7

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

Fresh milk other than whole4,5,6 ..................... -0.5 0.48 L-Jan.2012 1.1

Cheese and related products4 ............................. 0.293 -0.6 -0.002 0.59 S-Jan.2011 -2.1

Ice cream and related products............................ 0.137 1.8 0.002 0.83 L-Feb.2011 2.4

Other dairy and related products5 ......................... 0.188 0.3 0.001 0.61 S-Jan.2012 -0.2

Fruits and vegetables........................................... 1.264 -0.4 -0.005 0.37 L-Sep.2011 0.6

Fresh fruits and vegetables................................. 0.956 -0.4 -0.004 0.47 L-Sep.2011 0.5

Fresh fruits.................................................. 0.495 0.7 0.003 0.63 S-Jan.2012 -1.8

Apples.................................................... 0.085 -1.5 -0.001 1.15 S-May 2011 -1.8

Bananas.................................................. 0.082 0.6 0.000 0.82 L-Oct.2011 1.3

Citrus fruits5 ............................................. 0.103 1.4 0.002 1.48 L-Aug.2011 2.3

Oranges, including tangerines6 .................... 2.0 1.73 L-Nov.2011 2.3

Other fresh fruits5 ...................................... 0.225 1.5 0.003 1.07 S-Jan.2012 -3.1

Fresh vegetables.......................................... 0.462 -1.6 -0.007 0.63 L-Jan.2012 -1.0

Potatoes.................................................. 0.083 -0.3 0.000 1.06 S-Jan.2012 -1.6

Lettuce.................................................... 0.062 -0.4 0.000 1.57 L-Dec.2011 -0.4

Tomatoes4 ............................................... 0.078 0.1 0.000 1.80 L-Jan.2012 0.1

Other fresh vegetables................................. 0.239 -0.2 0.000 0.91 L-Dec.2011 0.4

Processed fruits and vegetables5 ....................... 0.308 -0.2 -0.001 0.47 S-Jan.2012 -0.8

Canned fruits and vegetables5 ....................... 0.154 -0.5 -0.001 0.69 S-Nov.2010 -1.1

Canned fruits5,6 .................................... -1.0 0.81 S-Jan.2012 -1.2

Canned vegetables5,6 ............................. 0.2 0.98 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Frozen fruits and vegetables5 ........................ 0.097 -0.4 0.000 0.87 S-Jan.2012 -1.7

Frozen vegetables6 .................................. -0.8 1.04 S-Jan.2012 -2.1

Other processed fruits and vegetables including

dried5 .................................................. 0.057 0.8 0.000 0.79 S-Jan.2012 0.6

Dried beans, peas, and lentils4,5,6 ............. -0.6 1.19 S-Jul.2011 -1.4

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials........... 0.960 -0.2 -0.002 0.42 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Juices and nonalcoholic drinks5 ........................... 0.717 -0.1 -0.001 0.50 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Carbonated drinks......................................... 0.296 -0.8 -0.002 0.72 S-Feb.2011 -1.1

Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4,5 .......... 0.014 0.4 0.000 1.09 – –

Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4,5 ...... 0.407 0.4 0.002 0.65 L-Dec.2011 0.4

Beverage materials including coffee and tea5 ........... 0.244 -0.4 -0.001 0.59 L-Dec.2011 0.6

Coffee....................................................... 0.149 -0.5 -0.001 0.81 L-Dec.2011 0.2

Roasted coffee6 ........................................ -0.2 0.77 L-Dec.2011 0.7

Instant and freeze dried coffee4,6 .................. -2.6 1.18 S-Nov.2011 -2.7

Other beverage materials including tea5 ............... 0.094 -1.1 -0.001 0.77 S-Oct.2010 -1.3

Other food at home............................................. 2.291 0.3 0.006 0.26 S-Nov.2011 0.0

Sugar and sweets4 .......................................... 0.308 0.5 0.002 0.59 L-Jan.2012 1.4

Sugar and artificial sweeteners.......................... 0.062 -1.0 -0.001 0.49 S-Jan.2011 -1.3

Candy and chewing gum4,5 ............................ 0.183 1.6 0.003 0.92 L-Sep.2011 2.5

Other sweets5 ............................................. 0.064 -1.2 -0.001 0.71 S-Dec.2008 -1.4

Fats and oils.................................................. 0.267 0.8 0.002 0.51 L-Jan.2012 1.4

Butter and margarine5 .................................... 0.077 0.1 0.000 0.79 L-Aug.2011 0.6

Butter6 ................................................... -3.5 1.21 S-Nov.2011 -5.9

Margarine6 .............................................. 1.7 1.06 L-Aug.2011 2.1

Salad dressing4,5 ........................................ 0.067 0.5 0.000 0.80 L-Jan.2012 1.4

Other fats and oils including peanut butter5 ........... 0.122 1.1 0.001 0.91 L-Jan.2012 2.9

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Peanut butter4,5,6 ................................... 0.8 1.09 S-Aug.2011 -0.4

Other foods................................................. 1.715 0.1 0.003 0.31 S-Jan.2011 -0.1

Soups..................................................... 0.097 1.5 0.001 1.05 L-Feb.2011 2.1

Frozen and freeze dried prepared foods4 ........... 0.303 1.0 0.003 0.76 L-Sep.2011 1.0

Snacks4 .................................................. 0.325 0.3 0.001 0.75 S-Nov.2011 0.0

Spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces............ 0.292 0.0 0.000 0.75 S-Nov.2011 -0.2

Salt and other seasonings and spices5,6 ....... -1.0 0.81 S-Apr.2011 -1.2

Olives, pickles, relishes4,5,6 ..................... 0.5 1.36 L-Jan.2012 8.9

Sauces and gravies5,6 ............................. 0.5 1.40 S-Jan.2012 -0.4

Other condiments4,6 ............................... -0.9 0.74 S-Dec.2011 -1.4

Baby food4,5 ........................................... 0.072 0.0 0.000 0.51 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Other miscellaneous foods4,5 ....................... 0.626 -0.3 -0.002 0.57 S-Jan.2012 -0.6

Prepared salads4,7,6 ............................. 0.3 0.89 L-Dec.2011 0.9

Food away from home4 .......................................... 5.648 0.2 0.011 0.06 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Full service meals and snacks4,5 ........................... 2.682 0.2 0.005 0.07 – –

Limited service meals and snacks4,5 ...................... 2.266 0.3 0.006 0.10 L-Dec.2011 0.3

Food at employee sites and schools5 ....................... 0.258 0.3 0.001 0.14 – –

Food at elementary and secondary schools4,8,6 ..... 0.0 0.12 – –

Food from vending machines and mobile vendors4,5 .... 0.082 -0.3 0.000 0.23 S-Jan.2011 -0.7

Other food away from home4,5 ............................. 0.361 -0.1 0.000 0.12 L-Jan.2012 1.1

Energy................................................................. 10.022 0.9 0.095 0.11 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Energy commodities............................................... 6.222 1.7 0.111 0.11 S-Jan.2012 0.9

Fuel oil and other fuels4 ....................................... 0.350 1.8 0.006 0.42 L-Nov.2011 2.3

Fuel oil4 ....................................................... 0.237 2.7 0.006 0.54 S-Jan.2012 1.4

Propane, kerosene, and firewood4,9 ..................... 0.113 -0.1 0.000 0.44 S-Jan.2012 -1.3

Motor fuel........................................................ 5.872 1.7 0.104 0.11 S-Jan.2012 0.8

Gasoline (all types)........................................... 5.681 1.7 0.100 0.12 S-Jan.2012 0.9

Gasoline, unleaded regular6 ............................. 1.6 0.28 S-Jan.2012 0.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade10 , 6 ..................... 2.0 0.27 S-Jan.2012 0.8

Gasoline, unleaded premium6 ........................... 1.7 0.27 S-Jan.2012 0.7

Other motor fuels5 ........................................... 0.191 3.7 0.007 0.16 L-Nov.2011 4.1

Energy services11 ................................................. 3.800 -0.4 -0.016 0.16 L-Dec.2011 -0.2

Electricity11 ...................................................... 2.894 -0.8 -0.024 0.18 S-Jun.2011 -0.9

Utility (piped) gas service11 ................................... 0.907 0.9 0.008 0.18 L-Sep.2011 1.5

All items less food and energy..................................... 75.722 0.2 0.174 0.04 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Commodities less food and energy commodities.............. 19.773 0.2 0.041 0.09 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Household furnishings and supplies12 ....................... 3.379 -0.1 -0.003 0.15 S-Nov.2011 -0.2

Window and floor coverings and other linens4,5 ....... 0.279 0.3 0.001 0.62 L-Sep.2011 0.5

Floor coverings4,5 ....................................... 0.039 -0.4 0.000 0.55 S-Jan.2012 -0.6

Window coverings4,5 .................................... 0.077 -0.9 -0.001 0.68 S-Mar.2011 -2.2

Other linens4,5 ........................................... 0.163 1.0 0.002 0.92 L-Sep.2011 1.3

Furniture and bedding4 ..................................... 0.718 0.8 0.006 0.34 L-Dec.2011 0.9

Bedroom furniture4 ........................................ 0.235 0.9 0.002 0.65 L-Dec.2011 1.5

Living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture4,5 ... 0.341 0.6 0.002 0.42 L-Aug.2011 0.7

Other furniture5 ............................................ 0.135 -1.0 -0.001 0.73 S-Oct.2011 -1.0

Infants’ furniture4,8,6 ................................

