Consumer Price Index Summary
FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Patrick C. Jackman (202) 691-7000 USDL-00-360
CPI QUICKLINE: (202) 691-6994 TRANSMISSION OF
FOR CURRENT AND HISTORICAL MATERIAL IN THIS
INFORMATION: (202) 691-5200 RELEASE IS EMBARGOED
MEDIA CONTACT: (202) 691-5902 UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (EST)
INTERNET ADDRESS: Friday, December 15, 2000
http://stats.bls.gov/cpihome.htm
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: NOVEMBER 2000
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased
0.1 percent in November, before seasonal adjustment, to a level of 174.1
(1982-84=100), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of
Labor reported today. For the 12-month period ended in November, the CPI-
U increased 3.4 percent.
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W) rose 0.2 percent in November, prior to seasonal adjustment. The
November level of 170.9 was 3.5 percent higher than the index in November
1999.
CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U rose 0.2 percent in
November, the same as in October. The food index, which rose 0.1 percent
in October, was unchanged in November. The energy index increased 0.1
percent in November, following a 0.2 percent rise in October. In
November, the index for petroleum-based energy increased 0.2 percent,
while the index for energy services declined 0.1 percent. Excluding food
and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.3 percent, following a 0.2 percent rise in
October. A sharp upturn in the tobacco index was principally responsible
for the larger advance in November.
Table A. Percent changes in CPI for Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
Seasonally adjusted Un-
Compound adjusted
Expenditure Changes from preceding month annual rate 12-mos.
Category 2000 3-mos. ended ended
May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Nov. '00 Nov. '00
All Items .1 .5 .2 -.1 .5 .2 .2 3.5 3.4
Food and beverages .5 .1 .5 .2 .1 .1 .1 1.2 2.3
Housing .2 .5 .3 .2 .4 .5 .2 4.5 4.1
Apparel -.2 -.6 -1.0 .2 1.6 .3 -.4 6.1 -1.3
Transportation -.5 1.8 -.3 -1.1 1.0 -.4 .3 4.0 5.1
Medical care .3 .4 .3 .4 .4 .3 .2 3.5 4.3
Recreation .3 .3 .3 .1 .1 .0 -.1 .0 1.8
Education and
communication .1 -.1 .6 .2 -.7 .8 -.2 -.4 1.0
Other goods and
services -.6 -.2 1.0 -.3 1.1 -.6 1.2 6.9 5.0
Special Indexes
Energy -1.9 5.6 .1 -2.9 3.8 .2 .1 17.3 16.0
Food .5 .1 .5 .2 .2 .1 .0 1.2 2.2
All Items less
food and energy .2 .2 .2 .2 .3 .2 .3 2.9 2.6
During the first 11 months of 2000, the CPI-U rose at a 3.5 percent
seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). This compares with an increase of
2.7 percent for all of 1999. The energy index, which increased 13.4
percent in 1999, has risen at a 15.1 percent SAAR thus far in 2000. In
the first 11 months of 2000, petroleum-based energy costs increased at an
18.9 percent SAAR, and charges for energy services rose at an 11.2 percent
annual rate. The food index has risen at a 2.4 percent SAAR thus far in
2000, following a 1.9 percent increase for all of 1999. Excluding food
and energy, the CPI-U has advanced at a 2.7 percent rate thus far in 2000,
compared with a 1.9 percent rise for all of 1999.
The food and beverages index increased 0.1 percent in November, the
same as in each of the preceding two months. The index for food at home
declined 0.1 percent in November. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and
eggs declined 1.0 percent in November. Poultry prices fell 3.0 percent as
the index for other poultry, including turkey, declined 5.1 percent. Meat
prices declined for the third consecutive month; a 1.2 percent drop in
pork prices more than offset a 1.2 percent rise in the index for other
meats, while the index for beef was unchanged. The indexes for cereal and
bakery products and for dairy products each declined 0.3 percent. The
index for fruits and vegetables rose 0.7 percent in November. Within the
fruits and vegetables group, the indexes for fresh fruits and for fresh
vegetables rose 2.0 and 0.9 percent, respectively, more than offsetting a
2.0 percent decline in the index for processed fruits and vegetables. The
index for nonalcoholic beverages rose 0.7 percent, reflecting a 1.5
percent increase in the index for carbonated drinks. The index for other
food at home increased 0.6 percent. The other two components of the food
and beverages index--food away from home and alcoholic beverages--
increased 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively, in November.
The housing index increased 0.2 percent in November, following a 0.5
percent rise in October. The index for fuels and utilities, which
advanced 1.3 percent in October, rose 0.1 percent in November. In
November, the indexes for fuel oil and for electricity increased 0.1 and
0.2 percent, respectively, while the index for natural gas declined 0.7
percent. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, prices for fuel oil increased 2.1
percent and charges for natural gas rose 2.0 percent, while charges for
electricity declined 2.0 percent.) During the past 12 months, prices for
fuel oil have increased 45.2 percent and charges for natural gas 25.6
percent. Charges for electricity have risen 2.3 percent. Shelter costs
increased 0.3 percent in November, following a 0.4 percent rise in
October. Within shelter, the indexes for rent and for owners' equivalent
rent each increased 0.3 percent, and the index for lodging away from home
rose 0.2 percent. The index for household furnishings and operations,
which was unchanged in October, advanced 0.4 percent in November.
