Midwest Information Office

For release: 7:30 A.M. CT, Wednesday, November 18, 2009
BLSInfoChicago@bls.gov
General Information: (312) 353-1880
Media Contact: Paul LaPorte (312) 353-1138

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, CHICAGO-GARY-KENOSHA, ILL.-IND.-WIS. CMSA OCTOBER 2009

The Chicago-Gary-Kenosha Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the past year, the Chicago area CPI-U was down 0.8 percent, in contrast to the 3.2 percent gain in the previous 12-month period ended in October 2008. The Chicago area all items CPI-U was 211.708 (1982‑84=100) in October 2009.

Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa stated that increases in the components for housing and transportation were responsible for most of the 0.2 percent increase in the Chicago area all items CPI-U.  The component for medical care also increased, but with less impact. Partially offsetting these increases were declines in the components for apparel, food and beverages, and other goods and services. The components for recreation and education and communication experienced little change in October.

The housing component rose 0.4 percent in October due to increases in the indexes for shelter (0.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.7 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (4.5 percent). The electricity index was down 4.3 percent, only partially offsetting these increases. On annual basis, the housing component fell 1.2 percent. Most of this annual decline was attributed to a 36.3 percent drop in the utility (piped) gas service index and to a lesser extent, a 6.6 percent decline in the electricity index.

The transportation component rose 0.9 percent in October due to increases in costs for new and used motor vehicles. Gasoline prices edged down 0.3 percent in October, partially offsetting these gains. Over the year, gasoline prices were down 24.2 percent in the Chicago area.  In the previous annual period, October 2007-08, gasoline prices registered a 19.3 percent gain. Overall transportation costs were down 6.2 percent during the past 12 months as a result of the over-the-year decline in prices at the gasoline pumps. In the previous 12-month period ended in October 2008, transportation costs rose 5.6 percent.

The medical care component rose 0.9 percent from its September level and for the year, this component was up 6.2 percent.  Medical care costs rose 3.3 percent in the previous one-year period ended in October 2008 and 6.4 percent in the 12-month period ended in October 2007.

The component for apparel declined 1.6 percent in October. Apparel prices have typically remained unchanged or posted declines in the past eight Octobers (2001-08). Declines ranged from 3.2 to 0.4 percent. On an annual basis, the apparel component was down 0.3 percent.

The food and beverages component declined 0.4 percent in October. The food at home index (grocery foods) declined 0.6 percent over the month and the food away from home index was down 0.3 percent.  Alcoholic beverage prices rose 0.5 percent in October. Over the year, the food and beverages component gained 0.4 percent following a much larger gain of 4.9 percent in the previous annual period ended in October 2008.  The food at home index declined 2.2 percent over the year following annual gains of 7.0 percent and 4.2 percent in the two previous 12-month periods ending in October (2007 and 2008). The indexes for food away from home and alcoholic beverages posted annual gains of 2.7 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

The other goods and services component, which includes cigarettes and personal care products, declined 0.9 percent over the month.  For the year, this component was up 4.5 percent after rising 2.6 percent in the prior 12 months.

The education and communication component (+0.1 percent) and the recreation component (-0.1 percent) changed little from September to October. The education and communication component was up 2.1 percent over the year while the component for recreation fell 0.6 percent on an annual basis.

 

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Scheduled release date for the November 2009 CPI: Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. Combined Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

 

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CPI

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. Prices are collected in 87 urban areas across the country from about 50,000 housing units and approximately 23,000 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. Prices of food, fuels, and a few other items are obtained every month in all 87 locations. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the three largest geographic areas and every other month in other areas. Prices of most goods and services are obtained by personal visits of the Bureau's trained representatives.

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. Separate indexes are also published by size of city, by region of the country, for cross-classifications of regions and population-size classes, and for 27 local areas. Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices among cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

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.

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Last Modified Date: November 18, 2009