U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington 25, D.C. CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR JULY 1960

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1 Released August 25, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington 25, D.C. CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR JULY The Consumer Price Index increased slightly in to 126 ( = 1),,1 percent above the high, the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was the smallest -to- price rise since Increases for food and gasoline, and a continued uptrend in prices for services were major factors, but most groups of commodities and services showed some price rise in. Food prices rose less than they usually do in, and prices for automobiles, appliances, and furniture continued to decline. The CPI was 1 percent above a year earlier. Prices of services and of nondurable commodities, including foods, have increased over the year, but durable goods prices have been declining almost continuously since last December. By the prices of durable goods were 1 percent lower than in. Prices of food were 1 percent higher than a year earlier; nondurable goods, except food, 1 percent higher; and services, 2 percent higher. The services which contributed most to the price rise in the CPI from are those associated with home ownership and medical care. FOOD The -percent increase from to in the price of foods was substantially less than in most recent years. This was partly because prices of some fresh fruits in especially abundant supply declined sharply. In addition, egg prices, which normally move up strongly in, held close to the level, in part because continuing favorable weather conditions tended to raise production. The more important food price increases from to were for pork, dairy products, young chickens, and bread. Pork prices have been rising steadily since February. Throughout the late spring and sunnier the higher prices have reflected both a seasonal decline in hog marketings and a relatively small spring pig crop. Nevertheless, prices continued below those of a year earlier until, when they were slightly higher (by percent) for the first time in about a year and a half. The 1-percent increase for bread in was the largest in 8 years and brought the bread price index to a new high of 153 ( ), or 3 percent above a year earlier. Price increases were widespread geographically, and amounted, in most places, to about one cent on a pound loaf. According to reports, prices were raised to cover increased manufacturing and distribution costs. Some fresh fruits were particularly abundant this, chiefly peaches, bananas, and watermelons, and average prices for fresh fruits decreased 3 percent from. Nevertheless, prices were substantially higher this than in. TRANS PORTATION Prices for gasoline rose again last month, continuing to respond to good farming and driving weather, particularly in the Midwest, where stocks declined despite increasing production. The gasoline index was 4 percent above that of, but most of this rise is accounted for by the 1-cent-a-gallon increase in the Federal tax imposed last October. This year 8 s almost continuous downtrend in prices for automobiles persisted in. Although the new car price index edged off by only percent, less than usual for the month, the cumulative decline since last November has been greater

2 2 than in recent years. Prices for used cars, which had held about level in, decreased 1 percent in and were 11 percent below last September. Prices for tires also have been weak and by were 12 percent below those of. Chiefly because of the rise in gasoline prices, however, the price index for transportation as a whole rose slightly in, but, for the second successive month, remained below year-earlier levels. HOUSING The housing component of the CPI was und from to. Of the many elements contributing to the housing component, including fuels and utilities, household operation, rent, housefurnishings, and home purchase and upkeep, few showed any appreciable price over the month. The most significant was for durable housefurnishings, including appliances and furniture, for which prices continued to decline in. Appliance prices have been falling since winter, particularly for the major appliances. The prices of washing machines declined somewhat more than usual in, before introduction of new models. Prices of toasters, ranges, and vacuum cleaners also went down in. This pervasive price weakness reflects heavy inventories and lagging sales. The furniture market likewise has been sluggish, so that prices declined for the second successive month in, when special sales were widespread. Small increases were reported for rents, fuel, utilities, and household operation services. APPAREL Average apparel prices rose percent in after two months of stability. Prices for women's and girls 1 clothing, which had been declining since May, turned up in because of increases for rayon dresses and women's hosiery. Prices of men's and boys' clothing continued the uptrend which began in March. In, the increases were for business shirts, work trousers, and dungarees. Prices for shoes, however, were down in, chiefly because of lower prices for children's shoes and women's casual shoes. The index for all apparel continued for the third successive month at a level 1 percent above a year earlier. COST-OF-LIVING Of about million workers whose wages are subject to adjustment ADJUSTMENTS on the basis of the national CPI for, some 18, are scheduled to receive a raise. These include about 15, employees in the electrical industry, and about 4, in the farm equipment industry, all of whom will receive about 1 cent an hour. Other small groups who will get increases are in a variety of industries. The approximately 93, workers who will not receive a raise are in the automobile industry, automobile parts and related industries, and in farm equipment manufacture.

