Washington-Baltimore Consumer Price Index: July 2008 – “Retail prices in the Washington-Baltimore area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 1.7 percent from May to July, following a 1.1-percent increase in the previous two-month period, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent advance was due almost entirely to increases in the housing and transportation indexes, as lower prices for other goods and services and apparel nearly offset higher prices for food and beverages, education and communication, and recreation. Medical care prices were unchanged since May. The July level of 142.065 (November 1996 = 100) was 5.7 percent higher than in July 2007—the largest over-the-year increase since publication began in November 1996. Over the same period, the core inflation rate, as measured by the all items less food and energy index, rose 3.0 percent.”