Appliances5 ................................................... 0.293 0.2 0.001 0.38 S-Nov.2011 -1.0

Major appliances5 ......................................... 0.168 0.7 0.001 0.48 S-Nov.2011 -1.5

Laundry equipment6 ................................... 1.1 0.58 S-Nov.2011 -1.4

Other appliances4,5 ..................................... 0.122 -1.1 -0.001 0.59 S-Nov.2011 -1.7

Other household equipment and furnishings4,5 ........ 0.503 -1.4 -0.007 0.41 S-Sep.2011 -1.5

Clocks, lamps, and decorator items4 ................... 0.266 -1.9 -0.005 0.51 S-Sep.2011 -2.3

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Indoor plants and flowers13 .............................. 0.104 -0.9 -0.001 0.69 S-Jan.2012 -0.9

Dishes and flatware4,5 .................................. 0.049 -2.2 -0.001 1.02 S-Nov.2011 -3.8

Nonelectric cookware and tableware5 .................. 0.084 -0.4 0.000 0.51 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Tools, hardware, outdoor equipment and supplies5 . . .. 0.687 -0.7 -0.005 0.28 S-Feb.2010 -0.7

Tools, hardware and supplies4,5 ...................... 0.174 -0.2 0.000 0.35 S-Oct.2011 -0.2

Outdoor equipment and supplies5 ...................... 0.366 -0.9 -0.003 0.32 S-May 2011 -1.1

Housekeeping supplies4 .................................... 0.899 -0.2 -0.001 0.27 S-Apr.2011 -0.3

Household cleaning products4,5 ....................... 0.366 0.0 0.000 0.40 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Household paper products4,5 .......................... 0.243 0.2 0.000 0.38 S-Dec.2011 0.2

Miscellaneous household products4,5 ................ 0.291 -0.7 -0.002 0.47 S-Dec.2010 -1.0

Apparel........................................................... 3.527 0.5 0.018 0.39 L-Jan.2012 0.9

Men’s and boys’ apparel.................................... 0.850 0.8 0.007 0.61 L-Jan.2012 1.0

Men’s apparel.............................................. 0.677 -0.2 -0.002 0.65 L-Jan.2012 1.7

Men’s suits, sport coats, and outerwear............. 0.123 -0.4 -0.001 1.77 L-Jan.2012 6.3

Men’s furnishings....................................... 0.179 -0.5 -0.001 0.98 L-Jan.2012 -0.2

Men’s shirts and sweaters5 ........................... 0.208 -0.8 -0.002 1.49 L-Jan.2012 0.1

Men’s pants and shorts................................ 0.160 -0.1 0.000 1.32 S-Oct.2011 -1.2

Boys’ apparel............................................... 0.173 6.2 0.011 1.48 L-EVER –

Women’s and girls’ apparel................................. 1.482 0.3 0.005 0.75 L-Jan.2012 1.3

Women’s apparel.......................................... 1.232 0.3 0.004 0.82 L-Jan.2012 1.2

Women’s outerwear..................................... 0.086 -3.4 -0.003 3.37 S-Sep.2011 -5.4

Women’s dresses....................................... 0.163 8.8 0.015 2.67 S-Jan.2012 -3.7

Women’s suits and separates5 ....................... 0.579 -1.5 -0.009 1.10 – –

Women’s underwear, nightwear, sportswear and

accessories5 .......................................... 0.389 -1.1 -0.004 1.16 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Girls’ apparel............................................... 0.249 0.5 0.001 2.09 L-Jan.2012 1.9

Footwear....................................................... 0.669 0.6 0.004 0.56 L-Aug.2011 0.6

Men’s footwear4 ........................................... 0.208 0.1 0.000 0.85 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Boys’ and girls’ footwear.................................. 0.148 1.0 0.001 1.22 L-Aug.2011 2.3

Women’s footwear......................................... 0.313 1.0 0.003 0.86 L-May 2011 1.4

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel............................... 0.199 0.2 0.000 1.00 L-Jan.2012 1.6

Jewelry and watches9 ....................................... 0.327 0.5 0.002 1.36 L-Jan.2012 0.7

Watches4,9 ............................................... 0.089 1.6 0.001 0.78 L-Jan.2011 1.8

Jewelry9 .................................................... 0.239 0.2 0.000 1.56 L-Jan.2012 1.6

Transportation commodities less motor fuel12 .............. 5.585 0.6 0.033 0.07 L-Jun.2011 0.8

New vehicles.................................................. 3.197 0.2 0.007 0.11 S-Jan.2012 0.0

New cars and trucks5,6 ................................. 0.2 0.10 S-Jan.2012 0.0

New cars6 ............................................... 0.2 0.15 S-Jan.2012 -0.2

New trucks14 , 6 ........................................ 0.2 0.11 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Used cars and trucks...................................... 1.882 1.3 0.025 0.02 L-Dec.2009 2.3

Motor vehicle parts and equipment4 .................... 0.436 0.0 0.000 0.20 S-Oct.2011 -0.2

Tires4 .................................................... 0.298 -0.3 -0.001 0.25 S-Sep.2011 -0.3

Vehicle accessories other than tires4,5 ............ 0.139 0.7 0.001 0.25 L-Sep.2011 0.9

Vehicle parts and equipment other than tires4,6

............................................................................ 0.4 0.25 L-Sep.2011 0.8

Motor oil, coolant, and fluids4,6 .................. 1.8 0.64 L-Aug.2011 2.2

Medical care commodities4 ................................... 1.725 0.4 0.007 0.14 S-Dec.2011 0.2

Medicinal drugs4 , 12 ........................................ 1.646 0.4 0.007 0.15 S-Dec.2011 0.2

Prescription drugs......................................... 1.335 0.3 0.004 0.14 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Nonprescription drugs4 , 12 .............................. 0.311 1.0 0.003 0.49 L-EVER –

Medical equipment and supplies4 , 12 ..................... 0.079 -0.3 0.000 0.47 S-Dec.2011 -0.7

Recreation commodities12 ..................................... 2.340 -0.2 -0.005 0.18 S-Dec.2011 -0.2

Video and audio products12 ................................ 0.432 -1.2 -0.005 0.28 S-Dec.2010 -1.2

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Televisions.................................................. 0.172 -2.6 -0.004 0.64 S-Apr.2011 -2.6

Other video equipment4,5 .............................. 0.028 -2.3 -0.001 0.61 S-Dec.2011 -2.8

Audio equipment4 ......................................... 0.074 -0.5 0.000 0.45 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Audio discs, tapes and other media4,5 ............... 0.045 -0.2 0.000 0.47 S-Dec.2011 -0.6

Pets and pet products4 ..................................... 0.690 0.5 0.004 0.39 L-Aug.2011 0.9

Pet food4,5,6 ............................................ 0.6 0.41 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Purchase of pets, pet supplies, accessories4,5,6 ... 0.6 0.76 S-Jan.2012 -0.9

Sporting goods4 .............................................. 0.464 -0.3 -0.001 0.31 S-Nov.2011 -0.3

Sports vehicles including bicycles4 ..................... 0.244 -0.4 -0.001 0.33 S-Aug.2011 -0.4

Sports equipment4 ........................................ 0.210 -0.1 0.000 0.53 S-Dec.2011 -0.7

Photographic equipment and supplies..................... 0.054 -1.0 -0.001 0.62 S-Jan.2012 -1.5

Film and photographic supplies4,5,6 ................. 0.4 0.73 S-Jan.2012 -0.4

Photographic equipment5,6 ............................. -0.7 0.82 S-Jan.2012 -2.0

Recreational reading materials4 ........................... 0.222 0.7 0.002 0.34 L-Feb.2009 1.1

Newspapers and magazines4,5 ........................ 0.120 1.1 0.001 0.48 L-Jan.2012 1.3

Recreational books4,5 ................................... 0.099 0.3 0.000 0.47 L-Oct.2011 0.3

Other recreational goods5 .................................. 0.477 -0.7 -0.003 0.44 S-Nov.2011 -1.2

Toys4 ....................................................... 0.357 -0.9 -0.003 0.53 S-Nov.2011 -1.6

Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment4

,5,6 ................................................... -1.0 0.51 S-Nov.2011 -1.5

Sewing machines, fabric and supplies5 ................ 0.061 0.6 0.000 0.91 L-Dec.2011 1.0

Music instruments and accessories5 ................... 0.039 -0.2 0.000 0.42 L-Jan.2012 0.1

Education and communication commodities12 ............. 0.608 -0.5 -0.003 0.34 S-Dec.2011 -0.8

Educational books and supplies............................ 0.202 0.6 0.001 0.29 L-Jan.2012 0.8

College textbooks4 , 15 , 6 ................................ 0.4 0.24 L-Jan.2012 1.4

Information technology commodities12 .................... 0.406 -1.0 -0.004 0.43 S-Dec.2011 -1.4

Personal computers and peripheral equipment7 ...... 0.268 -1.3 -0.004 0.51 S-Dec.2011 -2.1

Computer software and accessories4,5 ............... 0.049 -0.8 0.000 0.75 L-Jan.2012 -0.2

Telephone hardware, calculators, and other

consumer information items4,5 ...................... 0.089 -0.2 0.000 0.77 S-Dec.2011 -1.0

Alcoholic beverages............................................ 0.953 -0.2 -0.002 0.13 S-Dec.2005 -0.2

Alcoholic beverages at home............................... 0.576 0.0 0.000 0.21 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages at home......... 0.275 0.1 0.000 0.27 S-Dec.2011 0.1

Distilled spirits at home4 ................................. 0.072 -0.3 0.000 0.33 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Whiskey at home6 ...................................... -1.2 0.49 L-Jan.2012 0.9

Distilled spirits, excluding whiskey, at home4,6 . .. 0.0 0.59 S-Dec.2011 -1.1

Wine at home.............................................. 0.229 -0.1 0.000 0.37 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Alcoholic beverages away from home4 ................... 0.377 -0.4 -0.001 0.16 S-Feb.2010 -0.4

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages away from

home4,5,6 ............................................. 0.0 0.13 S-Dec.2011 0.0

Wine away from home4,5,6 ........................... 0.1 0.20 S-Nov.2011 -0.1

Distilled spirits away from home4,5,6 ................ -0.8 0.20 S-EVER –

Other goods12 .................................................. 1.656 0.3 0.005 0.19 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Tobacco and smoking products4 .......................... 0.798 -0.3 -0.002 0.16 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Cigarettes4,5 ............................................. 0.738 -0.3 -0.002 0.17 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Tobacco products other than cigarettes4,5 ........... 0.054 0.2 0.000 0.46 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Personal care products4 .................................... 0.649 1.2 0.008 0.37 L-Dec.2006 1.9

Hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal

care products4,5 ....................................... 0.340 1.5 0.005 0.54 L-EVER –

Cosmetics, perfume, bath, nail preparations and

implements4 ............................................. 0.303 1.0 0.003 0.56 L-Jul.2009 1.0

Miscellaneous personal goods5 ............................ 0.209 -0.5 -0.001 0.44 S-Feb.2011 -0.5

Stationery, stationery supplies, gift wrap6 ............. -0.4 0.46 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Infants’ equipment4,8,6 ................................ 0.2 0.51 L-Oct.2011 0.5

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Services less energy services................................... 55.949 0.2 0.133 0.03 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Shelter............................................................ 31.413 0.2 0.061 0.05 – –

Rent of shelter16 ............................................. 31.068 0.2 0.047 0.05 L-Dec.2011 0.2

Rent of primary residence11 ............................. 6.453 0.2 0.011 0.07 – –

Lodging away from home5 ............................... 0.793 0.3 0.002 0.86 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Housing at school, excluding board11 , 16 ........... 0.154 0.3 0.000 0.05 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Other lodging away from home including hotels

and motels............................................. 0.639 0.2 0.002 1.07 S-Jan.2012 0.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences11 , 16 .......... 23.823 0.2 0.046 0.04 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence11 , 16

............................................................................ 22.416 0.2 0.043 0.04 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Tenants’ and household insurance4,5 ................ 0.345 0.6 0.002 0.21 L-Apr.2011 0.6

Water and sewer and trash collection services5 ........ 1.163 0.6 0.007 0.13 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Water and sewerage maintenance11 ................... 0.874 0.7 0.006 0.17 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Garbage and trash collection4 , 14 ...................... 0.288 0.3 0.001 0.15 S-Jan.2012 0.0

Household operations4,5 .................................. 0.727 0.1 0.001 0.10 S-Dec.2011 0.1

Domestic services4,5 .................................... 0.250 0.0 0.000 0.07 – –

Gardening and lawncare services4,5 .................. 0.238 0.0 0.000 0.11 S-Nov.2011 0.0

Moving, storage, freight expense4,5 .................. 0.091 0.5 0.000 0.43 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Repair of household items4,5 .......................... 0.076 0.3 0.000 0.14 L-Mar.2010 1.3

Medical care services........................................ 5.358 0.3 0.014 0.06 L-Dec.2011 0.4

Professional services...................................... 2.989 0.2 0.004 0.08 L-Dec.2011 0.3

Physicians’ services11 ................................. 1.600 0.2 0.002 0.12 L-Dec.2011 0.2

Dental services11 ....................................... 0.760 0.2 0.001 0.08 L-Dec.2011 0.3

Eyeglasses and eye care9 ............................ 0.251 0.2 0.001 0.23 L-Aug.2011 0.3

Services by other medical professionals4 , 11 , 9 . .. 0.378 0.1 0.000 0.12 S-Jan.2012 0.1

Hospital and related services............................ 1.745 0.2 0.003 0.11 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Hospital services11 , 17 ................................ 1.522 0.2 0.003 0.12 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Inpatient hospital services11 , 17 , 6 ................ 0.1 0.18 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Outpatient hospital services11 , 9 , 6 ............... 0.2 0.22 S-Sep.2011 0.2

Nursing homes and adult day services11 , 17 ....... 0.137 0.3 0.000 0.12 S-Nov.2011 0.3

Care of invalids and elderly at home4,8 ............ 0.086 0.0 0.000 0.15 – –

Health insurance4,8 ..................................... 0.624 1.3 0.008 0.07 S-Dec.2011 1.2

Transportation services...................................... 5.739 0.3 0.017 0.11 L-Sep.2011 0.4

Leased cars and trucks15 ................................ 0.392 0.0 0.000 0.44 L-Sep.2011 0.0

Car and truck rental5 ................................... 0.066 2.0 0.001 1.34 L-Apr.2011 2.4

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair4 ................ 1.151 -0.1 -0.002 0.12 S-May 2009 -0.1

Motor vehicle body work4 ............................. 0.057 0.3 0.000 0.14 L-Oct.2011 0.3

Motor vehicle maintenance and servicing4 ......... 0.458 0.2 0.001 0.15 – –

Motor vehicle repair4,5 ............................... 0.600 -0.4 -0.002 0.19 S-EVER –

Motor vehicle insurance................................... 2.401 0.5 0.012 0.16 L-Oct.2010 0.6

Motor vehicle fees4,5 .................................... 0.563 0.0 0.000 0.12 L-Jan.2012 1.4

State motor vehicle registration and license fees4 ,

11 , 5 ................................................... 0.328 0.0 0.000 0.12 L-Dec.2011 0.3

Parking and other fees4,5 ............................ 0.212 0.0 0.000 0.16 S-Dec.2011 0.0

Parking fees and tolls4,5,6 ....................... 0.1 0.13 S-Dec.2011 0.1

Automobile service clubs4,5,6 ................... 0.1 0.26 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Public transportation....................................... 1.166 0.5 0.006 0.29 L-Sep.2011 0.7

Airline fare............................................... 0.759 0.4 0.003 0.40 L-Sep.2011 0.9

Other intercity transportation.......................... 0.146 0.1 0.000 0.66 L-Dec.2011 0.7

Intercity bus fare4,7,6 ............................. 1.0 0.52 L-Dec.2011 4.0

Intercity train fare4,7,6 ............................ 4.5 1.24 L-Jun.2011 4.8

Ship fare4,5,6 ...................................... -0.3 0.82 S-Jan.2012 -1.5

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Intracity transportation4 ................................ 0.258 0.7 0.002 0.07 L-Jan.2011 2.3

Intracity mass transit4 , 12 , 6 ....................... 0.0 0.09 S-Sep.2011 0.0

Recreation services12 ....................................... 3.695 0.4 0.016 0.19 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Video and audio services12 .............................. 1.497 0.5 0.008 0.23 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Cable and satellite television and radio service14 .. 1.385 0.5 0.007 0.23 – –

Video discs and other media, including rental of

video and audio4,5 ................................. 0.112 0.3 0.000 0.84 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Video discs and other media4,5,6 ............... 0.4 1.22 L-Oct.2011 2.4

Rental of video or audio discs and other media4 ,

5,6 .................................................. 0.6 0.75 L-Jan.2012 1.7

Pet services including veterinary5 ...................... 0.407 0.3 0.001 0.19 L-Dec.2011 0.7

Pet services4,5,6 ..................................... 0.4 0.22 L-Jan.2012 0.5

Veterinarian services5,6 .............................. 0.1 0.19 L-Dec.2011 0.9

Photographers and film processing4,5 ................ 0.058 0.3 0.000 0.36 L-Nov.2011 0.6

Photographer fees4,5,6 ............................. 0.1 0.36 L-Dec.2011 0.5

Film processing4,5,6 ................................. 0.3 0.44 L-Nov.2011 1.0

Other recreation services5 ............................... 1.732 0.4 0.007 0.35 L-Jan.2012 1.1

Club dues and fees for participant sports and

group exercises5 ..................................... 0.568 0.9 0.005 0.71 L-Dec.2011 2.4

Admissions4 ............................................. 0.629 0.1 0.000 0.50 L-Jan.2012 2.1

Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts4,5

, 6 .................................................... -0.1 0.42 L-Jan.2012 1.9

Admission to sporting events4,5,6 .............. 0.7 0.52 L-Jan.2012 3.0

Fees for lessons or instructions4,9 ................. 0.230 -0.1 0.000 0.23 S-Oct.2011 -0.2

Education and communication services12 ................ 6.153 0.2 0.013 0.07 – –

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare............... 2.990 0.3 0.010 0.12 – –

College tuition and fees................................ 1.678 0.5 0.008 0.21 L-Nov.2011 0.5

Elementary and high school tuition and fees........ 0.379 0.2 0.001 0.03 S-Aug.2011 -0.6

Child care and nursery school13 ..................... 0.772 0.2 0.002 0.11 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Technical and business school tuition and fees5 ... 0.059 0.6 0.000 0.18 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Postage and delivery services5 ......................... 0.150 0.2 0.000 0.01 S-Jan.2012 -0.2

Postage4 ................................................. 0.139 0.2 0.000 0.00 S-Jan.2012 -0.6

Delivery services4,5 ................................... 0.010 -0.1 0.000 0.12 L-Jan.2012 4.6

Telephone services4,5 .................................. 2.416 0.1 0.002 0.05 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Wireless telephone services4,5 ..................... 1.471 0.0 0.000 0.06 – –

Land-line telephone services4 , 12 .................... 0.945 0.1 0.001 0.09 – –

Internet services and electronic information

providers4,5 ............................................ 0.583 0.3 0.002 0.29 L-Jan.2012 0.7

Other personal services12 .................................. 1.701 0.2 0.004 0.10 L-Nov.2011 0.4

Personal care services4 .................................. 0.629 0.2 0.001 0.11 S-Jan.2012 -0.1

Haircuts and other personal care services4,5 ..... 0.629 0.2 0.001 0.11 S-Jan.2012 -0.1

Miscellaneous personal services........................ 1.072 0.2 0.002 0.13 L-Dec.2011 0.5

Legal services9 ......................................... 0.295 0.3 0.001 0.12 L-Nov.2011 0.4

Funeral expenses9 ..................................... 0.159 -0.5 -0.001 0.09 S-EVER –

Laundry and dry cleaning services5 ................. 0.239 0.1 0.000 0.09 S-Jan.2012 0.1

Apparel services other than laundry and dry

cleaning4,5 .......................................... 0.030 0.3 0.000 0.19 L-Dec.2011 0.7

Financial services4,9 .................................. 0.208 1.0 0.002 0.62 L-Apr.2011 1.9

