The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Northeast region rose 0.4 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent rise reflected one-month increases in the indexes for all items less food and energy (0.2 percent), energy (1.5 percent), and food (0.7 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 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The all items less food and energy component advanced 2.5 percent over the year—the largest 12-month rise since October 2008. Prices also rose for both food and energy, up 4.3 and 4.4 percent, respectively, since January 2011. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.7 percent in January as its two components, food at home and food away from home, recorded identical 0.7-percent increases. The recent rise in prices for food away from home was the largest one-month advance since September 2008.

Over the year, the food index advanced 4.3 percent. Prices for both the food at home and food away from home components increased since last January, up 5.2 and 3.2 percent, respectively.

Energy

After posting seven consecutive one-month declines, the energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, increased 1.5 percent in January. The recent advance was due largely to a 3.3-percent rise in the gasoline index, which also posted uninterrupted 1-month decreases from June to December. Electricity prices also increased in January, inching up 0.1 percent. Moderating the rise in the energy index were lower prices for utility (piped) gas service, down 1.9 percent since December.

The energy index advanced 4.4 percent over the year, reflecting a 9.5-percent rise in gasoline prices since January 2011. Moderating the 12-month increase in the energy index were lower prices for utility (piped) gas service (-8.9 percent) and electricity (-1.2 percent).

All items less food and energy

Over the month, the all items less food and energy index advanced 0.2 percent, led by an increase in shelter prices (0.2 percent), particularly those for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (0.3 percent). Prices were also higher for medical care (1.0 percent) and recreation (0.8 percent). Partially offsetting these increases was a smaller-than-usual seasonal decline in apparel prices, down 1.2 percent over the month.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.5 percent over the year. The recent advance reflected widespread price increases in its components, led by shelter prices (2.2 percent), particularly those for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (2.1 percent). Higher prices for other goods and services (2.6 percent) and medical care (3.9 percent) also contributed to the advance in the all items less food and energy index since January 2011.

The February 2012 Consumer Price Index for the Northeast region is scheduled to be released on March 16, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Table A. Northeast region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.3	2.3	0.4	3.9	0.2	0.5	0.4	3.0	0.4	1.6	0.4	2.9
February	0.4	2.4	0.4	4.0	0.6	0.7	0.0	2.5	0.5	2.0
March	0.8	2.6	0.8	3.9	0.2	0.2	0.3	2.6	0.8	2.5
April	0.5	2.2	0.5	3.9	0.2	-0.1	0.2	2.5	0.5	2.8
May	0.5	2.3	0.9	4.3	0.1	-0.8	0.2	2.6	0.5	3.2
June	0.4	2.3	1.1	5.0	0.8	-1.2	-0.1	1.7	0.1	3.4
July	0.2	2.0	0.8	5.7	0.1	-1.9	0.0	1.6	0.2	3.6
August	-0.2	1.6	-0.3	5.5	0.3	-1.2	0.1	1.4	0.3	3.8
September	-0.1	2.4	-0.4	5.2	0.1	-0.7	-0.1	1.2	0.1	4.0
October	0.2	3.1	-0.9	4.0	0.0	0.2	0.3	1.5	-0.1	3.6
November	0.6	4.0	-1.6	1.7	0.2	2.0	0.2	1.5	-0.1	3.2
December	0.0	3.8	-0.9	0.7	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.6	-0.3	2.9

 

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.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number:  1-800-877-8339.

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.

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Northeast Region, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	Jan. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011
All items		242.652	241.987	242.879	2.9	0.1	0.4
All items (December 1977 = 100)		382.103	381.056	382.461
Food and beverages		236.468	237.339	239.006	4.2	1.1	0.7
Food		236.309	237.187	238.836	4.3	1.1	0.7
Food at home		235.977	237.276	238.932	5.2	1.3	0.7
Food away from home		239.726	240.039	241.697	3.2	0.8	0.7
Alcoholic beverages		237.210	237.977	239.904	2.0	1.1	0.8
Housing		249.354	249.123	249.682	1.9	0.1	0.2
Shelter		298.396	298.294	299.017	2.2	0.2	0.2
Rent of primary residence (1)		296.430	296.487	297.481	2.6	0.4	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)		310.471	310.417	311.295	2.1	0.3	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)		310.397	310.333	311.211	2.1	0.3	0.3
Fuels and utilities		223.398	221.138	220.885	0.2	-1.1	-0.1
Household energy		204.539	202.046	201.701	-0.5	-1.4	-0.2
Energy services (1)		193.123	190.222	189.159	-3.6	-2.1	-0.6
Electricity (1)		188.798	186.114	186.315	-1.2	-1.3	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service (1)		190.558	187.316	183.690	-8.9	-3.6	-1.9
Household furnishings and operations		126.363	127.143	127.863	2.3	1.2	0.6
Apparel		131.239	126.040	124.574	4.5	-5.1	-1.2
Transportation		211.191	209.107	210.720	5.1	-0.2	0.8
Private transportation		204.326	202.352	204.479	5.3	0.1	1.1
New and used motor vehicles (3)		99.367	99.154	98.877	2.8	-0.5	-0.3
New vehicles		142.078	142.341	142.721	3.6	0.5	0.3
New cars and trucks (3) (4)		98.464	98.641	98.906	3.6	0.4	0.3
New cars (4)		138.548	138.536	138.530	3.5	0.0	0.0
Used cars and trucks		158.980	157.606	156.487	5.0	-1.6	-0.7
Motor fuel		287.863	279.173	288.153	9.7	0.1	3.2
Gasoline (all types)		286.509	277.652	286.730	9.5	0.1	3.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)		287.705	278.684	288.384	9.5	0.2	3.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)		292.258	283.585	291.372	9.7	-0.3	2.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)		276.896	268.727	275.607	9.5	-0.5	2.6
Medical care		426.530	428.275	432.393	3.9	1.4	1.0
Medical care commodities		358.631	359.466	364.959	4.8	1.8	1.5
Medical care services		443.308	445.377	448.821	3.6	1.2	0.8
Professional services		338.397	340.358	341.005	1.9	0.8	0.2
Recreation (3)		118.059	118.040	119.038	2.7	0.8	0.8
Education and communication (3)		134.333	134.407	134.604	0.8	0.2	0.1
Other goods and services		422.332	422.357	422.311	2.6	0.0	0.0
Commodity and service group
Commodities		191.692	190.538	191.806	4.3	0.1	0.7
Commodities less food and beverages		164.562	162.603	163.648	4.4	-0.6	0.6
Nondurables less food and beverages		212.424	208.390	210.315	5.5	-1.0	0.9
Durables		110.780	110.942	111.086	2.5	0.3	0.1
Services		292.694	292.492	293.104	2.1	0.1	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		224.119	223.238	224.183	3.3	0.0	0.4
All items less medical care		234.473	233.728	234.502	2.9	0.0	0.3
Commodities less food		167.446	165.553	166.628	4.3	-0.5	0.6
Nondurables		225.643	223.821	225.642	4.8	0.0	0.8
Nondurables less food		213.846	210.068	211.994	5.3	-0.9	0.9
Services less rent of shelter (2)		297.005	296.680	297.214	2.0	0.1	0.2
Services less medical care services		282.071	281.756	282.229	2.0	0.1	0.2
Energy		239.561	234.452	237.953	4.4	-0.7	1.5
All items less energy		245.318	245.108	245.758	2.8	0.2	0.3
All items less food and energy		248.494	248.083	248.568	2.5	0.0	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.