Overall consumer prices in metro Denver and surrounding Front Range cities rose a modest 1.0 percent in the 12 months ending in June - but behind that number is a dramatic split in how much costs for specific goods and services jumped up or down.The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics today issued its latest consumer price index (CPI) report for the Denver, Boulder and Greeley area, comparing price changes from the first half of 2014 to the first half of this year.The CPI - a yardstick of inflation - tracks changes in the price of a typical basket of consumer goods and services, from housing to haircuts.It shows the cost of shelter - rent and mortgage payments - in the region rose 5.5 percent over the 12-month span. It was the biggest single factor behind the overall 1.0 percent price gain.Also, food prices rose 1.5 percent locally, with costs for food at restaurants up 2.9 percent and prices for food consumed at home up 0.9 percent.But at the same time, the cost of energy to Front Range consumers fell 21.7 percent over the same period. Of that category, gasoline went down 32.4 percent, mostly happening early this year. It was the biggest year-over-year drop in motor fuel prices in the region since 2009, BLS said.Also, utility natural gas prices dropped 10.8 percent over the one-year period, and utility electrical service dipped 1.8 percent.With food and energy excluded, prices in the Denver-Boulder-Greeley region rose 3.2 percent from mid-2014 to mid-2015.The overall year-over-year CPI gain in the latest report was much smaller than the 2.7 percent increase reported between late 2013 and late 2014 for the region. It's also smaller than the gains reported for the area over the last couple of years.The urban Denver area's CPI for the first half of 2015 stood at 238.086. This means that a market basket of goods and services that cost $100 in the 1982-84 base period cost $238.09 in the first half of 2015.