The transportation component turned back up in November, advancing
0.3 percent after declining 0.4 percent in October. The index for
gasoline prices, which declined 1.4 percent in October, rose 0.3 percent
in November. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices declined 0.1
percent.) During the past 12 months, gasoline prices have risen 21.6
percent. The index for new vehicles turned up in November, advancing 0.1
percent, following declines in each of the three preceding months. (Prior
to seasonal adjustment, new vehicle prices rose 0.8 percent.) As of
November, about 48 percent of the new vehicle sample was represented by
2001 models; in November 1999 new models represented about 58 percent of
the sample. The 2001 models will continue to be phased in, with
appropriate adjustments for quality change, over the next several months
as they replace old models at dealerships. (For a report on quality
changes for the 2001 vehicles represented in the Producer Price Index
sample, see news release USDL-00-331, dated November 9, 2000.) The index
for used cars and trucks increased 0.9 percent in November. Public
transportation costs rose 0.5 percent, reflecting a 0.7 percent increase
in airline fares. Airline fares have risen 5.1 percent during the past 12
months.
The index for apparel fell 0.4 percent in November, its first decline
in four months. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, apparel prices declined
0.8 percent, reflecting the discounting of prices for women's wear.)
Medical care costs rose 0.2 percent in November to a level 4.3
percent higher than a year ago. In November, the index for medical care
commodities--prescription and nonprescription drugs and medical supplies--
rose 0.3 percent. The index for medical care services rose 0.1 percent.
Charges for professional services and for hospital and related services
increased 0.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively.
The index for recreation costs, which was unchanged in October,
declined 0.1 percent in November. Price declines for toys, sporting
goods, and video and audio equipment were largely offset by price
increases for books, photography, and cable television.
The index for education and communication declined 0.2 percent in
November. Educational costs rose 0.4 percent, while the index for
communication declined 0.9 percent. Within the communication group, the
indexes for telephone services and for personal computers and peripheral
equipment fell 0.8 and 2.6 percent, respectively.
The index for other goods and services, which declined 0.6 percent in
October, increased 1.2 percent in November. Cigarette prices, which fell
2.8 percent in October, increased 3.7 percent in November, accounting for
the upturn in this major group.
CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers rose 0.2 percent in November.
Table B. Percent changes in CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
Workers (CPI-W)
Seasonally adjusted Un-
Compound adjusted
Expenditure Changes from preceding month annual rate 12-mos.
Category 2000 3-mos. ended ended
May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Nov. '00 Nov. '00
All Items .1 .6 .2 -.2 .6 .1 .2 3.8 3.5
Food and beverages .5 .1 .5 .2 .2 .1 .0 1.2 2.4
Housing .2 .5 .4 .1 .5 .4 .3 4.9 4.0
Apparel -.2 -.5 -1.2 .1 1.4 .4 -.3 6.1 -1.4
Transportation -.5 2.0 -.5 -1.3 1.3 -.3 .4 5.6 5.4
Medical care .3 .4 .3 .4 .4 .3 .2 3.4 4.2
Recreation .4 .3 .1 .1 .1 .0 -.1 .0 1.7
Education and
communication .2 -.3 .6 .2 -.7 .9 -.3 -.4 .7
Other goods and
services -1.0 -.3 1.2 -.4 1.5 -1.0 1.5 8.2 5.6
Special Indexes
Energy -1.9 6.2 -.5 -3.4 4.2 .0 .2 18.8 16.2
Food .5 .1 .5 .2 .2 .1 .0 1.2 2.3
All Items less
food and energy .2 .1 .2 .2 .3 .1 .3 3.0 2.5
Consumer Price Index data for December are scheduled for release on
Wednesday, January 17, 2001, at 8:30 A.M. (EST). Releases for the
remainder of 2001:
Feb. 21 Aug. 16
Mar. 21 Sep. 18
Apr. 17 Oct. 19
May 16 Nov. 16
June 15 Dec. 14
July 18 Jan. 16, 2002
__________________________________________________________________________
Facilities for Sensory Impaired
Information from this release will be made available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:
202-691-5200, Federal Relay Services: 1-800-877-8339. For
a recorded message of Summary CPI data, call (202) 691-5200.
__________________________________________________________________________
Brief Explanation of the CPI
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the
average change in prices over time in a market basket of
goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 87
percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage
Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 percent
of the total population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to
wage earners and clerical workers, 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 CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter,
and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and
dentists' services, drugs, and other goods and services that
people buy for day-to-day living. Prices are collected in
87 urban areas across the country from about 50,000 housing
units and approximately 23,000 retail establishments-
department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling
stations, and other types of stores and service
establishments. All taxes directly associated with the
purchase and use of items are included in the index. Prices
of fuels and a few other items are obtained every month in
all 87 locations. Prices of most other commodities and
services are collected every month in the three largest
geographic areas and every other month in other areas.