Checking account and other bank services4,5,

6 ..................................................... 0.1 0.51 S-Jan.2012 0.0

Tax return preparation and other accounting

fees5,6 ............................................. 1.4 0.73 L-Jun.2011 1.6

Special aggregate indexes

All items less food.................................................... 85.745 0.3 0.268 0.03 S-Jan.2012 0.2

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

All items less shelter................................................. 68.587 0.3 0.230 0.04 S-Jan.2012 0.2

All items less food and shelter...................................... 54.332 0.4 0.208 0.05 S-Jan.2012 0.2

All items less food, shelter, and energy........................... 44.309 0.3 0.113 0.05 L-Aug.2011 0.3

All items less food, shelter, energy, and used cars and

trucks................................................................ 42.427 0.2 0.088 0.05 L-Jan.2012 0.3

All items less medical care.......................................... 92.917 0.3 0.270 0.03 S-Jan.2012 0.2

All items less energy................................................. 89.978 0.2 0.197 0.03 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Commodities.......................................................... 40.250 0.4 0.181 0.06 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Commodities less food, energy, and used cars and trucks... 17.891 0.1 0.016 0.09 – –

Commodities less food............................................ 25.995 0.6 0.158 0.07 S-Jan.2012 0.5

Commodities less food and beverages......................... 25.041 0.6 0.160 0.07 S-Jan.2012 0.4

Services............................................................... 59.750 0.2 0.117 0.04 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Services less rent of shelter16 ................................... 28.682 0.2 0.049 0.05 L-Dec.2011 0.3

Services less medical care services............................ 54.392 0.1 0.071 0.04 L-Jan.2012 0.1

Durables............................................................... 8.930 0.1 0.005 0.07 S-Jan.2012 -0.1

Nondurables........................................................... 31.320 0.6 0.175 0.07 S-Jan.2012 0.5

Nondurables less food............................................ 17.065 0.8 0.146 0.10 S-Jan.2012 0.8

Nondurables less food and beverages.......................... 16.112 0.9 0.143 0.11 S-Jan.2012 0.8

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel.............. 12.585 1.1 0.142 0.07 S-Jan.2012 0.6

Nondurables less food and apparel............................. 13.538 1.0 0.141 0.07 S-Jan.2012 0.7

Housing................................................................ 40.832 0.1 0.048 0.05 – –

Education and communication5 .................................... 6.761 0.2 0.010 0.08 – –

Education5 ......................................................... 3.192 0.3 0.011 0.12 – –

Communication5 ................................................... 3.569 0.0 0.000 0.07 S-Dec.2011 0.0

Information and information processing5 .................... 3.420 0.0 -0.001 0.08 S-Dec.2011 0.0

Information technology, hardware and services18 ......... 1.004 -0.2 -0.002 0.26 S-Dec.2011 -0.5

Recreation5 ........................................................... 6.035 0.2 0.011 0.15 L-Jan.2012 0.6

Video and audio5 ................................................. 1.930 0.1 0.003 0.19 – –

Pets, pet products and services5 ............................... 1.097 0.4 0.005 0.26 L-Aug.2011 0.7

Photography5 ...................................................... 0.114 -0.3 0.000 0.36 S-Jan.2012 -0.7

Food and beverages................................................. 15.209 0.1 0.021 0.08 – –

Domestically produced farm food4 .............................. 7.263 0.1 0.007 0.14 L-Jan.2012 0.7

Other services........................................................ 11.549 0.3 0.033 0.08 L-Jan.2012 0.4

Apparel less footwear................................................ 2.858 0.5 0.014 0.47 L-Jan.2012 1.2

Fuels and utilities..................................................... 5.313 -0.1 -0.003 0.13 L-Dec.2011 -0.1

Household energy................................................. 4.151 -0.2 -0.010 0.15 L-Dec.2011 -0.2

Medical care.......................................................... 7.083 0.3 0.021 0.06 L-Jan.2012 0.3

Transportation......................................................... 17.196 0.9 0.155 0.06 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Private transportation.............................................. 16.030 0.9 0.149 0.06 S-Jan.2012 0.4

New and used motor vehicles5 ............................... 5.607 0.6 0.034 0.08 L-Jun.2011 0.8

Utilities and public transportation................................... 9.930 0.0 0.005 0.09 – –

Household furnishings and operations............................. 4.106 -0.2 -0.010 0.12 S-Sep.2010 -0.3

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

March 2012, 1-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

One Month

Seasonally

adjusted

percent

change

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 2012

Seasonally

adjusted

effect on All

Items

Feb. 2012-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

seasonally adjusted

change since:3

Date Percent

change

Other goods and services........................................... 3.357 0.2 0.007 0.11 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Personal care...................................................... 2.559 0.4 0.009 0.13 L-Nov.2011 0.5

1 The ’effect’ of an item category is a measure of that item’s contribution to the All items price change. For example, if the Food index had an effect of 0.40,

and the All items index rose 1.2 percent, then the increase in food prices contributed 0.40 / 1.2, or 33.3 percent, to that All items increase. Said another

way, had food prices been unchanged for that month the change in the All items index would have been 1.2 percent minus 0.40, or 0.8 percent. Effects

can be negative as well. For example, if the effect of food was a negative 0.1, and the All items index rose 0.5 percent, the All items index actually would

have been 0.1 percent higher (or 0.6 percent) had food prices been unchanged. Since food prices fell while prices overall were rising, the contribution

of food to the All items price change was negative (in this case, -0.1 / 0.5, or minus 20 percent).

2 A statistic’s margin of error is often expressed as its point estimate plus or minus two standard errors. For example, if a CPI category rose 0.6 percent,

and its standard error was 0.15 percent, the margin of error on this item’s 1-month percent change would be 0.6 percent, plus or minus 0.3 percent.

3 If the current seasonally adjusted 1-month percent change is greater than the previous 1-month percent change, then this column identifies the closest

prior month with a 1-month percent change as (L)arge as or (L)arger than the current 1-month change. If the current 1-month percent change is smaller

than the previous 1-month percent change, the most recent month with a change as (S)mall or (S)maller than the current month change is identified.

If the current and previous 1-month percent changes are equal, a dash will appear. Standard numerical comparisons are used. For example, 0.8% is

greater than 0.6%, -0.4% is less than -0.2%, and -0.2% is less than 0.0%. Note that a (L)arger change can be a smaller decline, for example, a -0.2%

change is larger than a -0.4% change, but still represents a decline in the price index. Likewise, (S)maller changes can be increases, for example, a 0.6%

change is smaller than 0.8%, but still represents an increase in the price index. In this context, a -0.2% change is considered to be smaller than a 0.0%

change.

4 Not seasonally adjusted.

5 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

6 Special indexes based on a substantially smaller sample. These series do not contribute to the all items index aggregation and therefore do not have

a relative importance or effect.

7 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

8 Indexes on a December 2005=100 base.

9 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

10 Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

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

12 Indexes on a December 2009=100 base.

13 Indexes on a December 1990=100 base.

14 Indexes on a December 1983=100 base.

15 Indexes on a December 2001=100 base.

16 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

17 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

18 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base.

NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

All items.................................................................. 100.000 2.7 0.07 S-Mar.2011 2.7

Food.................................................................... 14.255 3.3 0.456 0.14 S-Apr.2011 3.2

Food at home...................................................... 8.608 3.6 0.285 0.20 S-Mar.2011 3.6

Cereals and bakery products.................................. 1.240 4.5 0.050 0.43 S-Jul.2011 4.3

Cereals and cereal products................................ 0.478 4.1 0.014 0.72 S-May 2011 3.5

Flour and prepared flour mixes.......................... 0.053 7.3 0.003 1.33 S-May 2011 7.2

Breakfast cereal............................................ 0.292 3.6 0.006 0.94 S-May 2011 2.8

Rice, pasta, cornmeal..................................... 0.133 3.9 0.004 1.08 S-Jul.2011 3.3

Rice4,5 .................................................. 3.5 1.67 S-Jul.2011 2.9

Bakery products............................................ 0.762 4.9 0.036 0.59 S-Jan.2012 4.7

Bread4 ................................................... 0.223 5.6 0.012 1.22 L-Dec.2011 6.7

White bread5 ......................................... 5.0 1.78 S-Jan.2012 4.0

Bread other than white5 ............................ 5.9 1.73 L-Dec.2011 9.3

Fresh biscuits, rolls, muffins4 ......................... 0.114 3.9 0.004 1.05 S-Dec.2010 2.0

Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies........................ 0.184 5.6 0.011 1.06 S-Jan.2012 3.6

Cookies5 .............................................. 5.0 1.51 S-Jan.2012 4.4

Fresh cakes and cupcakes5 ........................ 6.8 1.15 S-Jan.2012 3.5

Other bakery products.................................. 0.241 3.9 0.009 1.00 S-Sep.2011 2.9

Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts5 ...... 7.8 1.61 L-Jan.2009 8.5

Crackers, bread, and cracker products5 .......... 3.6 1.88 S-Sep.2011 2.6

Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies,

tarts, turnovers5 ................................... 3.0 1.52 S-Nov.2011 3.0

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs................................. 1.941 5.3 0.098 0.39 S-Sep.2010 4.7

Meats, poultry, and fish...................................... 1.833 5.4 0.094 0.41 S-Dec.2010 5.4

Meats........................................................ 1.194 5.4 0.061 0.52 S-Aug.2010 5.0

Beef and veal............................................ 0.551 6.8 0.036 0.74 S-Dec.2010 6.1

Uncooked ground beef.............................. 0.216 6.7 0.014 1.14 S-Dec.2010 6.2

Uncooked beef roasts4 ............................. 0.081 5.9 0.005 1.80 S-Dec.2010 4.9

Uncooked beef steaks4 ............................. 0.202 7.3 0.013 1.12 – –

Uncooked other beef and veal4 .................... 0.051 7.1 0.003 1.47 L-Jan.2012 10.1

Pork....................................................... 0.374 3.4 0.012 0.87 S-May 2010 2.4

Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products4

............................................................................ 0.143 4.3 0.006 1.49 S-Oct.2011 3.9

