The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) edged up 0.8% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, reported the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Before seasonal adjustment, the all items index rose 4.2% in the last 12-month period.
“This is the largest 12-month increase since a 4.9-percent increase for the period ending September 2008,” explained the bureau.
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Energy Index
The index for energy dropped by 0.1% in April, “after rising in each of the last 10 months” stated the bureau in its monthly report. The price of gas declined 1.4%, also after seeing a similar rise over the last 10 consecutive months.
Conversely, other energy indexes experienced percentage increases. The indexes for electricity and natural gas both rose 1.2% and 2.4%, respectively.
Over the last 12-month period, the index for energy soared 25.1%. The price of gas skyrocketed an astounding 49.6% since this time last year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that this marked the “largest 12-month increase since the period ending January 2010”. The natural gas index rose 12.1% and the electricity index increased 3.6% over the past 12 months.
Food Index
In April, the index for food edged up 0.4%. The food at home index rose 0.4% for the month, with all six grocery store food group indexes seeing a rise in percentage. The index for fruits and vegetables increased 0.8%, and the fresh fruit index edged up 1.5%. Likewise, the food away from home index also increased 0.3% for the month.
Over the last 12-month span, the food at home index rose 1.2%. as did the index for food away from home by 3.8%.
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
All Items Less Food and Energy Index
The all items less food and energy index edged up 0.9% for the month, reported the bureau. Several component indexes saw percentage rises including the index for shelter by 0.4%, with the owners’ equivalent rent index and the rent index both rising 0.2%, respectively.
“The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.0% over the past 12 months; this was its largest 12-month increase since January 1996. Indexes with large 12-month increases include used cars and trucks (21%) and airline fares (9.6%). The shelter index increased 2.1% over the last 12 months, and the medical care index rose 1.5%,” stated the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its report.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released a statement regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the collection of data for April 2021:
“Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in April was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed. While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.”
Source cited: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_05122021.htm
Sarah has been writing on the topics of politics, history and finance for over a decade. She is currently an editor at CPI Inflation Calculator, covering the topics of CPI, inflation, US economy and economic commentary.
