Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.4 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index decreased 0.5 percent and the energy index fell 1.2 percent in November. The all items less food and energy index declined 0.3 percent in November. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were lower for apparel and new and used motor vehicles. (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 increased 0.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 4.9 percent. Energy prices fell 8.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 0.5 percent for the month of November.  Prices for food at home (groceries) fell 0.7 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) declined 0.2 percent for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were lower in November for nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks, other fresh fruits, other fresh vegetables, and fresh fish and seafood. In contrast, the indexes for candy and chewing gum and eggs were higher.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.9 percent. Prices for food at home rose 4.8 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home rose 5.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 1.2 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.4 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service advanced 1.8 percent, and prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 8.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-18.7 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service rose 5.8 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 0.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.3 percent in November. Lower prices for apparel (-3.2 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.3 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.1 percent) and household furnishings and operations (0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (2.3 percent), medical care (1.7 percent), and used cars and trucks (11.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-6.7 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-8.7 percent).

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

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.8	0.9	0.7	1.8	0.8	1.8	0.6	0.8	0.9	2.6
February	-0.2	0.7	0.1	2.2	0.0	1.6	0.6	1.4	0.0	2.0
March	0.1	0.2	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5	-0.7	1.1
April	0.6	0.7	0.4	1.7	0.7	2.1	-0.1	0.8	-0.9	0.3
May	0.0	0.3	0.2	1.8	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.4
June	0.5	0.7	0.0	1.3	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0	0.3	1.1
July	-0.8	-0.1	0.0	2.2	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	0.2	1.0
August	0.2	-0.2	0.3	2.3	0.1	1.7	0.2	1.6	0.1	1.0
September	0.6	0.6	0.4	2.1	0.4	1.6	0.2	1.4	0.6	1.4
October	0.1	0.8	-0.4	1.6	0.0	2.0	0.3	1.8	-0.1	1.0
November	0.2	1.5	0.4	1.8	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	0.8
December	-0.2	1.9	-0.4	1.7	-0.3	1.1	-0.2	2.2

The December 2020 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, 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-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Sep. 2020	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Nov. 2019	Sep. 2020	Oct. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	245.745	245.584	244.610	0.8	-0.5	-0.4
All items (1967=100)	734.183	733.702	730.793	-	-	-
Food and beverages	265.079	267.388	266.030	4.8	0.4	-0.5
Food	264.931	267.191	265.872	4.9	0.4	-0.5
Food at home	246.143	249.711	247.872	4.8	0.7	-0.7
Cereals and bakery products	278.781	278.091	282.144	6.6	1.2	1.5
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	267.299	271.539	264.009	5.8	-1.2	-2.8
Dairy and related products	227.612	227.190	223.495	4.0	-1.8	-1.6
Fruits and vegetables	295.809	319.439	311.481	0.4	5.3	-2.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	212.088	212.689	207.389	8.1	-2.2	-2.5
Other food at home	199.412	197.440	202.243	5.6	1.4	2.4
Food away from home	285.383	285.745	285.191	5.0	-0.1	-0.2
Alcoholic beverages	265.543	268.463	266.612	3.1	0.4	-0.7
Housing	259.955	259.397	259.836	2.1	0.0	0.2
Shelter	331.358	330.736	331.084	2.3	-0.1	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)	351.302	352.532	353.426	2.8	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	341.200	341.384	341.471	2.9	0.1	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	341.200	341.384	341.471	2.9	0.1	0.0
Fuels and utilities	208.748	208.616	209.973	2.2	0.6	0.7
Household energy	160.473	160.283	161.385	2.3	0.6	0.7
Energy services(2)	163.753	163.554	164.667	2.4	0.6	0.7
Electricity(2)	163.117	162.521	162.456	0.4	-0.4	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	151.283	151.691	154.469	5.8	2.1	1.8
Household furnishings and operations	90.418	89.895	90.085	0.9	-0.4	0.2
Apparel	87.534	83.841	81.136	-6.7	-7.3	-3.2
Transportation	177.932	178.934	176.361	-4.9	-0.9	-1.4
Private transportation	178.364	178.154	176.225	-3.3	-1.2	-1.1
New and used motor vehicles(4)	98.567	99.785	98.505	3.1	-0.1	-1.3
New vehicles(1)	171.260	172.982	170.772	-1.5	-0.3	-1.3
Used cars and trucks(1)	295.325	298.183	293.494	11.4	-0.6	-1.6
Motor fuel	203.881	198.770	192.102	-18.7	-5.8	-3.4
Gasoline (all types)	201.921	196.807	190.070	-18.7	-5.9	-3.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	193.494	188.674	181.966	-19.1	-6.0	-3.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	229.295	221.644	216.161	-17.0	-5.7	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	231.784	225.860	220.566	-14.9	-4.8	-2.3
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	510.182	499.604	500.055	-8.7	-2.0	0.1
Medical care	538.491	536.920	534.148	1.7	-0.8	-0.5
Recreation(4)	115.020	114.955	114.720	-1.2	-0.3	-0.2
Education and communication(4)	142.272	141.932	141.352	-0.6	-0.6	-0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,216.696	1,218.961	1,218.961	1.2	0.2	0.0
Other goods and services	408.328	406.931	406.016	-0.1	-0.6	-0.2
Commodity and service group
All items	245.745	245.584	244.610	0.8	-0.5	-0.4
Commodities	170.026	169.799	168.108	-0.1	-1.1	-1.0
Commodities less food and beverages	124.276	123.147	121.448	-3.6	-2.3	-1.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	165.597	161.697	158.862	-7.1	-4.1	-1.8
Durables	85.843	86.537	85.715	0.9	-0.1	-0.9
Services	317.766	317.686	317.552	1.3	-0.1	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	233.149	233.053	232.160	0.7	-0.4	-0.4
All items less shelter	216.768	216.759	215.352	0.1	-0.7	-0.6
Commodities less food	129.075	128.039	126.320	-3.2	-2.1	-1.3
Nondurables	215.030	214.038	211.872	-0.4	-1.5	-1.0
Nondurables less food	172.006	168.506	165.724	-6.2	-3.7	-1.7
Services less rent of shelter(3)	319.429	319.935	319.280	0.3	0.0	-0.2
Services less medical care services	300.551	300.509	300.534	1.0	0.0	0.0
Energy	176.851	174.696	172.686	-8.3	-2.4	-1.2
All items less energy	254.197	254.208	253.314	1.4	-0.3	-0.4
All items less food and energy	253.133	252.736	251.917	0.8	-0.5	-0.3
Footnotes (1) Index on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Index on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (5) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (6) Index on a December 1993=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.