The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area rose 0.3 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that energy prices increased 3.3 percent while food prices decreased 0.3 percent in May. The all items less food and energy index edged up 0.2 percent over the month. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices rose in May for recreation and airline fares, but were lower for apparel; household furnishings and operations; and education and communication. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the Chicago area all items CPI-U decreased 0.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 17.7 percent over the year as falling gasoline prices and utility (piped) gas service costs overcame increases in electricity costs. The all items less food and energy index was 1.2 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were down 0.3 percent in May following a 0.6 percent increase in April. Of` the two components within the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) and food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) decreased 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, over the month. Within the food at home group, categories experiencing price increases included lettuce while prices were lower for tomatoes; carbonated drinks; and cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

From May 2014 to May 2015, the food index increased 1.6 percent. Grocery food prices rose 1.2 percent over the year, while prices for food eaten away from home increased 2.2 percent compared to last May.

Energy

The energy index was up 3.3 percent in May, due mostly to a 7.2 percent increase in gasoline prices.  The electricity index rose 0.5 percent and utility (piped) gas service costs fell 1.3 percent from April to May.

On an annual basis, the Chicago area energy index declined 17.7 percent. Over the year, gasoline prices and utility (piped) gas service costs fell 25.4 percent and 37.7 percent, respectively, while the index for electricity rose 26.2 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in May. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for recreation (1.7 percent) and airline fares. In contrast, prices were lower for apparel (-1.2 percent), household furnishings and operations (-1.1 percent), and education and communication (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for shelter (2.5 percent) and medical care (3.3 percent) were the major contributing factors. In contrast, apparel prices were down 9.2 percent over the year.

Table A. Chicago CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	1.4	0.6	2.1	0.2	1.2	0.9	1.2	-0.2	0.4
February	0.5	1.8	0.0	1.6	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	-0.2
March	0.8	2.3	1.2	2.1	-0.1	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	-0.6
April	0.4	2.7	0.0	1.7	0.0	0.9	0.5	2.4	0.1	-0.9
May	0.6	3.3	-0.1	1.0	0.5	1.5	-0.1	1.8	0.3	-0.5
June	0.0	3.8	-0.1	0.9	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.0
July	-0.4	3.2	-0.2	1.1	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.9
August	0.2	3.2	0.6	1.5	0.1	1.1	0.1	1.9
September	0.2	3.1	0.3	1.6	-0.2	0.7	0.0	2.1
October	-0.2	2.9	-0.2	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	2.0
November	-0.2	2.9	-0.4	1.5	-0.3	0.6	-0.8	1.6
December	-0.5	2.1	-0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	1.5

The June 2015 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 17, 2015.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 retail establishments--department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. Note: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Mar. 2015	Apr. 2015	May 2015	May 2014	Mar. 2015	Apr. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	227.405	227.704	228.494	-0.5	0.5	0.3
All items (1967=100)	679.392	680.286	682.645	-	-	-
Food and beverages	239.642	241.043	240.318	1.5	0.3	-0.3
Food	239.237	240.620	239.823	1.6	0.2	-0.3
Food at home	237.289	238.796	237.947	1.2	0.3	-0.4
Food away from home	236.570	237.745	237.040	2.2	0.2	-0.3
Alcoholic beverages	243.936	245.591	245.943	-0.2	0.8	0.1
Housing	232.224	232.153	231.959	1.2	-0.1	-0.1
Shelter	286.671	286.671	286.568	2.5	0.0	0.0
Rent of primary residence (1)	303.496	303.791	303.922	3.6	0.1	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	291.752	291.986	291.884	2.3	0.0	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	291.752	291.986	291.884	2.3	0.0	0.0
Fuels and utilities	203.423	202.433	203.060	-4.3	-0.2	0.3
Household energy	169.157	167.189	166.847	-8.4	-1.4	-0.2
Energy services (1)	172.461	170.426	170.112	-8.3	-1.4	-0.2
Electricity (1)	174.586	177.353	178.185	26.2	2.1	0.5
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	153.300	144.816	142.946	-37.7	-6.8	-1.3
Household furnishings and operations	96.867	97.179	96.145	-2.3	-0.7	-1.1
Apparel	92.226	89.776	88.657	-9.2	-3.9	-1.2
Transportation	183.032	185.375	190.443	-7.9	4.0	2.7
Private transportation	179.873	181.510	185.909	-8.4	3.4	2.4
Motor fuel	231.701	239.373	256.541	-25.4	10.7	7.2
Gasoline (all types)	229.201	236.865	253.927	-25.4	10.8	7.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	223.218	230.614	247.665	-25.9	11.0	7.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	246.112	254.831	271.120	-24.1	10.2	6.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	233.685	241.629	257.019	-22.2	10.0	6.4
Medical care	460.288	462.420	463.528	3.3	0.7	0.2
Recreation (5)	108.913	108.482	110.275	0.7	1.3	1.7
Education and communication (5)	142.282	141.864	141.260	0.1	-0.7	-0.4
Other goods and services	381.130	379.669	383.096	0.2	0.5	0.9
Commodity and service group
All items	227.405	227.704	228.494	-0.5	0.5	0.3
Commodities	167.830	168.328	169.011	-4.3	0.7	0.4
Commodities less food & beverages	131.098	131.186	132.461	-8.5	1.0	1.0
Nondurables less food & beverages	171.084	171.338	174.280	-12.0	1.9	1.7
Durables	92.765	92.697	92.396	-1.5	-0.4	-0.3
Services	283.839	283.951	284.842	1.8	0.4	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	217.435	217.653	218.430	-0.8	0.5	0.4
All items less shelter	207.536	207.942	209.051	-1.9	0.7	0.5
Commodities less food	135.252	135.383	136.644	-8.1	1.0	0.9
Nondurables	206.146	206.952	208.177	-5.0	1.0	0.6
Nondurables less food	176.032	176.362	179.182	-11.2	1.8	1.6
Services less rent of shelter (2)	295.657	295.894	297.833	1.1	0.7	0.7
Services less medical care services	270.312	270.354	271.259	1.6	0.4	0.3
Energy	193.126	194.911	201.380	-17.7	4.3	3.3
All items less energy	232.468	232.627	232.881	1.3	0.2	0.1
All items less food and energy	232.064	231.998	232.447	1.2	0.2	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.