Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.3 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The May increase was mainly influenced by a 0.3 percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. The food index increased 0.7 percent, while the energy index declined 1.2 percent. (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 3.7 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent over the year, while food prices rose 6.8 percent. Energy prices fell 13.0 percent, largely the result of declining prices for gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, May 2020–May 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2020	-0.4	0.8
Jun 2020	0.4	1.2
Jul 2020	0.7	1.6
Aug 2020	1.1	1.9
Sep 2020	1.3	1.9
Oct 2020	1.0	1.6
Nov 2020	1.0	1.6
Dec 2020	1.1	1.6
Jan 2021	1.2	1.2
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Mar 2021	3.0	1.8
Apr 2021	4.9	3.3
May 2021	5.6	4.3
Jun 2021	5.8	4.6
Jul 2021	5.9	4.6
Aug 2021	5.7	4.2
Sep 2021	5.7	4.0
Oct 2021	6.6	4.6
Nov 2021	7.3	5.0
Dec 2021	7.5	5.7
Jan 2022	7.9	6.4
Feb 2022	8.0	6.4
Mar 2022	8.6	6.4
Apr 2022	8.2	6.0
May 2022	8.8	5.9
Jun 2022	9.5	5.7
Jul 2022	8.6	5.4
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Sep 2022	8.1	6.2
Oct 2022	7.4	5.8
Nov 2022	6.8	5.5
Dec 2022	6.0	5.2
Jan 2023	6.0	4.9
Feb 2023	5.6	5.0
Mar 2023	4.9	5.4
Apr 2023	4.9	5.5
May 2023	3.7	5.0

Food prices were up 0.7 percent for the month of May. Prices for food at home rose 0.6 percent, and prices for food away from home rose 0.8 percent. Within the food at home category, prices paid for fruits and vegetables saw the largest increase, rising 2.5 percent over the month. The meats, poultry, fish and eggs index declined 0.8 percent, somewhat offsetting the rise.

Over the year, food prices rose 6.8 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 6.2 percent since a year ago, influenced most by 10.2-percent increases in both the other food at home and cereals and bakery products categories. Prices for food away from home increased 7.8 percent over the same period.

The energy index decreased 1.2 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.0 percent), but prices for natural gas service also declined (-1.2 percent). Prices for electricity increased 0.3 percent in the month of May.

From May 2022 to May 2023, energy prices fell 13.0 percent, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-18.3 percent), but declining prices for natural gas service (-23.2 percent) also contributed. Prices paid for electricity rose 6.4 percent during the past year, partially offsetting the decline.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in May, after rising 0.5 percent in April. Higher prices for shelter (+0.8 percent) and used cars and trucks (+3.1 percent) were responsible for almost all of the increase. Lower prices for medical care services (-0.8 percent), recreation (-0.6 percent) and apparel (-0.8 percent), among others, partly offset the rise.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent. Components most contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.9 percent), rent of primary residence (+7.4 percent), and recreation (+5.9 percent). Declining prices for used cars and trucks (-3.6 percent) and public transportation partially offset the over-the-year increase.

The June 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

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 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 Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

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