Consumer Price Index for Shelter on the Rise in Portland-Salem MSA

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Portland-Salem area grew 1.1 percent between the second half of 2014 and the second half of 2015, faster than the U.S. increase of 0.3 percent. These low levels of inflation have been driven by decreases in gas and oil prices. The U.S. saw a drop of 24.6 percent in gas and oil prices over the year, while Portland-Salem area saw a drop of 24.2 percent.

The Consumer Price Index for shelter had a higher increase (6.0%) in the Portland-Salem area than the U.S. city average (3.2%). Shelter is about one-third of the CPI - All Items, which helped push Portland's CPI above the U.S.

In contrast, the Portland-Salem area had little change in prices for food. The over-the-year growth rate fell from 3.6 percent in the first half of 2015 to 0.7 percent in the second half of 2015. The over-the-year growth rate for the U.S. city average had a relatively moderate decline from 2.3 percent in the first half of 2015 to 1.4 percent in the second half of 2015.