Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose for the fourth consecutive month, up 0.4 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the increase primarily to higher prices for energy, particularly gasoline. (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 1.0 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 increased 0.7 percent in April, reflecting higher prices for both food at home (1.0 percent) and food away from home (0.4 percent). Within the food at home group, prices rose for snacks; cakes, cupcakes, and cookies; and salad dressings.

Over the year, the food index increased 0.9 percent as away-from-home food prices rose 3.6 percent. In contrast, at-home food prices declined 1.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.6 percent in April. After falling in eight of the last nine months, gasoline prices jumped 12.9 percent, the largest increase since June 2009. Household energy prices rose 0.3 percent with higher prices for natural gas (0.4 percent) and fuel oil. Electricity prices were unchanged.

For the year ended in April 2016, the energy index fell 8.3 percent. The decline was driven by a 12.9-percent drop in gasoline prices, along with lower prices for electricity (-4.7 percent) and fuel oil. Natural gas prices moderated the drop in the energy index, rising 7.1 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent, due largely to a 0.2-percent increase in shelter prices. Higher prices for both owners’ equivalent rent (0.2 percent) and residential rent (0.1 percent) contributed to the price rise. Prices also increased for motor vehicle insurance. The indexes for medical care and recreation each rose 0.3 percent. A 1.4-percent decline in prices for apparel helped to moderate the overall advance.

From April 2015 to April 2016, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.8 percent. Shelter prices were up 2.8 percent as prices rose for residential rent (4.0 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent (2.8 percent). Other categories with higher prices included other goods and services (3.2 percent), education and communication (2.2 percent), and medical care (1.8 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	0.4	1.0
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 April, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 257.289, up 0.5 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 1.0 percent over the year.

The May 2016 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Thursday, June 16, 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-
	Feb. 2016	March 2016	April 2016	April 2015	Feb. 2016	March 2016
Expenditure category
All items	260.875	261.508	262.619	1.0	0.7	0.4
All items (1967=100)	754.153	755.983	759.194
Food and beverages	257.176	256.386	258.167	1.0	0.4	0.7
Food	257.139	256.258	258.132	0.9	0.4	0.7
Food at home	252.679	250.602	253.019	-1.1	0.1	1.0
Food away from home	270.223	271.062	272.192	3.6	0.7	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	253.288	253.738	254.243	2.7	0.4	0.2
Housing	280.952	282.322	282.662	1.7	0.6	0.1
Shelter	355.645	356.133	356.781	2.8	0.3	0.2
Rent of primary residence (1)	368.693	369.185	369.579	4.0	0.2	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	362.154	362.714	363.322	2.8	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	361.705	362.266	362.873	2.8	0.3	0.2
Fuels and utilities	171.281	177.962	178.408	-4.1	4.2	0.3
Household energy	161.641	169.118	169.618	-5.2	4.9	0.3
Energy services (1)	158.285	166.466	166.704	-1.5	5.3	0.1
Electricity (1)	172.533	177.430	177.479	-4.7	2.9	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	124.721	138.168	138.725	7.1	11.2	0.4
Household furnishings and operations	112.376	113.012	112.173	-3.0	-0.2	-0.7
Apparel	131.283	131.207	129.416	-1.1	-1.4	-1.4
Transportation	203.647	204.036	209.200	-2.1	2.7	2.5
Private transportation	187.944	188.566	193.835	-2.7	3.1	2.8
Motor fuel	147.105	150.069	169.326	-13.0	15.1	12.8
Gasoline (all types)	146.459	149.409	168.673	-12.9	15.2	12.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	143.421	146.864	166.856	-13.5	16.3	13.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	164.097	163.927	179.863	-10.8	9.6	9.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	168.610	168.705	183.167	-9.3	8.6	8.6
Medical care	457.224	457.077	458.620	1.8	0.3	0.3
Recreation (5)	118.637	119.296	119.691	0.2	0.9	0.3
Education and communication (5)	143.642	143.604	143.269	2.2	-0.3	-0.2
Other goods and services	411.739	413.772	413.099	3.2	0.3	-0.2
Commodity and service group
All items	260.875	261.508	262.619	1.0	0.7	0.4
Commodities	184.012	184.251	185.710	-1.8	0.9	0.8
Commodities less food and beverages	139.632	140.333	141.561	-4.1	1.4	0.9
Nondurables less food and beverages	171.271	172.651	175.003	-5.0	2.2	1.4
Durables	97.839	97.818	97.843	-2.4	0.0	0.0
Services	326.020	326.969	327.844	2.3	0.6	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	252.333	252.997	254.089	1.0	0.7	0.4
All items less shelter	223.371	224.067	225.370	-0.1	0.9	0.6
Commodities less food	143.907	144.604	145.815	-3.8	1.3	0.8
Nondurables	215.464	215.825	217.942	-1.6	1.2	1.0
Nondurables less food	176.245	177.572	179.818	-4.5	2.0	1.3
Services less rent of shelter (2)	304.439	305.913	307.055	1.7	0.9	0.4
Services less medical care services	315.500	316.650	317.330	2.3	0.6	0.2
Energy	158.388	164.258	171.881	-8.3	8.5	4.6
All items less energy	272.554	272.702	273.213	1.6	0.2	0.2
All items less food and energy	277.089	277.412	277.696	1.8	0.2	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.