3 3 TABLE It Consumer Price Index United States city average Major group, subgroup, and special group indexes, and percent s from selected dates ( unless otherwise specified) Indexes to from Group April All items Food Food at home Cereals and bakery products Meats, poultry, and fish Dairy products Fruits and vegetables Other foods at home Food away from home (Jan953=1) (I/) Housing 2/ Rent Gas and electricity Solid fuels and fuel oil Housefurnishings Household operation Appare Man's and boys Women's and girls' Footwear Other apparel Transportation Private Public Medical care Personal care Reading and recreation' Other goods and services Special groupsi All items less food All items less shelter Commoditie s Nondurable s Food Nondurables less food Appare Apparel less footwear (1/) Nondurables less food and apparel Durable s New cars Used cars (Jan953=1) (1/) Durables less cars Commodities lees food Service s Rent Services less rent Household operation services, gas, and electricity Transportation services Medical care services Other services Purchasing power of the consumer dollar ( =11.) $,79 $, / Not available 2j Includes house purchase, interest, taxes, insurance, and upkeep, not shown separately. 2/ Includes house purchase, interest, taxes, insurance, and upkeep services; shoe repairs, television repairs, barber and beauty shop services, and movies

4 4 TABLE 2 s CoMtawr Rrioe Index All items indexes utd percent s, selected dates U.S. city average and 2 large cities City Indexes ( =1) April Issr Bsroent to current Month frcn April United States city m n p...,,.,.,, Cities priced monthly 2/ Detroit-, Cities priced in January, April,, October 2/ Boston Kansas City Minneapolis Pittsburgh Portland, Oregon April Apri Citiss priced in March,, September, December 2/ March March Atlanta Baltimore Cincinnati St. Louis-- - San Francisco Cities priosd in February, May, August, November 2/ May February May February May Cleveland Houston Scranton Seattle Washington, D.C / Easts priced biaosthly. 2j Foods, fuals, sued a few other items priced monthlyj rents and othar oconodities and services priced quarterly. TABLE 31 Consumer Price Index s frca to U.S. city average and five cities priced monthly All items and cconodity groups Heading Other All Transpor- Medical Personal and goods & City item food Mousing Apparel tation care care recreation services Halted States city ayor&g.1.1 Chicago Detroit, Los Aaagsles--'"" Hew York Philadelphia

5 TABLE 4S Consumer Prioe Index--All items and eanoalty group* indexes and percent s, April to 5 U.S. city average and 1 eltiea priced in Group City Boston Chicago Detroit Kansas Los Minnea- New Phila- Pitts- Portland Average City Angeles polis York delphia burgh Oregon Indexes (19^7-^9-1) All iteas Foo Food at hone Cereal* and bakery products ~ Meats, poultry, and fish Dairy products Other foods at hone , , Rent , , Solid fuels and fuel oil , Housefurnishings , 19 11, Household operation , 125, ,.1 16, 18, Men's and boys' , Weaken*s and girls* , , , 85, 9, , , , 14, , Public , 257, , , , 175, ,, ,,4 135, , 135, , Other goods and services , , 137, , , 127,,3 123., 14, 125, , from April to All items.,3., 7 1, Food,9 1., 2.,2 1, 1.,3 -,4 1 1 Food at hone 1., 1., ,5 1.,6 -,4 1 1 Cereals and bakery products 1.,3,2 7 3,, 1.,4-3., Meats, poultry, and fish ].,4 2., 1.,1 1., 1., -, Dairy products,4 2.,5 1 -.,4 2.,7 -,3 2 Fruits and vegetables - 3.,5 4.,7 9 5.,6 4., ,7 2 4 Other foods at hone - 1.,2-2.,9,3-1.,6 -., , ,1 -,1 2 -,,3,3 - -,1 -.1 Rent,3,5 i/! 4 -,1 1/ 1/ - Gas end electricity 3 -.,5 1.,9 - -, 1 Solid fuels and fuel oil - 2., 5 -,8 - i - 1., Housefurnishings , , , 3 1 i. 8, Apparel _ Men's and boys' g 1. I - I. u Footvear i _ Public Personal care Reading and recreation U Change from May to.

