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errata

Incorrect prices for prescription drugs were used for the CPI-U and CPI-W indexes from May through August 2016 in a number of areas. Several indexes were affected, including the all items and medical care indexes. A list of the series affected can be found at www.bls.gov/bls/errata/cpi-price-corrections-10182016.htm, and the corrected data are available in the CPI database (www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm).

News Release Information

16-2034-NEW
Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (646) 264-3623

Consumer Price Index, New York-Northern New Jersey – September 2016

Area prices up 0.2 percent over the month and 1.0 percent over the year

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 second consecutive month in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli said the rise reflected increases among all three broad categories—food, energy, and all other items. (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 1.6 percent. (See chart 1.) Higher prices for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes. (See table 1.)

 

Food

The food index advanced 0.2 percent in September following little change during the three prior months. Prices for food away from home rose 0.3 percent. Groceries with higher prices, including breakfast cereal, lettuce, and tomatoes, helped the food-at-home index inch up for the first time in four months.

From September 2015 to September 2016, the food index was unchanged; a 3.2-percent increase for away-from-home food prices was offset by a 2.4-percent decline in at-home food prices.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.6 percent over the month, following two consecutive declines. Gasoline prices increased 1.2 percent, and household energy edged up 0.2 percent. Within household energy, a price rise for fuel oil was tempered by a decline in the price for natural gas (-0.3 percent); the price for electricity was unchanged.

Over the year, energy prices dropped 3.5 percent, primarily due gasoline prices falling 6.8 percent. Household energy prices were also down, -1.4 percent, reflecting lower prices for both fuel oil and electricity; prices for natural gas rose 0.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy ticked up 0.1 percent in September. Apparel prices rose 2.6 percent, not uncommon at this time of year, with the introduction of fall and winter lines. Prices for medical care and for education and communication each increased 0.4 percent. In contrast, prices for shelter were unchanged. A 0.3-percent increase in residential rent and a 0.4-percent increase in owners’ equivalent rent were offset by a seasonal decline out-of-town lodging.

For the year ended in September 2016, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent, its slowest pace since last August. Shelter prices rose 2.5 percent, which included a 2.9-percent increase in residential rent and a 2.7-percent rise in owners’ equivalent rent. Prices for medical care climbed 5.8 percent, and prices for other goods and services increased 2.5 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 0.3 0.9

June

0.2 3.2 -0.1 1.6 0.3 1.8 0.0 1.7 0.2 0.1 0.2(R) 0.9(R)

July

0.3 3.3 -0.2 1.1 0.2 2.1 0.1 1.6 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 1.0

August

0.4 3.5 0.6 1.4 0.1 1.7 -0.2 1.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.1

September

0.2 3.8 0.4 1.6 0.3 1.6 0.0 1.0 0.2 0.3 0.2 1.0

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    

Footnotes:
(R) = revised. See box note for additional information.
 

CPI-W

In September, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 259.059, up 0.3 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 1.0 percent over the year.

The October 2016 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Thursday, November 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-
July
2016
Aug.
2016
Sept.
2016
Sept.
2015
July
2016
Aug.
2016
 

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

(R) 263.722 (R) 264.160 264.602 1.0 (R) 0.3 (R) 0.2

All items (1967=100)

(R) 762.383 (R) 763.651 764.929      
 

Food and beverages

256.924 256.834 257.292 0.0 0.1 0.2

Food

256.755 256.690 257.145 0.0 0.2 0.2

Food at home

249.377 249.074 249.354 -2.4 0.0 0.1

Food away from home

274.078 274.357 275.078 3.2 0.4 0.3

Alcoholic beverages

254.813 254.393 254.879 1.0 0.0 0.2
 

Housing

285.748 286.282 286.331 1.8 0.2 0.0

Shelter

360.664 361.869 361.800 2.5 0.3 0.0

Rent of primary residence (1)

371.871 372.487 373.441 2.9 0.4 0.3

Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)

366.273 367.357 368.899 2.7 0.7 0.4

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)

365.812 366.890 368.429 2.7 0.7 0.4

Fuels and utilities

184.064 181.737 182.065 -1.0 -1.1 0.2

Household energy

175.938 173.333 173.701 -1.4 -1.3 0.2

Energy services (1)

172.243 170.208 170.079 -0.1 -1.3 -0.1

Electricity (1)

185.910 184.396 184.464 -0.3 -0.8 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service (1)

138.919 136.090 135.627 0.4 -2.4 -0.3

Household furnishings and operations

110.614 110.920 111.190 -2.5 0.5 0.2
 

Apparel

121.576 129.847 133.232 -2.7 9.6 2.6
 

Transportation

210.150 207.419 206.707 -2.1 -1.6 -0.3

Private transportation

195.538 193.230 192.939 -2.1 -1.3 -0.2

Motor fuel

179.746 171.749 173.813 -6.9 -3.3 1.2

Gasoline (all types)

179.021 171.030 173.077 -6.8 -3.3 1.2

Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)

177.012 168.733 170.836 -6.9 -3.5 1.2

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)

191.900 185.349 187.165 -6.9 -2.5 1.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)

194.696 188.480 190.183 -6.5 -2.3 0.9
 

Medical care

(R) 468.743 (R) 469.394 471.327 5.8 (R) 0.6 (R) 0.4
 

Recreation (5)

118.985 119.552 119.874 1.3 0.7 0.3
 

Education and communication (5)

143.003 143.028 143.625 0.6 0.4 0.4
 

Other goods and services

416.559 414.670 415.612 2.5 -0.2 0.2
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All items

(R) 263.722 (R) 264.160 264.602 1.0 (R) 0.3 (R) 0.2

Commodities

(R) 184.404 (R) 185.060 186.182 -1.6 (R) 1.0 (R) 0.6

Commodities less food and beverages

(R) 140.299 (R) 141.264 142.629 -2.9 (R) 1.7 (R) 1.0

Nondurables less food and beverages

(R) 174.007 (R) 175.978 178.997 -2.7 (R) 2.9 (R) 1.7

Durables

96.416 96.315 95.947 -3.1 -0.5 -0.4

Services

(R) 330.807 (R) 331.091 331.028 2.2 (R) 0.1 (R) 0.0
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

254.815 255.244 255.624 0.7 0.3 0.1

All items less shelter

(R) 225.346 (R) 225.474 226.127 0.1 (R) 0.3 (R) 0.3

Commodities less food

(R) 144.605 (R) 145.531 146.876 -2.7 (R) 1.6 (R) 0.9

Nondurables

(R) 216.811 (R) 217.824 219.663 -1.2 (R) 1.3 (R) 0.8

Nondurables less food

(R) 178.913 (R) 180.747 183.620 -2.4 (R) 2.6 (R) 1.6

Services less rent of shelter (2)

(R) 309.104 (R) 308.392 308.334 1.9 (R) -0.2 (R) 0.0

Services less medical care services

319.755 320.002 319.956 1.9 0.1 0.0

Energy

179.845 175.157 176.174 -3.5 -2.0 0.6

All items less energy

(R) 273.683 (R) 274.604 274.996 1.3 (R) 0.5 (R) 0.1

All items less food and energy

(R) 278.481 (R) 279.577 279.961 1.6 (R) 0.5 (R) 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.
(R) Revised
 

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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2016