Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), fell 0.2 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.)  The December decrease was a result of a 4.0 percent decline in energy costs, almost entirely driven by lower costs for gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy saw no change, while prices for food rose 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 3.2 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.1 percent over the year, while the food index was up 2.4 percent. Energy prices declined 5.7 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of natural gas service. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, December 2020–December 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Dec 2020	1.1	1.6
Jan 2021	1.2	1.2
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Mar 2021	3.0	1.8
Apr 2021	4.9	3.3
May 2021	5.6	4.3
Jun 2021	5.8	4.6
Jul 2021	5.9	4.6
Aug 2021	5.7	4.2
Sep 2021	5.7	4.0
Oct 2021	6.6	4.6
Nov 2021	7.3	5.0
Dec 2021	7.5	5.7
Jan 2022	7.9	6.4
Feb 2022	8.0	6.4
Mar 2022	8.6	6.4
Apr 2022	8.2	6.0
May 2022	8.8	5.9
Jun 2022	9.5	5.7
Jul 2022	8.6	5.4
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Sep 2022	8.1	6.2
Oct 2022	7.4	5.8
Nov 2022	6.8	5.5
Dec 2022	6.0	5.2
Jan 2023	6.0	4.9
Feb 2023	5.6	5.0
Mar 2023	4.9	5.4
Apr 2023	4.9	5.5
May 2023	3.7	5.0
Jun 2023	2.4	4.8
Jul 2023	2.9	5.0
Aug 2023	3.4	4.5
Sep 2023	3.2	4.2
Oct 2023	2.9	4.3
Nov 2023	2.9	4.2
Dec 2023	3.2	4.1

Food prices advanced 0.1 percent for the month of December. The index for food at home rose 0.2 percent, while prices for food away from home increased 0.1 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the leading contributors to the rise included nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+1.1 percent) and other food at home (+0.3 percent). Price decreases in cereals and bakery products (-0.5 percent) somewhat offset these increases.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.4 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 4.2 percent, and prices for food at home advanced 1.4 percent since a year ago. Increases within the food at home index were driven mainly by higher prices for other food at home (+2.9 percent) and cereals and bakery products (+2.7 percent).

The energy index decreased 4.0 percent over the month. The decrease was almost entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-8.7 percent), but fuel oil price declines also contributed. The indexes for electricity and natural gas service advanced 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, for the same period.

From December 2022 to December 2023, energy prices fell 5.7 percent. The decline was led by lower prices for natural gas service (-20.6 percent), but falling prices for gasoline (-4.7 percent) also contributed. Prices paid for electricity increased 2.9 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in December. The largest contributions to index increases included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.5 percent), recreation (+0.5 percent), and rent of primary residence (+0.5 percent). These increases were entirely offset by declines, including household furnishings and operations (-0.8 percent) and apparel (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.1 percent. The main components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.6 percent), rent of primary residence (+6.4 percent), and other goods and services (+6.0 percent). Declining components included public transportation.

The January 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.

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 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods 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 Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

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