Bacon and related products5 .................... 8.5 2.54 S-Nov.2011 6.8

Breakfast sausage and related products4,5 ... 1.3 1.68 S-Jul.2010 0.5

Ham.................................................... 0.077 3.0 0.002 1.75 L-Dec.2011 5.7

Ham, excluding canned5 ......................... 2.6 2.43 L-Jan.2012 3.3

Pork chops............................................ 0.061 1.6 0.001 1.66 S-Apr.2010 0.3

Other pork including roasts and picnics4 ......... 0.093 3.6 0.003 1.96 S-Apr.2010 -0.1

Other meats.............................................. 0.268 5.7 0.013 1.30 L-Dec.2011 6.7

Frankfurters5 ......................................... 6.5 3.30 L-Dec.2011 8.0

Lunchmeats4,5 ...................................... 4.5 0.93 L-Jan.2012 4.7

Lamb and organ meats5 ............................ 5.4 3.30 S-Feb.2010 1.3

Lamb and mutton4,5 ............................... 15.4 5.73 S-Jan.2012 13.8

Poultry.................................................... 0.337 6.5 0.022 0.93 L-Feb.2008 6.9

Chicken4 .............................................. 0.262 5.3 0.014 0.99 L-Dec.2008 5.4

Fresh whole chicken5 ............................ 8.7 2.17 L-Mar.2009 8.9

Fresh and frozen chicken parts5 ................ 4.3 1.25 L-Aug.2008 4.6

Other poultry including turkey4 ..................... 0.075 11.2 0.008 2.24 L-Dec.2011 12.4

Fish and seafood........................................ 0.303 3.9 0.012 1.03 S-Jan.2011 3.7

Fresh fish and seafood4 ............................ 0.156 1.9 0.003 1.47 S-May 2010 1.4

Processed fish and seafood4 ...................... 0.146 6.3 0.009 1.17 L-Jan.2012 7.7

Shelf stable fish and seafood5 .................. 3.6 2.12 S-Apr.2011 2.4

Frozen fish and seafood5 ........................ 5.7 2.12 L-Jan.2012 7.7

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Eggs......................................................... 0.108 5.1 0.004 1.18 L-Jan.2012 9.5

Dairy and related products..................................... 0.912 6.3 0.053 0.51 S-Apr.2011 6.3

Milk4 ........................................................... 0.295 4.0 0.011 0.79 S-Feb.2011 3.0

Fresh whole milk5 ......................................... 3.7 1.28 S-Jan.2011 2.2

Fresh milk other than whole4,5 ........................ 4.1 1.16 S-Feb.2011 2.5

Cheese and related products............................... 0.293 8.7 0.023 0.88 S-Dec.2011 7.8

Ice cream and related products............................ 0.137 6.4 0.008 1.31 L-Jan.2012 8.3

Other dairy and related products4 ......................... 0.188 6.2 0.010 0.93 S-Jan.2012 5.9

Fruits and vegetables........................................... 1.264 -3.9 -0.048 0.55 S-Nov.2009 -4.9

Fresh fruits and vegetables................................. 0.956 -6.6 -0.063 0.69 S-Oct.2009 -7.7

Fresh fruits.................................................. 0.495 0.1 -0.001 1.01 L-Nov.2011 2.6

Apples.................................................... 0.085 3.3 0.003 1.75 S-Jul.2011 2.1

Bananas.................................................. 0.082 -0.4 0.000 1.44 L-Jan.2012 2.5

Citrus fruits4 ............................................. 0.103 -5.4 -0.005 2.25 L-Dec.2011 -3.8

Oranges, including tangerines5 .................... 0.1 2.47 L-Dec.2011 0.2

Other fresh fruits4 ...................................... 0.225 1.2 0.002 1.56 L-Oct.2011 3.1

Fresh vegetables.......................................... 0.462 -12.6 -0.062 1.01 S-May 1994 -14.1

Potatoes.................................................. 0.083 1.0 0.001 1.86 S-Sep.2010 -0.5

Lettuce.................................................... 0.062 -20.5 -0.014 2.27 S-Apr.2003 -24.1

Tomatoes................................................. 0.078 -28.8 -0.029 2.40 S-Nov.2005 -29.3

Other fresh vegetables................................. 0.239 -7.9 -0.020 1.33 S-Mar.1999 -7.9

Processed fruits and vegetables4 ....................... 0.308 5.5 0.015 0.70 S-Jan.2012 5.4

Canned fruits and vegetables4 ....................... 0.154 4.6 0.007 1.02 S-Jan.2012 4.4

Canned fruits4,5 .................................... 3.3 1.19 S-Sep.2011 2.4

Canned vegetables4,5 ............................. 5.7 1.43 S-Jan.2012 5.0

Frozen fruits and vegetables4 ........................ 0.097 6.9 0.006 1.23 S-Sep.2011 5.1

Frozen vegetables5 .................................. 5.9 1.25 S-Sep.2011 3.8

Other processed fruits and vegetables including

dried4 .................................................. 0.057 5.9 0.003 1.36 – –

Dried beans, peas, and lentils4,5 ................. 15.4 2.74 S-Jan.2012 14.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials........... 0.960 2.7 0.026 0.68 S-Apr.2011 2.4

Juices and nonalcoholic drinks4 ........................... 0.717 2.0 0.014 0.84 S-Aug.2011 2.0

Carbonated drinks......................................... 0.296 2.3 0.007 1.14 S-May 2011 2.0

Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4 ............. 0.014 11.3 0.002 2.34 – –

Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks4 ......... 0.407 1.5 0.006 1.05 L-Jan.2012 1.6

Beverage materials including coffee and tea4 ........... 0.244 4.7 0.011 0.99 S-Mar.2011 4.4

Coffee....................................................... 0.149 9.8 0.012 1.45 S-Mar.2011 9.4

Roasted coffee5 ........................................ 11.0 1.78 S-Mar.2011 10.8

Instant and freeze dried coffee5 ...................... 2.0 2.00 S-Dec.2010 1.1

Other beverage materials including tea4 ............... 0.094 -0.6 -0.001 1.25 S-Dec.2010 -0.7

Other food at home............................................. 2.291 5.0 0.106 0.41 S-Sep.2011 4.7

Sugar and sweets............................................ 0.308 4.6 0.014 0.99 S-Dec.2011 3.8

Sugar and artificial sweeteners.......................... 0.062 4.3 0.002 0.92 S-Dec.2011 3.9

Candy and chewing gum4 ............................... 0.183 5.2 0.009 1.53 L-Jan.2012 5.5

Other sweets4 ............................................. 0.064 3.4 0.002 1.05 S-Jul.2011 3.3

Fats and oils.................................................. 0.267 8.9 0.022 0.82 S-May 2011 8.5

Butter and margarine4 .................................... 0.077 1.5 0.001 1.41 S-Jul.2010 0.9

Butter5 ................................................... -8.5 2.47 S-Dec.2009 -11.5

Margarine5 .............................................. 11.1 1.86 S-Apr.2011 11.1

Salad dressing4 ........................................... 0.067 4.3 0.003 1.32 S-Feb.2011 2.7

Other fats and oils including peanut butter4 ........... 0.122 16.7 0.018 1.22 S-Nov.2011 13.5

Peanut butter4,5 ....................................... 40.7 1.63 L-EVER –

Other foods................................................. 1.715 4.5 0.070 0.49 S-Dec.2011 4.5

Soups..................................................... 0.097 6.0 0.006 1.59 L-Mar.2009 8.4

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Frozen and freeze dried prepared foods............. 0.303 3.0 0.009 1.11 L-Jan.2012 4.2

Snacks.................................................... 0.325 8.0 0.025 0.93 S-Jan.2012 7.4

Spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces............ 0.292 3.5 0.010 1.04 S-Nov.2011 2.9

Salt and other seasonings and spices4,5 ....... 7.6 1.99 S-Sep.2011 5.3

Olives, pickles, relishes4,5 ........................ -0.5 1.64 S-Nov.2011 -0.7

Sauces and gravies4,5 ............................. 2.5 1.83 S-Jan.2012 1.9

Other condiments5 ................................... 4.2 1.66 S-Aug.2011 4.0

Baby food4 .............................................. 0.072 6.1 0.005 0.94 L-Jan.2012 7.5

Other miscellaneous foods4 ........................... 0.626 3.4 0.015 0.80 S-Dec.2011 3.2

Prepared salads6,5 ................................. 3.1 1.42 L-Jan.2012 3.4

Food away from home............................................ 5.648 3.0 0.172 0.17 S-Dec.2011 2.9

Full service meals and snacks4 .............................. 2.682 2.7 0.075 0.21 S-Sep.2011 2.6

Limited service meals and snacks4 .......................... 2.266 3.3 0.075 0.30 L-Aug.2009 3.7

Food at employee sites and schools4 ....................... 0.258 3.8 0.010 0.54 – –

Food at elementary and secondary schools7,5 ......... 3.5 0.73 – –

Food from vending machines and mobile vendors4 ....... 0.082 4.0 0.004 0.88 S-Dec.2011 2.7

Other food away from home4 ................................. 0.361 2.2 0.007 0.45 S-Dec.2011 2.1

Energy................................................................. 10.022 4.6 0.479 0.19 S-Nov.2010 3.9

Energy commodities............................................... 6.222 8.7 0.549 0.18 S-Nov.2010 7.7

Fuel oil and other fuels......................................... 0.350 4.3 0.015 0.92 S-Dec.2009 2.5

Fuel oil......................................................... 0.237 5.3 0.012 1.14 S-Nov.2009 -6.9

Propane, kerosene, and firewood8 ........................ 0.113 2.4 0.003 1.24 S-Feb.2011 1.9

Motor fuel........................................................ 5.872 9.0 0.534 0.19 S-Nov.2010 7.5

Gasoline (all types)........................................... 5.681 9.0 0.522 0.19 S-Nov.2010 7.3

