Consumer Price Index, Northeast Region – August 2011 (PDF)

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Northeast region rose 0.3 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent increase was largely due to an advance in the all items less food and energy index (0.4 percent). Food prices also rose 0.4 percent since July, while energy prices decreased 0.8 percent. (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 CPI-U increased 3.8 percent—the largest over-the-year advance since October 2008. (See chart 1 and table A.) The all items less food and energy index rose 2.1 percent over the year. Prices were also higher for energy (18.4 percent) and food (4.5 percent) since August 2010. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.4 percent in August. Prices for food at home increased for the fourth straight month, up 2.6 percent since April and 0.4 percent since July. Food away from home prices also advanced 0.4 percent over the month.

Over the year, the food index rose 4.5 percent, the largest 12-month increase since February 2009. Prices for the food at home and food away from home components were up 5.8 and 2.9 percent, respectively.

Energy

Due largely to a 2.2-percent decrease in electricity prices, the energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, fell 0.8 percent over the month. Lower gasoline prices (-0.4 percent) also contributed to the decline in the energy index. Following five straight months of decreases totaling 9.3 percent, utility (piped) gas service prices rose 0.5 percent in August.

Despite its recent decrease, the energy index advanced 18.4 percent over the year, due largely to a 36.1-percent jump in gasoline prices. Both the electricity and utility (piped) gas service indexes posted 12-month declines, down 1.7 and 4.4 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

Led by a larger-than-usual seasonal increase in apparel prices (4.5 percent), the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent since July. Also contributing to the recent advance were higher prices for recreation and education and communication (0.7 percent each). Lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-0.4 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-0.1 percent) moderated the one-month increase in the all items less food and energy index.

Over the last 12 months, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent, led by an increase in the shelter index, up 1.9 percent. Higher apparel prices, up 6.2 percent over the year—the largest 12-month increase since February 1993—also contributed to the rise in the all items less food and energy index.

The September 2011 Consumer Price Index for the Northeast region is scheduled to be released on October 19, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 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 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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 Northeast region is comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.