Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), ticked up 0.1 percent in August after inching down 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the August increase was largely attributable to higher prices for energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over-the-year, the CPI-U advanced 3.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.6 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 21.7 percent, driven by an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 3.8 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent in August. Prices for food at home increased 0.4 percent, with four of the six grocery categories recording increases. Candy and chewing gum, as well as snacks, were among the groceries with higher August prices. Prices for food away from home rose 0.6 percent.

From August 2020 to August 2021, food prices rose 3.8 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 5.1 percent, while prices for food at home advanced 2.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.1 percent over the month, with a 2.9-percent increase in household energy prices. The increase was primarily due to higher prices for electricity (4.8 percent). Prices for natural gas rose 0.8 percent. Gasoline prices increased 0.9 percent, the smallest of a string of nine consecutive increases.

Energy prices climbed 21.7 percent over the year, largely due to a 42.3-percent jump in gasoline prices. Household energy prices advanced 10.2 percent, the fastest pace in over four years. Electricity prices were 8.2 percent higher than one year earlier, and natural gas prices were 10.4 percent higher.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched down 0.1 percent in August. Among the items with price decreases were shelter (-0.3 percent) and recreation (-0.3 percent). A seasonal price increase for apparel (5.6 percent), along with higher prices for education and communication (0.9 percent) and for new vehicles (1.8 percent), largely offset declining components.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent. Price increases for shelter (1.4 percent) and for new and used motor vehicles (11.5 percent) contributed to the rise.

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	0.4	2.0
April	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1	0.7	3.2
May	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4	0.5	3.2
June	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3	1.0	4.1
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7	-0.1	3.5
August	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4	0.1	3.7
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

The September 2021 Consumer Price Index for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 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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