U.S. consumer prices edged down in October, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday reported. Prices in the Northeast also edged down, the bureau’s Boston office said, as declines in fuel and energy prices outpaced increases in food, housing and medical costs.
Before seasonal adjustment, the BLS said, last month’s Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was 201.8 points (1982 to 1984=100), down 0.5 percent from September’s level but up 1.3 percent from October 2005.
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The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 197.0 points (1982 to 1984=100), 0.7 percent below September’s level, but 0.9 percent above the year-ago figure.
And the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) was 117.2 points (December 1999=100), down 0.3 percent since September, but up 1.6 percent since October 2005.
For the Northeast, the CPI for all urban consumers (CPI-U) was 215.2 points in October, down 0.5 percent since September and 1.3 percent since August, but up 1.7 percent year-over-year.
The regional energy index, at 182.5 points, was down 9.1 percent since September, 15.1 percent since August and 9.7 percent year over year; the steepest declines were in prices for natural gas service (down 17.4 percent since October 2005) and motor vehicle fuel (down 16.4 percent, year-over-year).
Food was at 201.9 points, up 0.3 percent since September, 0.7 percent since August and 3.3 percent since October 2005.
Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U was 225.8 points, up 0.3 percent since September, tied with August, and up 2.8 percent since October 2005. Factors offsetting the decline in energy prices included increased costs for shelter (up 4.7 percent since October 2005) and medical care (which saw a year-over-year increase of 4.2 percent).
The Northeast’s CPI for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) was 211.1 points in October, down 0.8 percent from September, 1.4 percent from August, but up 1.4 percent from a year earlier.
The regional CPI-W for energy, at 180.5 points, was down 9.3 percent since September, 15.5 percent since August and 10.5 percent year over year. Food was at 200.9 points, up 0.2 percent since September, 0.7 percent since August and 3.3 percent since October 2005.
Last month’s regional CPI-W for all items excluding food and energy was 220.8 points, up 0.3 percent since September, 0.4 percent since August and 2.8 percent since October 2005.
Nationwide, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U dipped 0.5 percent, matching September’s decline.
Energy prices fell 7.0 percent, slowing from September’s 7.2-percent decline, as a 10.7-percent plunge in the petroleum-based energy index was balanced by a 2.5-percent decline in energy services. The food index rose 0.3 percent in October.
Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the index rose 0.1 percent in October, slowing from its 0.2-percent gains in each of the three preceding months. The BLS credited the change to declines in apparel and away-from-home lodgings.
For the first 10 months of the year, the CPI-U rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.4 percent, the BLS said. For all of 2005, the index rose 3.4 percent.
The energy index declined at an annual rate of 1.5 percent index in the fist 10 months of 2006, after rising 17.1 percent in 2005; petroleum-based energy costs were unchanged on average, but energy services fell at a 3.1 percent annual rate. The food index rose at an annualized rate of 2.7 percent in the period, after rising 2.3 percent in 2005.
Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U advanced at a 2.8 percent annualized rate in the first 10 months, outpacing its 2.2-percent gain in 2005.
The BLS notes that all indexes for recent years are subject to revision. Additional information, including the bureau’s full October CPI report, is available at www.bls.gov.
