The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area rose 0.6 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that energy prices increased 1.6 percent and food prices fell 0.3 percent in September. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.7 percent over the month. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher for shelter, apparel, recreation, and medical care. (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 rose 0.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy costs fell 6.0 percent over the year due to declines in the indexes for gasoline and electricity. The all items less food and energy index was 1.5 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

 

Food

Food prices declined 0.3 percent in September following a 0.5-percent increase in August. Between the two components of the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) declined 0.6 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged over the month. Within the food at home group, prices were lower for apples, breakfast cereal, and chicken. In contrast, prices for tomatoes and potatoes were higher.

From September 2015 to September 2016, the food index decreased 0.7 percent. Grocery prices declined 2.9 percent over the year, while prices for food eaten away from home rose 2.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.6 percent in September. Utility (piped) gas service costs increased 3.9 percent and gasoline prices were up 1.7 percent from their August levels. The electricity index edged up 0.1 percent in September.

Over the year, the Chicago area energy index declined 6.0 percent. The major contributing factors in the energy index’s decline were an 11.9-percent decrease in gasoline prices and a 3.9-percent decline in the electricity index. Utility (piped) gas service costs rose 7.4 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent in September. Prices were higher for shelter (0.7 percent), apparel (3.4 percent), recreation (1.8 percent), and medical care (1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for shelter (2.9 percent) and medical care (3.6 percent) were major contributing factors. In contrast, prices were lower over the year for household furnishings and operations (-3.5 percent) and recreation (-1.9 percent).

 

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

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	2.1	0.2	1.2	0.9	1.2	-0.2	0.4	0.8	0.9
February	0.0	1.6	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	-0.2	-0.2	0.7
March	1.2	2.1	-0.1	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	-0.6	0.1	0.2
April	0.0	1.7	0.0	0.9	0.5	2.4	0.1	-0.9	0.6	0.7
May	-0.1	1.0	0.5	1.5	-0.1	1.8	0.3	-0.5	0.0	0.3
June	-0.1	0.9	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.0	0.2	-0.7	0.5	(r)0.7
July	-0.2	1.1	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.9	-0.1	-0.5	-0.8	-0.1
August	0.6	1.5	0.1	1.1	0.1	1.9	0.4	-0.1	0.2	(r)-0.2
September	0.3	1.6	-0.2	0.7	0.0	2.1	-0.3	-0.4	0.6	0.6
October	-0.2	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	2.0	-0.1	-0.2
November	-0.4	1.5	-0.3	0.6	-0.8	1.6	-0.4	0.2
December	-0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	1.5	-0.6	0.0

(r) Revised

The October 2016 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 17, 2016.

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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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-
	Jul. 2016	Aug. 2016	Sep. 2016	Sep. 2015	Jul. 2016	Aug. 2016
Expenditure category
All items	(R) 228.454	(R) 228.956	230.282	0.6	(R) 0.8	(R) 0.6
All items (1967=100)	(R) 682.526	(R) 684.025	687.987	-	-	-
Food and beverages	241.241	242.333	241.597	-0.6	0.1	-0.3
Food	241.147	242.266	241.444	-0.7	0.1	-0.3
Food at home	232.479	234.034	232.714	-2.9	0.1	-0.6
Food away from home	248.595	248.998	248.982	2.8	0.2	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	240.915	241.621	242.156	-0.4	0.5	0.2
Housing	236.119	236.599	238.072	2.2	0.8	0.6
Shelter	295.812	296.090	298.231	2.9	0.8	0.7
Rent of primary residence (1)	313.464	314.221	314.519	2.3	0.3	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	301.197	301.764	302.298	2.5	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	301.197	301.764	302.298	2.5	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities	195.983	197.235	199.452	2.2	1.8	1.1
Household energy	154.165	155.478	157.802	-0.2	2.4	1.5
Energy services (1)	157.234	158.436	160.850	-0.1	2.3	1.5
Electricity (1)	154.689	152.881	152.986	-3.9	-1.1	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	147.672	153.617	159.538	7.4	8.0	3.9
Household furnishings and operations	92.718	93.307	92.489	-3.5	-0.2	-0.9
Apparel	83.354	89.479	92.535	0.2	11.0	3.4
Transportation	179.372	177.796	178.641	-3.1	-0.4	0.5
Private transportation	176.753	175.155	175.559	-3.3	-0.7	0.2
Motor fuel	209.896	208.017	211.501	-11.9	0.8	1.7
Gasoline (all types)	207.812	205.974	209.420	-11.9	0.8	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	198.982	197.257	200.533	-12.5	0.8	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	234.994	232.343	236.176	-10.4	0.5	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	233.594	231.797	235.995	-8.0	1.0	1.8
Medical care	(R) 474.663	(R) 476.255	480.887	3.6	(R) 1.3	(R) 1.0
Recreation (5)	107.508	105.200	107.085	-1.9	-0.4	1.8
Education and communication (5)	142.423	143.579	143.526	0.1	0.8	0.0
Other goods and services	383.769	383.113	384.319	0.4	0.1	0.3
Commodity and service group
All items	(R) 228.454	(R) 228.956	230.282	0.6	(R) 0.8	(R) 0.6
Commodities	(R) 164.092	(R) 164.890	165.291	-2.4	(R) 0.7	(R) 0.2
Commodities less food & beverages	(R) 125.085	(R) 125.725	126.563	-3.8	(R) 1.2	(R) 0.7
Nondurables less food & beverages	(R) 163.284	(R) 165.721	167.585	-3.0	(R) 2.6	(R) 1.1
Durables	89.035	88.342	88.384	-4.2	-0.7	0.0
Services	(R) 289.486	(R) 289.687	291.916	2.3	(R) 0.8	(R) 0.8
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	217.897	218.351	219.534	0.4	0.8	0.5
All items less shelter	(R) 205.746	(R) 206.327	207.375	-0.5	(R) 0.8	(R) 0.5
Commodities less food	(R) 129.281	(R) 129.930	130.768	-3.7	(R) 1.2	(R) 0.6
Nondurables	(R) 202.701	(R) 204.511	205.134	-1.7	(R) 1.2	(R) 0.3
Nondurables less food	(R) 168.427	(R) 170.779	172.579	-2.8	(R) 2.5	(R) 1.1
Services less rent of shelter (2)	(R) 297.665	(R) 297.792	300.212	1.7	(R) 0.9	(R) 0.8
Services less medical care services	275.548	275.577	277.543	2.2	0.7	0.7
Energy	175.478	175.553	178.322	-6.0	1.6	1.6
All items less energy	(R) 235.337	(R) 235.883	237.087	1.2	(R) 0.7	(R) 0.5
All items less food and energy	(R) 235.111	(R) 235.555	237.132	1.5	(R) 0.9	(R) 0.7
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. (R) Revised
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.