Prices of most goods and services are obtained by personal
visits or telephone calls of the Bureau's trained
representatives.
In calculating the index, price changes for the various
items in each location are averaged together with weights
which represent their importance in the spending of the
appropriate population group. Local data are then combined
to obtain a U.S. city average. 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 26 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.
The index measures price change from a designed
reference date-1982-84 which equals 100.0. An increase of
16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change
can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a
base period market basket of goods and services in the CPI
has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65.
For further details visit the CPI home page on the
Internet at http://stats.bls.gov/cpihome.htm or contact our
CPI Information and Analysis Section on (202) 691-7000.
__________________________________________________________________________
Calculating Index Changes
Movements of the indexes from one month to another are
usually expressed as percent changes rather than changes in index
points, because index point changes are affected by the level of
the index in relation to its base period while percent changes are
not. The example below illustrates the computation of index point
and percent changes.
Percent changes for 3-month and 6-month periods are expressed
as annual rates and are computed according to the standard formula
for compound growth rates. These data indicate what the percent
change would be if the current rate were maintained for a 12-month
period.
Index Point Change
CPI 115.7
Less previous index 111.2
Equals index point change 4.5
Percent Change
Index point difference 4.5
Divided by the previous index 111.2
Equals 0.040
Results multiplied by one hundred 0.040x100
Equals percent change 4.0
_________________________________________________________________________
A Note on Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Data
Because price data are used for different purposes by
different groups, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes
seasonally adjusted as well as unadjusted changes each
month.
For analyzing general price trends in the economy,
seasonally adjusted changes are usually preferred since they
eliminate the effect of changes that normally occur at the
same time and in about the same magnitude every year--such
as price movements resulting from changing climatic
conditions, production cycles, model changeovers, holidays,
and sales.
The unadjusted data are of primary interest to
consumers concerned about the prices they actually pay.
Unadjusted data also are used extensively for escalation
purposes. Many collective bargaining contract agreements
and pension plans, for example, tie compensation changes to
the Consumer Price Index unadjusted for seasonal variation.
Seasonal factors used in computing the seasonally
adjusted indexes are derived by the X-12-ARIMA Seasonal
Adjustment Method. The updated seasonal data at the end of
1977 replaced data from 1967 through 1977. Subsequent
annual updates have replaced 5 years of seasonal data, e.g.,
data from 1995 through 1999 were replaced at the end of
1999. The seasonal movement of all items and 54 other
aggregations is derived by combining the seasonal movement
of 73 selected components. Each year the seasonal status of
every series is reevaluated based upon certain statistical
criteria. If any of the 73 components change their seasonal
adjustment status from seasonally adjusted to not seasonally
adjusted, not seasonally adjusted data will be used for the
last 5 years, but the seasonally adjusted indexes will be
used before that period.
Seasonally adjusted data, including the All items index
levels, are subject to revision for up to five years after
their original release. For this reason, BLS advises
against the use of these data in escalation agreements.
Effective with the calculation of the seasonal factors
for 1990, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has used an
enhanced seasonal adjustment procedure called Intervention
Analysis Seasonal Adjustment for some CPI series.
Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment allows for better
estimates of seasonally adjusted data. Extreme values
and/or sharp movements which might distort the seasonal
pattern are estimated and removed from the data prior to
calculation of seasonal factors. Beginning with the
calculation of seasonal factors for 1996, X-12-ARIMA
software was used for Intervention Analysis Seasonal
Adjustment.
For the fuel oil and the motor fuels indexes, this
procedure was used to offset the effects that extreme price
volatility would otherwise have had on the estimates of
seasonally adjusted data for those series. For the
breakfast cereal index, the procedure was used to offset the
effects of price-cutting among cereal manufacturers. For
the educational books and supplies index, the procedure was
used to account for greater than normal sale prices on
educational reference books. For some alcoholic beverage
series, Intervention Analysis Seasonal Adjustment was used
to offset the effects of increased brewer's costs along with
increased demand for specialty beers. For the nonalcoholic
beverages index, the procedure was used to offset the
effects of a large increase in coffee prices due to adverse
weather. For the fats and oils series, the procedure was
used to account for lower domestic butter stocks, lower cold
storage supplies, and anticipation of a bumper soybean crop.
For the new trucks index, the procedure was applied to
account for loyalty rebates offered to customers by American
automakers. For the water and sewerage maintenance index,
the procedure was used to account for a data collection anomaly.
A description of Intervention Analysis Seasonal
Adjustment, as well as a list of unusual events modeled and
seasonal factors for these items may be obtained by writing
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Division of Consumer Prices
and Price Indexes, Washington, DC 20212 or by calling Claire
McAnaw Gallagher on (202) 691-6968 or sending e-mail to
Gallagher_C@BLS.GOV.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
mailto:gibson_s@bls.gov
Last modified:
Friday, December 15, 2000
URL: /news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
Table of Contents 
Consumer Price Index