6 6 City U.S. city average Total food 12 Atlanta 117 Baltimore Bos ton Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Detroit 12 Houston 115 Kansas City 113 Los Angeles 126 Minneapolis New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh Portland, Oreg. St. Louis San Francisco Sc ranton -- Seattle Washington, D.C. Food and unit Cereals and bakery products: TABLE 5: Consumer Price Index -- Food and its subgroups indexes and percent s, to U.S. city average and 2 large cities ( =1) 1. 4 Flour, wheat 5 Biscuit mix 2 or. Macaroni Corn meal. cz Rolled oats 13 Corn flakes 12 «z. Rice, short grain Rice, long grain Bread, white iv. Soda crackers ib. Vanilla cookies 7 Meats, poultry, and fish: Round steak ib. Sirloin steak Chuck roast Rib roast ib. Hamburger Veal cutlets ib u Pork chops, center cut la. Pork roast Bacon, sliced Ham, whole Lamb, leg i' Frankfurters lo. Luncheon meat, canned 12 c2. Frying chickens, ready-to-cook - ib. Ocean perch, fillet, frozen Haddock, fillet, frozen Salmon, pink, canned 16 sr. Tuna fish, canned 6 t» n. Dairy products: Milk, fresh, (grocery) qt. Milk, fresh, (delivered) qt. Ice cream \ Butter Cheese, American process it. Milk, evaporated can Fruits and vegetables: Frozen: Strawberries 1 «t Orange juice concentrate 6 Lemonade concentrate 6 9% Peas, green 1 z Beans, green 9 9Z Potatoes, french fried Fresh: g # E Apples lb Bananas lb Oranges, size 2 d»«lemons lb Total food at honu- 117 : i ; 114 i ; 112 : 11! 12 j 115 j ; j 119.! ; 121 i 114. j j [ Consumer Price Cereals and bakery products c I toeats, poultry, and fish ; Dairy products 115 ; ! Fruits and vegetables Index - Average retail prices of selected foods U.S. city average Food and unit Fresh--Continued Grapefruit * each Peaches * Strawberries * t«p Grapes, seedless * lb, Watermelons * it. Potatoes - 1 Sweet potatoes Onions Carrots Lettuce h«ad Celery it. Cabbage Tomatoes Beans, green Canned: Orange juice 46-* z. ota Pineapple juice on Peaches C.b Pineapple <M2 out Fruit cocktail ^33 «*» Corn, cream style ^33 cti Peas, green ^33 eaa Tomatoes ^33 n Tomato juice z. «a» Baby foods t» 5 «z. Dried: Prunes Beans l->. Other foods at home: Tomato soup io U ll-*z. eu Beans,with pork - 15 c»b Pickles, sliced Catsup, tomato 14» Potato chips 4 *? Coffee ---- o.n Coffee b»g Tea bags »f 16 Cola drink, carton 36»z a Shortening, hydrogenated --3 ib. Margarine, colored 4 Lard 15 t Salad dressing pi. Peanut butter it, Sugar r Be Corn syrup- 24 Grape jelly Chocolate bar -- 1»z. Eggs, Grade A, large- a«?. Gelatin, flavored 3 t» A %r (I/) Other foods at home * Priced only in season. JJ Not available. LABOR - D. C.

7 Brief Explanation of the CPI 7 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures average s in prices of goods and services usually "bought by city families of wage earners and clerical workers. It is "based on prices of about 3 items which were selected so that their price s would.represent the movement of prices of all goods and services purchased by wage and clerical families; they include all of the important items in family spending. Prices for these items axe obtained in k-6 cities which were chosen to represent all urban places in the United States; they are collected from grocery and department stores, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments which wage-earner and clerical-worker families patronize. Prices of foods, fuels, and a few other items are obtained every month in all k6 cities. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the 5 largest cities and every 3 months in other cities. Mail questionnaires are used to obtain local transit fares, public utility rates, newspaper prices, fuel prices, and certain other items which in price infrequently. Prices of most other goods and services are obtained by personal visits of the Bureau's trained representatives. In calculating the index, price s for the various items in each city are averaged together with weights which represent their importance in family spending. City data are then combined in the total index with weights based on the 195 populations of cities they represent. Index numbers are computed on the base 19^7-^9 «1. The national index (the United States city average) includes prices from the 2 large cities for which separate indexes axe published in this report, as well as from the following 26 medium-sized and small cities: Anna, Illinois Camden, Arkansas Canton, Ohio Charleston, W. Virginia Evansville, Indiana Garrett, Indiana Glendale, Arizona Grand Forks, N. Dakota Grand Island, Nebraska Huntington, W. Virginia Laconia, New Hampshire Lodi, California Lynchburg, Virginia Madill, Oklahoma Madison, Wisconsin Middlesboro, Kentucky Middletown, Connecticut Newark, Ohio Pulaski, Virginia Ravenna, Ohio Rawlins, Wyoming San Jose, California Sandpoint, Idaho Shawnee, Oklahoma Shenandoah, Iowa Youngstown, Ohio Comparisons of city indexes show only that prices in one city d more or less than in another. The city indexes cannot be used to measure differences in price levels or in living costs between cities. A description of the index and historical tables of index numbers for the United States city average and for 2 large cities are available on request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington or any of its regional offices (addresses below). The historical tables include index numbers for All Items, Food, Apparel, and Rent for periods from 1913 to date; and for other groups of goods and services from 1935 to date. BLS Regional Offices Atlanta New York Chicago San Francisco Boston 1371 Peachtree 3^1 Ninth Ave5 West Adams St. 63 Sansome St8 Oliver St. Street, N. E. Zone 1 Zone 3 Zone 11 Zone 1 Zone 9 LABOR - D. C.

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