The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area decreased 0.6 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that energy prices fell 5.8 percent and food prices were up 0.2 percent in December. The all items less food and energy index decreased 0.3 percent over the month. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were lower for lodging away from home and apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the Chicago area all items CPI-U was unchanged. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 17.4 percent over the year due to annual declines in costs for gasoline, utility (piped) gas service, and electricity. The all items less food and energy index was 1.4 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.2 percent in December following a 0.5-percent decrease in November. Between the two components within the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) were unchanged while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were up 0.4 percent over the month. Within the food at home group, prices were up for breakfast cereal, milk, and other dairy related products. In contrast, categories experiencing decreases included citrus fruits, uncooked beef steaks, and other pork including roasts and picnics.

From December 2014 to December 2015, the food index increased 1.6 percent. Prices for food eaten away from home increased 3.9 percent over the year, but grocery food prices were unchanged from the previous December.

Energy

The energy index was down 5.8 percent in December primarily due to lower gasoline prices (-9.8 percent). Costs for utility (piped) gas service and electricity were also down in December, dropping 4.2 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

On an annual basis, the Chicago area energy index declined 17.4 percent. The indexes for gasoline (-20.3 percent), utility (piped) gas service (-26.4 percent), and electricity (-6.2 percent) were all lower compared to their December 2014 levels.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.3 percent in December. Categories experiencing declines included lodging away from home and apparel.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.4 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for shelter (2.3 percent), medical care (1.9 percent), education and communication (0.6 percent), and recreation (0.8 percent) were major contributing factors. In contrast, prices for household furnishings and operations decreased 3.6 percent and prices for apparel were 2.2 percent lower over the year.

Table A. Chicago CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	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
January	0.6	1.4	0.6	2.1	0.2	1.2	0.9	1.2	-0.2	0.4
February	0.5	1.8	0.0	1.6	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	-0.2
March	0.8	2.3	1.2	2.1	-0.1	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	-0.6
April	0.4	2.7	0.0	1.7	0.0	0.9	0.5	2.4	0.1	-0.9
May	0.6	3.3	-0.1	1.0	0.5	1.5	-0.1	1.8	0.3	-0.5
June	0.0	3.8	-0.1	0.9	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.0	0.2	-0.7
July	-0.4	3.2	-0.2	1.1	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.9	-0.1	-0.5
August	0.2	3.2	0.6	1.5	0.1	1.1	0.1	1.9	0.4	-0.1
September	0.2	3.1	0.3	1.6	-0.2	0.7	0.0	2.1	-0.3	-0.4
October	-0.2	2.9	-0.2	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	2.0	-0.1	-0.2
November	-0.2	2.9	-0.4	1.5	-0.3	0.6	-0.8	1.6	-0.4	0.2
December	-0.5	2.1	-0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	1.5	-0.6	0.0

The January 2016 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 19, 2016.

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 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 Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

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

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2015	Nov. 2015	Dec. 2015	Dec. 2014	Oct. 2015	Nov. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	228.600	227.641	226.271	0.0	-1.0	-0.6
All items (1967=100)	682.963	680.098	676.002	-	-	-
Food and beverages	244.100	242.745	243.377	1.5	-0.3	0.3
Food	243.974	242.684	243.108	1.6	-0.4	0.2
Food at home	241.200	238.511	238.461	0.0	-1.1	0.0
Food away from home	242.372	243.097	244.185	3.9	0.7	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	244.221	241.924	245.626	0.7	0.6	1.5
Housing	232.524	232.702	231.915	0.3	-0.3	-0.3
Shelter	289.986	290.674	290.244	2.3	0.1	-0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	308.449	309.200	309.939	2.8	0.5	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	295.350	296.123	297.120	2.5	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	295.350	296.123	297.120	2.5	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	193.848	192.048	188.610	-9.4	-2.7	-1.8
Household energy	156.541	154.632	150.959	-14.9	-3.6	-2.4
Energy services (1)	159.463	157.535	153.782	-15.0	-3.6	-2.4
Electricity (1)	160.116	160.603	158.638	-6.2	-0.9	-1.2
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	143.561	138.474	132.600	-26.4	-7.6	-4.2
Household furnishings and operations	94.405	94.326	94.146	-3.6	-0.3	-0.2
Apparel	91.491	90.761	87.087	-2.2	-4.8	-4.0
Transportation	183.236	179.136	173.699	-4.3	-5.2	-3.0
Private transportation	179.521	174.810	170.155	-4.8	-5.2	-2.7
Motor fuel	232.922	205.304	185.278	-20.3	-20.5	-9.8
Gasoline (all types)	230.499	203.058	183.208	-20.3	-20.5	-9.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	221.825	194.445	174.715	-21.7	-21.2	-10.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	256.592	229.339	209.067	-16.5	-18.5	-8.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	251.743	228.411	211.555	-10.5	-16.0	-7.4
Medical care	465.204	466.513	465.295	1.9	0.0	-0.3
Recreation (5)	109.057	108.120	108.904	0.8	-0.1	0.7
Education and communication (5)	143.555	143.321	143.576	0.6	0.0	0.2
Other goods and services	383.330	383.420	384.159	0.6	0.2	0.2
Commodity and service group
All items	228.600	227.641	226.271	0.0	-1.0	-0.6
Commodities	168.441	165.910	164.125	-2.0	-2.6	-1.1
Commodities less food & beverages	130.014	127.051	124.272	-4.7	-4.4	-2.2
Nondurables less food & beverages	170.691	165.380	159.689	-6.3	-6.4	-3.4
Durables	91.036	90.299	90.274	-2.1	-0.8	0.0
Services	285.587	286.111	285.128	1.1	-0.2	-0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	218.467	217.406	216.027	-0.2	-1.1	-0.6
All items less shelter	207.987	206.440	204.730	-1.1	-1.6	-0.8
Commodities less food	134.195	131.226	128.598	-4.5	-4.2	-2.0
Nondurables	208.071	204.585	201.847	-1.9	-3.0	-1.3
Nondurables less food	175.673	170.493	165.275	-5.8	-5.9	-3.1
Services less rent of shelter (2)	295.751	296.120	294.506	-0.1	-0.4	-0.5
Services less medical care services	271.895	272.404	271.489	1.0	-0.1	-0.3
Energy	185.918	174.014	163.989	-17.4	-11.8	-5.8
All items less energy	234.474	234.552	233.997	1.4	-0.2	-0.2
All items less food and energy	233.572	233.904	233.165	1.4	-0.2	-0.3
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.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.