Consumer price index tracks drop in energy prices
Boston area energy prices are down 6.2 percent from a year ago, while local food prices increased 0.9 percent over the same time period, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released Tuesday.
The bureau's latest Consumer Price Index found a 3.1 percent increase in restaurant prices since last July, driving a rise in food prices that was partially offset by a 0.3 percent drop in grocery store prices.
The drop in energy prices is largely attributable to lower gasoline prices, down 18.7 percent from a year ago, according to the bureau. The price of electricity, meanwhile, is up 13.8 percent.
Shelter costs rose 3.4 percent from July 2015, marking the 61st consecutive annual increase in the index that measures the cost of housing.
The Boston-Brockton-Nashua area measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, Bristol, Hampden and Worcester counties and parts of New Hampshire, Maine and Connecticut.
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