Prices in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.8 percent for the two months ending in April 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the all items less food and energy index was up 3.0 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the two month period for shelter, new and used motor vehicles, and medical care. The energy index was up 5.8 percent, and the food index declined 0.7 percent from February to April. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 3.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.0 percent over the year. Energy prices advanced 2.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices advanced 0.4 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, April 2021–April 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2021	5.4	3.5
Jun 2021	5.4	3.8
Aug 2021	3.9	1.9
Oct 2021	5.5	3.5
Dec 2021	7.0	5.0
Feb 2022	7.5	6.2
Apr 2022	8.3	6.3
Jun 2022	9.7	6.1
Aug 2022	8.6	6.7
Oct 2022	8.5	6.2
Dec 2022	6.2	5.5
Feb 2023	7.0	6.8
Apr 2023	6.6	7.6
Jun 2023	4.7	7.8
Aug 2023	5.9	7.7
Oct 2023	3.4	5.6
Dec 2023	4.5	5.5
Feb 2024	2.8	3.3
Apr 2024	3.5	4.0

Food prices declined 0.7 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) decreased 1.2 percent.

Over the year, food prices advanced 0.4 percent. Prices for food at home declined 0.8 percent as four of the six major grocery store food group indexes decreased over the year. Categories decreasing included meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-5.1 percent), dairy and related products (-3.1 percent), cereals and bakery products (-2.2 percent), and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-0.1 percent). The index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) rose 1.8 percent.

The energy index rose 5.8 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was due to higher prices for gasoline (+12.6 percent). Prices for electricity decreased 0.7 percent, and prices for utility (piped) gas service decreased 1.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 2.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+1.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 5.7 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 4.3 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (+5.9 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (+2.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.2 percent) and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+7.7 percent) and other goods and services (+5.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were declines in the indexes for new and used motor vehicles, including leased cars and trucks (-3.2 percent), and apparel (-2.8 percent).

The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index for Detroit is published bi-monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed 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 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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, fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet atwww.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, Core Based Statistical Area includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.