Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.2 percent for the third consecutive month in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the increase to higher prices for energy and shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U was up 0.7 percent. (See table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.8 percent. (See chart 1.) Higher prices for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index declined 0.3 percent in March driven by lower prices for food at home (-0.8 percent). Price declines for flour and prepared flour mixes and ground beef contributed to the drop in grocery prices. By contrast, prices for food away from home rose 0.3 percent.

Over the year, the food index increased 0.4 percent. While at-home food prices declined 1.5 percent, away-from-home food prices rose 3.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 3.7 percent in March, following eight consecutive monthly declines. Household energy prices rose 4.6 percent—the largest increase in over two years—with higher prices for natural gas (10.8 percent), electricity (2.8 percent), and fuel oil. Gasoline prices rose 2.0 percent.

For the year ended in March 2016, the energy index fell 12.7 percent. The decline was driven by a 21.8-percent drop in gasoline prices, along with lower prices for fuel oil. Electricity prices also declined, 3.8 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent. Shelter prices inched up 0.1 percent. Increases in both owners’ equivalent rent (0.2 percent) and residential rent (0.1 percent) contributed to the price rise. Recreation rose 0.6 percent, with higher prices reported for club dues and fees for participant sports and group exercises. Household furnishings and operations also increased 0.6 percent, and other goods and services rose 0.5 percent. Price indexes for medical care and education and communication were unchanged.

From March 2015 to March 2016, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent. Shelter prices rose 2.9 percent, reflecting higher prices for residential rent (3.9 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent (3.0 percent). Other categories with higher prices included other goods and services (3.2 percent), education and communication (2.3 percent), and medical care (1.6 percent).

Table A. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2011		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	1-month	12-month
January	0.3	1.5	0.4	2.8	0.5	2.2	0.9	1.9	0.1	-0.5	0.2	0.8
February	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.6	0.6	2.4	-0.2	1.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.6
March	0.7	2.3	0.6	2.6	0.1	1.9	0.4	1.3	0.2	-0.1	0.2	0.7
April	0.4	2.5	0.2	2.4	-0.2	1.4	0.0	1.6	0.1	0.0
May	0.6	2.9	0.1	1.8	0.1	1.4	0.5	1.9	0.4	-0.1
June	0.2	3.2	-0.1	1.6	0.3	1.8	0.0	1.7	0.2	0.1
July	0.3	3.3	-0.2	1.1	0.2	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.1	-0.1
August	0.4	3.5	0.6	1.4	0.1	1.7	-0.2	1.3	0.1	0.1
September	0.2	3.8	0.4	1.6	0.3	1.6	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.3
October	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	1.7	-0.6	1.1	-0.2	1.3	-0.1	0.4
November	-0.3	3.0	0.0	2.0	0.1	1.2	-0.4	0.8	-0.2	0.6
December	-0.4	2.7	-0.3	2.1	0.0	1.5	-0.5	0.3	-0.4	0.7

CPI-W

In March, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 256.012, up 0.3 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 0.7 percent over the year.

The April 2016 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Tuesday, May 17, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 approximately 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 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, Middlesex, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

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, New York-Northern N.J.-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)(not seasonally adjusted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jan. 2016	Feb. 2016	March 2016	March 2015	Jan. 2016	Feb. 2016
Expenditure category
All items	260.342	260.875	261.508	0.7	0.4	0.2
All items (1967=100)	752.612	754.153	755.983
Food and beverages	258.139	257.176	256.386	0.5	-0.7	-0.3
Food	258.143	257.139	256.258	0.4	-0.7	-0.3
Food at home	254.764	252.679	250.602	-1.5	-1.6	-0.8
Food away from home	269.680	270.223	271.062	3.2	0.5	0.3
Alcoholic beverages	253.675	253.288	253.738	2.0	0.0	0.2
Housing	280.378	280.952	282.322	1.7	0.7	0.5
Shelter	354.211	355.645	356.133	2.9	0.5	0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	367.552	368.693	369.185	3.9	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	361.376	362.154	362.714	3.0	0.4	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	360.930	361.705	362.266	2.9	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities	173.800	171.281	177.962	-5.6	2.4	3.9
Household energy	164.783	161.641	169.118	-7.0	2.6	4.6
Energy services (1)	161.094	158.285	166.466	-2.2	3.3	5.2
Electricity (1)	175.765	172.533	177.430	-3.8	0.9	2.8
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	126.638	124.721	138.168	1.6	9.1	10.8
Household furnishings and operations	112.542	112.376	113.012	-2.3	0.4	0.6
Apparel	126.608	131.283	131.207	-1.8	3.6	-0.1
Transportation	204.878	203.647	204.036	-3.7	-0.4	0.2
Private transportation	190.689	187.944	188.566	-4.7	-1.1	0.3
Motor fuel	159.057	147.105	150.069	-21.8	-5.7	2.0
Gasoline (all types)	158.357	146.459	149.409	-21.8	-5.7	2.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	155.611	143.421	146.864	-22.8	-5.6	2.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	174.355	164.097	163.927	-17.6	-6.0	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	178.737	168.610	168.705	-15.4	-5.6	0.1
Medical care	451.773	457.224	457.077	1.6	1.2	0.0
Recreation (5)	118.595	118.637	119.296	-0.2	0.6	0.6
Education and communication (5)	143.617	143.642	143.604	2.3	0.0	0.0
Other goods and services	409.048	411.739	413.772	3.2	1.2	0.5
Commodity and service group
All items	260.342	260.875	261.508	0.7	0.4	0.2
Commodities	184.350	184.012	184.251	-2.7	-0.1	0.1
Commodities less food and beverages	139.661	139.632	140.333	-5.3	0.5	0.5
Nondurables less food and beverages	171.401	171.271	172.651	-7.1	0.7	0.8
Durables	97.767	97.839	97.818	-1.9	0.1	0.0
Services	324.812	326.020	326.969	2.3	0.7	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	252.005	252.333	252.997	0.6	0.4	0.3
All items less shelter	223.204	223.371	224.067	-0.7	0.4	0.3
Commodities less food	143.948	143.907	144.604	-5.0	0.5	0.5
Nondurables	215.997	215.464	215.825	-2.8	-0.1	0.2
Nondurables less food	176.390	176.245	177.572	-6.4	0.7	0.8
Services less rent of shelter (2)	303.449	304.439	305.913	1.5	0.8	0.5
Services less medical care services	314.510	315.500	316.650	2.3	0.7	0.4
Energy	164.917	158.388	164.258	-12.7	-0.4	3.7
All items less energy	271.356	272.554	272.702	1.6	0.5	0.1
All items less food and energy	275.510	277.089	277.412	1.8	0.7	0.1
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.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA consolidated area comprises the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, New Haven, and Middlesex Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.