Gasoline, unleaded regular5 ............................. 9.1 0.48 S-Nov.2010 7.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade9 , 5 ...................... 9.0 0.45 S-Nov.2010 7.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium5 ........................... 8.7 0.45 S-Nov.2010 7.1

Other motor fuels4 ........................................... 0.191 6.2 0.012 0.33 S-Nov.2009 -6.0

Energy services10 ................................................. 3.800 -1.8 -0.070 0.32 S-Mar.2010 -1.8

Electricity10 ...................................................... 2.894 0.6 0.016 0.37 S-Apr.2011 0.6

Utility (piped) gas service10 ................................... 0.907 -9.1 -0.086 0.62 L-Jan.2012 -5.5

All items less food and energy..................................... 75.722 2.3 1.716 0.09 L-Jan.2012 2.3

Commodities less food and energy commodities.............. 19.773 2.1 0.422 0.20 L-Jan.2012 2.2

Household furnishings and supplies11 ....................... 3.379 0.8 0.027 0.35 S-Nov.2011 0.6

Window and floor coverings and other linens4 .......... 0.279 -1.4 -0.004 1.43 L-Dec.2011 0.3

Floor coverings4 ........................................... 0.039 0.3 0.000 1.43 L-Jan.2012 0.7

Window coverings4 ....................................... 0.077 -0.6 -0.001 2.32 L-Dec.2011 0.8

Other linens4 ............................................... 0.163 -2.4 -0.004 1.74 L-Jan.2012 -1.9

Furniture and bedding....................................... 0.718 2.1 0.017 0.91 L-May 2009 2.4

Bedroom furniture.......................................... 0.235 1.4 0.004 1.64 S-Nov.2011 0.4

Living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture4 ..... 0.341 3.2 0.012 1.20 L-EVER –

Other furniture4 ............................................ 0.135 0.6 0.001 2.17 S-Nov.2011 0.2

Infants’ furniture7,5 ....................................

Appliances4 ................................................... 0.293 4.6 0.013 0.76 L-EVER –

Major appliances4 ......................................... 0.168 9.0 0.014 1.10 L-EVER –

Laundry equipment5 ................................... 11.5 1.75 L-EVER –

Other appliances4 ......................................... 0.122 -1.5 -0.002 1.22 S-Mar.2011 -2.0

Other household equipment and furnishings4 ........... 0.503 -4.9 -0.027 1.21 S-Sep.2010 -4.9

Clocks, lamps, and decorator items..................... 0.266 -7.1 -0.020 1.82 S-Sep.2010 -7.9

Indoor plants and flowers12 .............................. 0.104 -1.3 -0.001 1.49 S-Jan.2011 -1.4

Dishes and flatware4 ..................................... 0.049 -7.3 -0.005 2.54 S-Jan.2012 -7.3

Nonelectric cookware and tableware4 .................. 0.084 -0.6 -0.001 1.31 – –

Tools, hardware, outdoor equipment and supplies4 . . .. 0.687 -0.3 -0.003 0.60 S-Jul.2011 -0.3

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Tools, hardware and supplies4 .......................... 0.174 2.6 0.005 1.02 S-Jan.2012 2.5

Outdoor equipment and supplies4 ...................... 0.366 -1.4 -0.007 0.77 S-Feb.2011 -1.9

Housekeeping supplies...................................... 0.899 3.7 0.032 0.51 S-Jan.2012 3.2

Household cleaning products4 .......................... 0.366 2.9 0.010 0.81 L-Dec.2011 3.2

Household paper products4 ............................. 0.243 4.6 0.011 0.92 S-Jan.2012 3.3

Miscellaneous household products4 .................... 0.291 3.8 0.011 1.02 S-Jan.2012 3.7

Apparel........................................................... 3.527 4.9 0.176 0.95 L-Jan.1991 6.1

Men’s and boys’ apparel.................................... 0.850 6.2 0.053 1.06 L-Nov.2011 6.3

Men’s apparel.............................................. 0.677 5.1 0.036 1.19 S-Oct.2011 4.4

Men’s suits, sport coats, and outerwear............. 0.123 5.1 0.006 3.03 S-Dec.2011 0.0

Men’s furnishings....................................... 0.179 5.5 0.010 2.44 S-Sep.2011 5.1

Men’s shirts and sweaters4 ........................... 0.208 4.8 0.011 2.52 L-Jan.2012 5.4

Men’s pants and shorts................................ 0.160 6.2 0.009 2.41 S-Dec.2011 5.9

Boys’ apparel............................................... 0.173 10.4 0.018 2.92 L-EVER –

Women’s and girls’ apparel................................. 1.482 5.5 0.083 1.86 L-Feb.1991 6.5

Women’s apparel.......................................... 1.232 4.9 0.061 2.10 L-Feb.2007 5.2

Women’s outerwear..................................... 0.086 3.1 0.007 9.10 S-Jan.2012 2.4

Women’s dresses....................................... 0.163 15.3 0.028 6.62 L-Mar.1993 16.8

Women’s suits and separates4 ....................... 0.579 1.3 0.006 2.06 S-Jul.2011 0.9

Women’s underwear, nightwear, sportswear and

accessories4 .......................................... 0.389 5.4 0.020 3.96 S-Oct.2011 4.9

Girls’ apparel............................................... 0.249 8.9 0.022 4.48 L-Jan.2012 9.5

Footwear....................................................... 0.669 1.2 0.008 1.07 L-Dec.2011 1.3

Men’s footwear............................................. 0.208 1.7 0.004 1.63 S-Jan.2012 1.0

Boys’ and girls’ footwear.................................. 0.148 -0.3 0.000 2.62 S-Jan.2011 -1.4

Women’s footwear......................................... 0.313 1.5 0.005 1.73 L-Aug.2010 3.0

Infants’ and toddlers’ apparel............................... 0.199 7.5 0.014 2.01 L-Jan.2012 7.5

Jewelry and watches8 ....................................... 0.327 5.3 0.017 2.42 – –

Watches8 ................................................... 0.089 1.2 0.002 1.57 L-Dec.2011 1.3

Jewelry8 .................................................... 0.239 5.9 0.015 2.79 S-Nov.2010 3.9

Transportation commodities less motor fuel11 .............. 5.585 2.9 0.172 0.19 S-Apr.2011 2.8

New vehicles.................................................. 3.197 2.5 0.084 0.30 S-Apr.2011 2.4

New cars and trucks4,5 ................................. 2.5 0.30 S-Apr.2011 2.4

New cars5 ............................................... 2.7 0.40 S-Apr.2011 2.2

New trucks13 , 5 ........................................ 2.2 0.30 S-Feb.2011 1.9

Used cars and trucks...................................... 1.882 3.2 0.065 0.22 L-Jan.2012 3.2

Motor vehicle parts and equipment...................... 0.436 5.4 0.022 0.44 L-Jan.2012 5.4

Tires...................................................... 0.298 5.8 0.016 0.63 L-Jan.2012 6.1

Vehicle accessories other than tires4 ................ 0.139 4.6 0.006 0.68 L-Dec.2011 5.0

Vehicle parts and equipment other than tires5 ... 2.3 0.63 L-Dec.2011 3.0

Motor oil, coolant, and fluids5 ...................... 15.2 1.76 L-May 2009 15.2

Medical care commodities..................................... 1.725 3.3 0.054 0.40 – –

Medicinal drugs11 ............................................ 1.646 3.4 0.054 0.41 S-Jan.2012 3.4

Prescription drugs......................................... 1.335 4.2 0.054 0.44 S-Jan.2012 4.2

Nonprescription drugs11 .................................. 0.311 0.1 0.000 0.88 L-Jan.2012 0.2

Medical equipment and supplies11 ........................ 0.079 0.5 0.000 0.82 S-Jan.2012 -0.3

Recreation commodities11 ..................................... 2.340 -1.3 -0.032 0.39 – –

Video and audio products11 ................................ 0.432 -9.3 -0.040 0.60 S-Jan.2011 -9.7

Televisions.................................................. 0.172 -18.7 -0.031 1.34 S-Dec.2010 -19.1

Other video equipment4 .................................. 0.028 -11.4 -0.003 1.56 S-Jan.2012 -12.4

Audio equipment........................................... 0.074 -6.2 -0.005 1.07 – –

Audio discs, tapes and other media4 ................... 0.045 -3.7 -0.002 1.35 S-Nov.2010 -5.3

Pets and pet products....................................... 0.690 2.6 0.019 0.79 L-Jan.2012 2.6

Pet food4,5 ................................................ 3.2 0.92 S-Jun.2011 2.1

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Purchase of pets, pet supplies, accessories4,5 ...... 1.1 1.71 L-Dec.2011 2.2

Sporting goods................................................ 0.464 -0.3 -0.002 0.84 S-Nov.2011 -0.9

Sports vehicles including bicycles....................... 0.244 2.0 0.006 0.89 S-Nov.2010 1.8

Sports equipment.......................................... 0.210 -3.1 -0.009 1.45 S-Dec.2011 -4.5

Photographic equipment and supplies..................... 0.054 -2.4 -0.001 1.54 S-Jul.2011 -3.7

Film and photographic supplies4,5 .................... 8.3 2.11 S-Jan.2012 7.6

Photographic equipment4,5 ............................. -4.6 2.64 S-Jul.2011 -5.3

Recreational reading materials............................. 0.222 1.5 0.004 1.14 L-Apr.2010 1.7

Newspapers and magazines4 ........................... 0.120 4.8 0.006 0.90 L-Dec.2009 4.9

Recreational books4 ...................................... 0.099 -2.4 -0.003 2.06 L-May 2011 -1.9

Other recreational goods4 .................................. 0.477 -2.3 -0.010 1.11 L-Aug.2011 -2.1

Toys......................................................... 0.357 -3.3 -0.011 1.36 L-Aug.2011 -2.9

Toys, games, hobbies and playground equipment4

, 5 ...................................................... 0.2 1.11 L-EVER –

Sewing machines, fabric and supplies4 ................ 0.061 1.8 0.001 1.76 L-Jan.2012 2.1

