Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.3 percent in February, following a 0.4-percent increase in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that energy prices drove the increase. (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 rose 1.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.7 percent, shelter prices, 0.7 percent, and energy prices, 4.0 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index edged up 0.1 percent in February, after remaining flat in January. Prices for food away from home rose 0.3 percent. At-home food prices were unchanged. Among the six grocery indexes, declines in three indexes (fruits and vegetables; dairy and related products; and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs) were offset by increases in the remaining three indexes.  

Over the year, the food index was up 3.7 percent, with rising prices for both food away from home (4.9 percent) and for food at home (2.6 percent).

Energy

The energy index rose 4.5 percent in February, following a 3.7-percent increase in January. Gasoline prices were up 6.8 percent. Household energy prices rose 3.1 percent, with higher prices for electricity (2.7 percent) and natural gas (3.0 percent).

From February 2020 to February 2021, energy prices increased 4.0 percent, with a rise in electricity prices (8.6 percent) and in natural gas prices (7.7 percent), partially offset by a decline in gasoline prices (-0.2 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent in February, following a 0.3-percent increase in January. Shelter prices rose 0.2 percent, new and used motor vehicles increased 1.2 percent, and motor vehicle insurance rose 0.9 percent. Declines for apparel (-0.6 percent), recreation (-0.3 percent), and other goods and services (-0.4 percent) partially offset the increases.

For the year ended in February 2021, the index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent—the smallest over-the-year increase since December 2010. Shelter prices rose 0.7 percent, with a 1.2-percent increase in owners’ equivalent rent. Residential rent rose 0.8 percent, the smallest over-the-year increase recorded since February 1958. Other increases included new and used motor vehicles (6.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (6.1 percent), and education and communication (1.9 percent).

Table A. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6	0.8	2.5	0.4	1.2
February	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.4
March	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6	-0.2	2.0
April	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1
May	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4
June	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7
August	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4
September	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9
October	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7
November	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4
December	0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6

CPI-W

In February, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 280.994, up 0.4 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 1.7 percent over the year.

The March 2021 Consumer Price Index for New York-Newark-Jersey City is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Core Based Statistical Area includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

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