(The Center Square) – Inflation in the Denver metro area decreased by 0.2 percent from July to September, according to federal data released Thursday.

The consumer price index for the metro area is up 7.7 percent over the last year, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. That’s down from 8.2 percent between May and July. 

Denver’s CPI sits lower than the national rate of 8.2 percent, which went up 0.4 percent in September.

An analysis of BLS data by the Common Sense Institute, a free-enterprise think tank, estimates that Colorado households spent $1,685 more in August and September because of inflation.

“The average household has spent $9,000 more this year for the same goods they bought in 2021,” said CSI Senior Economist Steven Byers. “The impact of this number cannot be understated. As prices rise, families have less discretionary income and our economy suffers.”

Food prices increased 0.7 percent in the Denver metro area in August and September, while energy prices dropped 12.5 percent “entirely driven by a decline in gasoline prices,” according to the BLS.

CSI also said it has become increasingly expensive to raise children in the Denver area in recent years.

“Raising a child has increased more than 23 percent since 2015,” Byers said. “The total cost to raise a child from birth to 18 costs a middle income married couple $303,444.”