Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), fell 0.4 percent after a 0.2-percent decline in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the decrease partly to lower prices for energy. (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 December increase was the largest since November 2014.(See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.1 percent. (See table 1.) Higher prices for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes.

 

Food

The food index inched down 0.1 percent in December after a 0.2-percent decline in November. Lower prices for uncooked ground beef, among other items, contributed to a 0.2-percent decrease in prices for food at home. Prices for food away from home were unchanged.

Over the year, the food index increased 0.8 percent. At-home food prices inched down 0.1 percent, while away-from-home food prices rose 2.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 3.5 percent over the month, due to widespread price decreases including natural gas (-6.7 percent), gasoline (-3.1 percent), electricity (-2.0 percent), and fuel oil.

For the year ended in December 2015, the energy index fell 16.0 percent, reflecting a 22.7-percent drop in gasoline prices. The household energy index fell 11.1 percent, due to lower prices for natural gas (-12.0 percent), electricity (-6.4 percent), and fuel oil.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month due in part to lower prices for apparel (-1.2 percent), medical care (-0.6 percent), and lodging away from home. Offsetting the decrease in prices for lodging away from home, residential rent and owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.3 and 0.2 percent, respectively; as a result, shelter prices were unchanged.

From December 2014 to December 2015, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent. Shelter prices rose 3.1 percent, reflecting higher prices for residential rent and owners’ equivalent rent, which rose 3.8 and 3.0 percent, respectively. Other categories with higher prices included apparel (4.5 percent), other goods and services (2.4 percent), and education and communication (1.9 percent).

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

Month	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	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	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.5	0.4	2.8	0.5	2.2	0.9	1.9	0.1	-0.5
February	0.0	1.8	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.6	0.6	2.4	-0.2	1.1	0.3	0.1
March	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.3	0.6	2.6	0.1	1.9	0.4	1.3	0.2	-0.1
April	0.2	2.1	0.4	2.5	0.2	2.4	-0.2	1.4	0.0	1.6	0.1	0.0
May	0.2	2.2	0.6	2.9	0.1	1.8	0.1	1.4	0.5	1.9	0.4	-0.1
June	-0.1	1.5	0.2	3.2	-0.1	1.6	0.3	1.8	0.0	1.7	0.2	0.1
July	0.1	1.5	0.3	3.3	-0.2	1.1	0.2	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.1	-0.1
August	0.2	1.4	0.4	3.5	0.6	1.4	0.1	1.7	-0.2	1.3	0.1	0.1
September	0.0	1.2	0.2	3.8	0.4	1.6	0.3	1.6	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.3
October	0.2	1.5	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	1.7	-0.6	1.1	-0.2	1.3	-0.1	0.4
November	0.0	1.3	-0.3	3.0	0.0	2.0	0.1	1.2	-0.4	0.8	-0.2	0.6
December	0.0	1.4	-0.4	2.7	-0.3	2.1	0.0	1.5	-0.5	0.3	-0.4	0.7

CPI-W

In December, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 254.441, down 0.4 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 0.5 percent over the year.

The January 2016 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Friday, February 19, 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-
	Oct. 2015	Nov. 2015	Dec. 2015	Dec. 2014	Oct. 2015	Nov. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	261.515	261.009	259.941	0.7	-0.6	-0.4
All items (1967=100)	756.003	754.540	751.453
Food and beverages	257.485	257.088	256.782	0.9	-0.3	-0.1
Food	257.468	257.038	256.735	0.8	-0.3	-0.1
Food at home	255.938	254.510	253.938	-0.1	-0.8	-0.2
Food away from home	266.390	267.327	267.390	2.1	0.4	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	253.265	253.392	253.029	1.6	-0.1	-0.1
Housing	280.808	280.746	280.056	1.6	-0.3	-0.2
Shelter	353.807	353.678	353.825	3.1	0.0	0.0
Rent of primary residence (1)	364.511	365.524	366.776	3.8	0.6	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	359.793	360.154	360.779	3.0	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	359.380	359.730	360.339	3.0	0.3	0.2
Fuels and utilities	177.376	177.913	172.253	-9.3	-2.9	-3.2
Household energy	168.873	169.516	163.172	-11.1	-3.4	-3.7
Energy services (1)	162.600	163.433	158.123	-7.9	-2.8	-3.2
Electricity (1)	174.991	175.602	172.137	-6.4	-1.6	-2.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	132.664	133.930	124.975	-12.0	-5.8	-6.7
Household furnishings and operations	113.679	113.377	113.360	-1.3	-0.3	0.0
Apparel	132.622	127.008	125.502	4.5	-5.4	-1.2
Transportation	209.410	209.745	206.918	-4.5	-1.2	-1.3
Private transportation	194.577	194.066	192.802	-5.5	-0.9	-0.7
Motor fuel	175.975	174.566	169.153	-22.8	-3.9	-3.1
Gasoline (all types)	175.165	173.767	168.382	-22.7	-3.9	-3.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	172.554	171.284	165.856	-23.5	-3.9	-3.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	191.207	188.849	183.124	-20.2	-4.2	-3.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	194.610	192.346	187.281	-18.1	-3.8	-2.6
Medical care	452.809	448.440	445.724	0.7	-1.6	-0.6
Recreation (5)	119.023	118.727	118.415	0.0	-0.5	-0.3
Education and communication (5)	142.863	143.590	143.473	1.9	0.4	-0.1
Other goods and services	406.409	408.579	407.622	2.4	0.3	-0.2
Commodity and service group
All items	261.515	261.009	259.941	0.7	-0.6	-0.4
Commodities	187.444	185.890	184.499	-2.1	-1.6	-0.7
Commodities less food and beverages	144.375	142.342	140.499	-4.6	-2.7	-1.3
Nondurables less food and beverages	179.477	176.158	173.015	-6.2	-3.6	-1.8
Durables	98.710	98.145	97.775	-1.3	-0.9	-0.4
Services	324.499	324.813	323.982	2.0	-0.2	-0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	253.196	252.840	251.839	0.7	-0.5	-0.4
All items less shelter	225.062	224.390	222.794	-0.8	-1.0	-0.7
Commodities less food	148.540	146.556	144.744	-4.3	-2.6	-1.2
Nondurables	219.980	218.027	216.210	-2.3	-1.7	-0.8
Nondurables less food	184.023	180.878	177.874	-5.7	-3.3	-1.7
Services less rent of shelter (2)	303.266	304.120	302.096	0.6	-0.4	-0.7
Services less medical care services	314.275	314.827	314.042	2.1	-0.1	-0.2
Energy	173.933	173.801	167.724	-16.0	-3.6	-3.5
All items less energy	271.795	271.249	270.652	1.9	-0.4	-0.2
All items less food and energy	276.144	275.574	274.920	2.1	-0.4	-0.2
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.