Music instruments and accessories4 ................... 0.039 -1.1 0.000 1.08 S-Jan.2012 -1.4

Education and communication commodities11 ............. 0.608 -3.5 -0.018 0.84 – –

Educational books and supplies............................ 0.202 5.3 0.011 1.03 – –

College textbooks14 , 5 ................................... 5.6 1.03 – –

Information technology commodities11 .................... 0.406 -8.8 -0.029 1.09 L-Jul.2011 -7.8

Personal computers and peripheral equipment6 ...... 0.268 -11.1 -0.025 1.28 S-Jan.2012 -11.8

Computer software and accessories4 .................. 0.049 -3.3 -0.002 2.07 L-Jan.2012 -2.0

Telephone hardware, calculators, and other

consumer information items4 ......................... 0.089 -4.4 -0.003 2.89 L-Oct.2011 -4.2

Alcoholic beverages............................................ 0.953 2.0 0.020 0.45 S-Dec.2011 1.4

Alcoholic beverages at home............................... 0.576 0.9 0.005 0.43 L-Jan.2012 1.0

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages at home......... 0.275 2.5 0.007 0.60 S-Jan.2012 2.3

Distilled spirits at home................................... 0.072 0.3 0.000 0.67 L-Jan.2012 0.8

Whiskey at home5 ...................................... 1.2 0.93 S-Sep.2011 1.2

Distilled spirits, excluding whiskey, at home5 ....... 0.5 1.00 L-Nov.2011 0.6

Wine at home.............................................. 0.229 -1.1 -0.002 0.79 L-Jan.2012 -0.7

Alcoholic beverages away from home..................... 0.377 3.6 0.015 1.04 S-Dec.2011 3.0

Beer, ale, and other malt beverages away from

home4,5 ................................................ 1.7 0.68 S-Jan.2012 1.7

Wine away from home4,5 ............................... 2.7 0.98 L-Sep.2011 2.7

Distilled spirits away from home4,5 .................... 4.2 1.83 S-Dec.2011 4.0

Other goods11 .................................................. 1.656 1.3 0.022 0.47 L-Jan.2012 1.5

Tobacco and smoking products............................ 0.798 1.8 0.016 0.67 S-Aug.2011 1.8

Cigarettes4 ................................................. 0.738 1.7 0.014 0.71 S-Aug.2011 1.6

Tobacco products other than cigarettes4 .............. 0.054 3.5 0.002 1.05 – –

Personal care products...................................... 0.649 1.0 0.007 0.71 L-Oct.2009 1.5

Hair, dental, shaving, and miscellaneous personal

care products4 .......................................... 0.340 0.8 0.003 1.12 L-Feb.2010 0.8

Cosmetics, perfume, bath, nail preparations and

implements............................................... 0.303 1.1 0.003 0.90 L-Jan.2012 2.2

Miscellaneous personal goods4 ............................ 0.209 -0.3 -0.001 1.02 S-Dec.2011 -1.0

Stationery, stationery supplies, gift wrap5 ............. 0.4 1.16 S-Oct.2011 0.4

Infants’ equipment7,5 .................................... -3.5 1.18 – –

Services less energy services................................... 55.949 2.3 1.295 0.10 L-Jan.2012 2.3

Shelter............................................................ 31.413 2.1 0.666 0.13 L-Nov.2008 2.2

Rent of shelter15 ............................................. 31.068 2.1 0.655 0.14 L-Nov.2008 2.2

Rent of primary residence10 ............................. 6.453 2.5 0.152 0.18 – –

Lodging away from home4 ............................... 0.793 3.5 0.027 1.03 S-Jan.2012 2.3

Housing at school, excluding board10 , 15 ........... 0.154 3.8 0.006 0.32 – –

Other lodging away from home including hotels

and motels............................................. 0.639 3.4 0.021 1.27 S-Jan.2012 1.9

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Owners’ equivalent rent of residences10 , 15 .......... 23.823 2.0 0.476 0.15 L-May 2009 2.1

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence10 , 15

............................................................................ 22.416 2.0 0.445 0.15 L-May 2009 2.1

Tenants’ and household insurance4 .................... 0.345 3.3 0.011 0.94 L-Nov.2010 4.3

Water and sewer and trash collection services4 ........ 1.163 4.8 0.054 0.48 L-Oct.2011 4.9

Water and sewerage maintenance10 ................... 0.874 5.6 0.047 0.63 L-Oct.2011 5.6

Garbage and trash collection13 ......................... 0.288 2.5 0.007 0.48 L-Dec.2011 2.8

Household operations4 ...................................... 0.727 2.5 0.019 0.42 L-Apr.2009 3.4

Domestic services4 ....................................... 0.250 1.2 0.003 0.53 L-Jan.2011 1.6

Gardening and lawncare services4 ..................... 0.238 2.1 0.005 0.42 L-Jul.2009 2.3

Moving, storage, freight expense4 ...................... 0.091 4.5 0.004 2.54 L-Mar.2006 5.3

Repair of household items4 .............................. 0.076 6.2 0.005 1.03 L-Sep.2008 6.8

Medical care services........................................ 5.358 3.5 0.180 0.23 L-Jan.2012 3.7

Professional services...................................... 2.989 1.4 0.040 0.24 – –

Physicians’ services10 ................................. 1.600 1.3 0.019 0.39 – –

Dental services10 ....................................... 0.760 2.2 0.016 0.38 S-Dec.2011 2.2

Eyeglasses and eye care8 ............................ 0.251 0.5 0.001 0.69 – –

Services by other medical professionals10 , 8 . . . . .. 0.378 1.1 0.004 0.34 L-Dec.2011 1.3

Hospital and related services............................ 1.745 4.8 0.082 0.43 S-Sep.2005 4.6

Hospital services10 , 16 ................................ 1.522 5.2 0.076 0.50 S-Dec.2005 5.2

Inpatient hospital services10 , 16 , 5 ................ 5.3 1.10 S-Jan.2009 5.3

Outpatient hospital services10 , 8 , 5 ............... 4.9 0.81 – –

Nursing homes and adult day services10 , 16 ....... 0.137 3.3 0.005 0.34 S-Jan.2012 3.2

Care of invalids and elderly at home7 ............... 0.086 1.2 0.001 0.62 S-May 2010 1.0

Health insurance7 ......................................... 0.624 11.3 0.058 0.24 L-Sep.2007 11.7

Transportation services...................................... 5.739 1.4 0.087 0.34 S-Aug.2009 1.4

Leased cars and trucks14 ................................ 0.392 -4.3 -0.022 1.06 S-Mar.2011 -4.5

Car and truck rental4 ................................... 0.066 -1.7 -0.001 2.53 S-Aug.2011 -1.8

Motor vehicle maintenance and repair.................. 1.151 2.3 0.027 0.32 S-Jan.2012 2.3

Motor vehicle body work............................... 0.057 1.9 0.001 0.61 L-Nov.2011 2.0

Motor vehicle maintenance and servicing........... 0.458 2.4 0.011 0.46 – –

Motor vehicle repair4 ................................... 0.600 2.3 0.014 0.47 S-Jan.2012 2.3

Motor vehicle insurance................................... 2.401 2.8 0.072 0.69 L-Jan.2012 3.1

Motor vehicle fees4 ....................................... 0.563 3.0 0.016 0.40 – –

State motor vehicle registration and license fees10 ,

4 ........................................................ 0.328 0.9 0.003 0.59 – –

Parking and other fees4 ............................... 0.212 6.4 0.013 0.37 S-Jan.2012 6.2

Parking fees and tolls4,5 .......................... 8.8 0.65 L-Sep.2009 9.0

Automobile service clubs4,5 ...................... 0.9 0.62 S-Aug.2011 0.6

Public transportation....................................... 1.166 -0.3 -0.004 0.74 S-Oct.2009 -4.5

Airline fare............................................... 0.759 -0.8 -0.008 1.04 S-Oct.2009 -6.5

Other intercity transportation.......................... 0.146 -2.8 -0.004 1.41 – –

Intercity bus fare6,5 ................................ 0.72 – –

Intercity train fare6,5 ............................... -4.5 2.70 S-Jan.2012 -4.7

Ship fare4,5 ......................................... -3.5 1.72 L-Jan.2012 -1.5

Intracity transportation.................................. 0.258 3.0 0.008 0.48 L-Dec.2011 4.3

Intracity mass transit11 , 5 .......................... 2.0 1.48 S-Jan.2012 1.7

Recreation services11 ....................................... 3.695 2.9 0.108 0.50 L-Jan.2012 3.1

Video and audio services11 .............................. 1.497 4.4 0.063 0.78 L-Jan.2012 4.5

Cable and satellite television and radio service13 .. 1.385 4.4 0.059 0.83 L-Jul.2006 5.9

Video discs and other media, including rental of

video and audio4 ..................................... 0.112 3.4 0.005 3.13 S-Jun.2011 0.7

Video discs and other media4,5 .................. -6.9 3.14 S-Feb.2011 -8.0

Rental of video or audio discs and other media4 ,

5 ..................................................... 13.2 4.48 S-Sep.2011 12.5

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Pet services including veterinary4 ...................... 0.407 3.2 0.013 1.14 S-Jun.2010 3.1

Pet services4,5 ........................................ 2.8 1.05 S-Jan.2011 2.4

Veterinarian services4,5 .............................. 2.8 1.50 S-Mar.2010 2.3

Photographers and film processing4 ................... 0.058 2.6 0.003 1.20 L-Jan.2012 3.1

Photographer fees4,5 ................................. 3.4 1.73 S-Nov.2011 2.7

Film processing4,5 .................................... 2.6 1.08 L-Jan.2012 2.9

Other recreation services4 ............................... 1.732 1.6 0.029 0.79 L-Jan.2012 1.7

Club dues and fees for participant sports and

group exercises4 ..................................... 0.568 3.4 0.019 1.56 L-Sep.2006 4.1

Admissions............................................... 0.629 0.5 0.003 1.05 L-Jan.2012 1.3

Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts4,5

............................................................................ 0.3 1.24 – –

Admission to sporting events4,5 .................. 1.3 1.31 L-Jan.2012 1.5

Fees for lessons or instructions8 ..................... 0.230 0.6 0.001 0.94 S-Jan.2012 0.3

Education and communication services11 ................ 6.153 2.5 0.143 0.26 L-EVER –

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare............... 2.990 4.3 0.123 0.44 – –

College tuition and fees................................ 1.678 5.4 0.081 0.77 – –

Elementary and high school tuition and fees........ 0.379 3.6 0.015 0.51 S-Aug.2010 3.5

Child care and nursery school12 ..................... 0.772 2.4 0.019 0.35 – –

Technical and business school tuition and fees4 ... 0.059 6.4 0.003 0.81 L-Jul.2008 6.4

Postage and delivery services4 ......................... 0.150 4.1 0.006 0.29 – –

Postage................................................... 0.139 3.9 0.005 0.30 – –

Delivery services4 ...................................... 0.010 6.7 0.001 0.43 S-Dec.2009 1.6

Telephone services4 ...................................... 2.416 0.5 0.013 0.33 L-Jan.2010 0.8

Wireless telephone services4 ......................... 1.471 -0.7 -0.008 0.50 L-Oct.2009 0.2

Land-line telephone services11 ....................... 0.945 2.1 0.021 0.36 L-Dec.2010 2.2

Internet services and electronic information

providers4 ............................................... 0.583 0.1 0.002 0.77 S-Dec.2011 -0.5

Other personal services11 .................................. 1.701 2.2 0.037 0.40 L-Jan.2012 2.2

Personal care services.................................... 0.629 1.4 0.009 0.47 L-Jul.2010 1.4

Haircuts and other personal care services4 ........ 0.629 1.4 0.009 0.47 L-Jul.2010 1.4

Miscellaneous personal services........................ 1.072 2.7 0.028 0.46 L-Jan.2012 2.9

Legal services8 ......................................... 0.295 2.0 0.006 1.07 L-Jan.2012 2.0

Funeral expenses8 ..................................... 0.159 1.9 0.003 0.45 S-Aug.2010 1.9

Laundry and dry cleaning services4 ................. 0.239 1.6 0.004 0.51 L-Feb.2011 1.9

Apparel services other than laundry and dry

cleaning4 .............................................. 0.030 4.7 0.002 0.95 L-Jan.2012 4.9

Financial services8 ..................................... 0.208 5.7 0.011 1.11 L-Jan.2012 7.1

Checking account and other bank services4,5

............................................................................ 8.9 1.54 S-Jan.2012 7.3

Tax return preparation and other accounting

fees4,5 ............................................. 5.8 1.27 – –

Special aggregate indexes

All items less food.................................................... 85.745 2.6 2.195 0.08 S-Feb.2011 2.1

All items less shelter................................................. 68.587 2.9 1.985 0.08 S-Feb.2011 2.7

All items less food and shelter...................................... 54.332 2.8 1.529 0.10 S-Jan.2011 2.2

All items less food, shelter, and energy........................... 44.309 2.4 1.050 0.11 L-Jan.2012 2.5

All items less food, shelter, energy, and used cars and

trucks................................................................ 42.427 2.3 0.985 0.12 – –

All items less medical care.......................................... 92.917 2.6 2.417 0.08 S-Feb.2011 2.1

All items less energy................................................. 89.978 2.4 2.172 0.08 – –

Commodities.......................................................... 40.250 3.5 1.427 0.12 S-Feb.2011 3.1

Commodities less food, energy, and used cars and trucks... 17.891 2.0 0.357 0.22 L-Jan.2012 2.1

Commodities less food............................................ 25.995 3.7 0.971 0.17 S-Feb.2011 3.6

Commodities less food and beverages......................... 25.041 3.8 0.951 0.18 S-Feb.2011 3.7

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Services............................................................... 59.750 2.1 1.225 0.10 L-Jan.2012 2.2

Services less rent of shelter15 ................................... 28.682 2.0 0.569 0.13 – –

Services less medical care services............................ 54.392 1.9 1.045 0.10 – –

Durables............................................................... 8.930 1.1 0.102 0.18 S-Apr.2011 0.7

Nondurables........................................................... 31.320 4.2 1.325 0.15 S-Jan.2011 3.3

Nondurables less food............................................ 17.065 5.1 0.869 0.26 S-Jan.2011 4.4

Nondurables less food and beverages.......................... 16.112 5.3 0.849 0.27 S-Jan.2011 4.7

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel.............. 12.585 5.3 0.674 0.16 S-Nov.2010 3.5

Nondurables less food and apparel............................. 13.538 5.1 0.693 0.15 S-Nov.2010 3.3

Housing................................................................ 40.832 1.7 0.711 0.11 S-Aug.2011 1.6

Education and communication4 .................................... 6.761 2.0 0.125 0.25 L-Jul.2010 2.1

Education4 ......................................................... 3.192 4.3 0.133 0.41 S-Jul.2011 4.0

Communication4 ................................................... 3.569 -0.3 -0.008 0.27 L-Aug.2010 -0.3

Information and information processing4 .................... 3.420 -0.5 -0.014 0.28 L-Nov.2010 -0.5

Information technology, hardware and services17 ......... 1.004 -3.6 -0.027 0.59 – –

Recreation4 ........................................................... 6.035 1.2 0.076 0.35 L-Jan.2012 1.4

Video and audio4 ................................................. 1.930 1.2 0.023 0.65 L-Jan.2012 1.5

Pets, pet products and services4 ............................... 1.097 2.8 0.032 0.62 L-Jan.2012 3.3

Photography4 ...................................................... 0.114 0.5 0.001 0.94 S-Jul.2011 -0.3

Food and beverages................................................. 15.209 3.2 0.476 0.14 S-Apr.2011 3.1

Domestically produced farm food................................ 7.263 3.7 0.247 0.21 S-Mar.2011 3.7

Other services........................................................ 11.549 2.6 0.289 0.22 L-Aug.2009 2.7

Apparel less footwear................................................ 2.858 5.8 0.167 1.12 L-Jan.1991 6.5

Fuels and utilities..................................................... 5.313 0.0 -0.002 0.27 S-Feb.2010 -1.3

Household energy................................................. 4.151 -1.3 -0.055 0.31 S-Feb.2010 -3.0

Medical care.......................................................... 7.083 3.5 0.234 0.18 L-Jan.2012 3.6

Transportation......................................................... 17.196 4.7 0.793 0.15 S-Nov.2010 3.7

Private transportation.............................................. 16.030 5.0 0.798 0.15 S-Nov.2010 3.7

New and used motor vehicles4 ............................... 5.607 2.1 0.128 0.21 S-Mar.2011 1.3

Utilities and public transportation................................... 9.930 0.5 0.051 0.23 S-Feb.2010 -0.3

Household furnishings and operations............................. 4.106 1.1 0.046 0.29 S-Jan.2012 1.0

See footnotes at end of table.
Table 7. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city average, by expenditure category,

March 2012, 12-month analysis table — Continued

[1982-84=100, unless otherwise noted]

Expenditure category

Relative

importance

Feb.

2012

Twelve Month

Percent

change

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 2012

Effect on All

Items

Mar. 2011-

Mar. 20121

Standard

error,

median price

change2

Largest (L) or Smallest (S)

unadjusted change since:3

Date Percent

change

Other goods and services........................................... 3.357 1.7 0.060 0.33 L-Jan.2012 1.7

Personal care...................................................... 2.559 1.7 0.043 0.35 L-Apr.2009 1.9

1 The ’effect’ of an item category is a measure of that item’s contribution to the All items price change. For example, if the Food index had an effect of 0.40,

and the All items index rose 1.2 percent, then the increase in food prices contributed 0.40 / 1.2, or 33.3 percent, to that All items increase. Said another

way, had food prices been unchanged for that year the change in the All items index would have been 1.2 percent minus 0.40, or 0.8 percent. Effects

can be negative as well. For example, if the effect of food was a negative 0.1, and the All items index rose 0.5 percent, the All items index actually would

have been 0.1 percent higher (or 0.6 percent) had food prices been unchanged. Since food prices fell while prices overall were rising, the contribution

of food to the All items price change was negative (in this case, -0.1 / 0.5, or minus 20 percent).

2 A statistic’s margin of error is often expressed as its point estimate plus or minus two standard errors. For example, if a CPI category rose 2.6 percent,

and its standard error was 0.25 percent, the margin of error on this item’s 12-month percent change would be 2.6 percent, plus or minus 0.5 percent.

3 If the current 12-month percent change is greater than the previous 12-month percent change, then this column identifies the closest prior month with

a 12-month percent change as (L)arge as or (L)arger than the current 12-month change. If the current 12-month percent change is smaller than the

previous 12-month percent change, the most recent month with a change as (S)mall or (S)maller than the current month change is identified. If the current

and previous 12-month percent changes are equal, a dash will appear. Standard numerical comparison is used. For example, 2.0% is greater than 0.6%,

-4.4% is less than -2.0%, and -2.0% is less than 0.0%. Note that a (L)arger change can be a smaller decline, for example, a -0.2% change is larger than

a -0.4% change, but still represents a decline in the price index. Likewise, (S)maller changes can be increases, for example, a 0.6% change is smaller

than 0.8%, but still represents an increase in the price index. In this context, a -0.2% change is considered to be smaller than a 0.0% change.

4 Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

5 Special indexes based on a substantially smaller sample. These series do not contribute to the all items index aggregation and therefore do not have

a relative importance or effect.

6 Indexes on a December 2007=100 base.

7 Indexes on a December 2005=100 base.

8 Indexes on a December 1986=100 base.

9 Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

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

11 Indexes on a December 2009=100 base.

12 Indexes on a December 1990=100 base.

13 Indexes on a December 1983=100 base.

14 Indexes on a December 2001=100 base.

15 Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.

16 Indexes on a December 1996=100 base.

17 Indexes on a December 1988=100 base.

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