Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were down 0.2 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index decreased 0.2 percent, and the energy index rose 2.3 percent in December. The all items less food and energy index declined 0.3 percent in December. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were lower for apparel, recreation, and medical care. (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 0.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 5.0 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 percent over the year. Energy prices declined 5.4 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 0.2 percent for the month of December. Prices for food at home (groceries) fell 0.3 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were lower in December for snacks, chicken, and other meats. In contrast, the indexes for uncooked beef steaks and fresh fish and seafood were higher.

Over the year, food prices rose 5.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.1 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home were up 5.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 2.3 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher gasoline prices (5.2 percent). The indexes for both electricity and utility (piped) gas service were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices declined 5.4 percent over the year, largely due to lower gasoline prices (-13.3 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service rose 6.3 percent, and electricity prices increased by 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 December. Lower prices for apparel (-4.3 percent), recreation (-1.1 percent), and medical care (-0.2 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy was up 0.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (2.2 percent) and medical care (1.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-6.6 percent) and recreation (-2.6 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	-0.2	0.9

The January 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 10, 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 individuals with sensory impairments 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-
	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020	Dec. 2019	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	245.584	244.610	244.235	0.9	-0.5	-0.2
All items (1967=100)	733.702	730.793	729.673	-	-	-
Food and beverages	267.388	266.030	265.590	4.9	-0.7	-0.2
Food	267.191	265.872	265.459	5.0	-0.6	-0.2
Food at home	249.711	247.872	247.226	5.1	-1.0	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products	278.091	282.144	277.367	5.1	-0.3	-1.7
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	271.539	264.009	267.326	4.7	-1.6	1.3
Dairy and related products	227.190	223.495	224.876	4.2	-1.0	0.6
Fruits and vegetables	319.439	311.481	314.042	3.5	-1.7	0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	212.689	207.389	207.245	7.4	-2.6	-0.1
Other food at home	197.440	202.243	198.202	5.7	0.4	-2.0
Food away from home	285.745	285.191	285.114	5.0	-0.2	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	268.463	266.612	265.835	3.3	-1.0	-0.3
Housing	259.397	259.836	260.098	2.1	0.3	0.1
Shelter	330.736	331.084	331.560	2.2	0.2	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)	352.532	353.426	354.001	2.5	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	341.384	341.471	342.176	2.6	0.2	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	341.384	341.471	342.176	2.6	0.2	0.2
Fuels and utilities	208.616	209.973	209.972	2.4	0.6	0.0
Household energy	160.283	161.385	161.384	2.6	0.7	0.0
Energy services(2)	163.554	164.667	164.653	2.6	0.7	0.0
Electricity(2)	162.521	162.456	162.431	0.4	-0.1	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	151.691	154.469	154.471	6.3	1.8	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	89.895	90.085	89.955	1.3	0.1	-0.1
Apparel	83.841	81.136	77.675	-6.6	-7.4	-4.3
Transportation	178.934	176.361	176.894	-3.7	-1.1	0.3
Private transportation	178.154	176.225	178.651	-1.8	0.3	1.4
New and used motor vehicles(4)	99.785	98.505	98.913	3.1	-0.9	0.4
New vehicles(1)	172.982	170.772	174.468	-0.2	0.9	2.2
Used cars and trucks(1)	298.183	293.494	289.813	10.3	-2.8	-1.3
Motor fuel	198.770	192.102	202.109	-13.3	1.7	5.2
Gasoline (all types)	196.807	190.070	200.005	-13.3	1.6	5.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	188.674	181.966	191.939	-13.5	1.7	5.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	221.644	216.161	224.519	-12.3	1.3	3.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	225.860	220.566	227.023	-11.5	0.5	2.9
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	499.604	500.055	500.010	-8.7	0.1	0.0
Medical care	536.920	534.148	533.028	1.3	-0.7	-0.2
Recreation(4)	114.955	114.720	113.473	-2.6	-1.3	-1.1
Education and communication(4)	141.932	141.352	141.366	-0.8	-0.4	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,218.961	1,218.961	1,218.595	1.1	0.0	0.0
Other goods and services	406.931	406.016	404.635	0.6	-0.6	-0.3
Commodity and service group
All items	245.584	244.610	244.235	0.9	-0.5	-0.2
Commodities	169.799	168.108	168.208	0.6	-0.9	0.1
Commodities less food and beverages	123.147	121.448	121.736	-2.5	-1.1	0.2
Nondurables less food and beverages	161.697	158.862	158.107	-6.3	-2.2	-0.5
Durables	86.537	85.715	86.615	2.1	0.1	1.0
Services	317.686	317.552	316.670	1.0	-0.3	-0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	233.053	232.160	231.818	0.8	-0.5	-0.1
All items less shelter	216.759	215.352	214.698	0.2	-1.0	-0.3
Commodities less food	128.039	126.320	126.584	-2.2	-1.1	0.2
Nondurables	214.038	211.872	211.258	0.1	-1.3	-0.3
Nondurables less food	168.506	165.724	164.966	-5.4	-2.1	-0.5
Services less rent of shelter(3)	319.935	319.280	316.882	-0.2	-1.0	-0.8
Services less medical care services	300.509	300.534	299.653	0.8	-0.3	-0.3
Energy	174.696	172.686	176.684	-5.4	1.1	2.3
All items less energy	254.208	253.314	252.556	1.3	-0.6	-0.3
All items less food and energy	252.736	251.917	251.094	0.6	-0.6	-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.