The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Northeast area edged down 0.2 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the recent one-month decrease was due to a 5.6-percent decline in energy prices. The all items less food and energy index and the food index rose over the month, up 0.3 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Within the all items less food and energy group, prices were higher for shelter and apparel, among others. (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 Northeast area all items CPI-U decreased 0.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 19.1 percent over the year, while the all items less food and energy index was 1.3 percent higher. Food prices also increased from January 2014, up 2.8 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices inched up 0.1 percent in January following a 0.5-percent increase in December. Prices for food away from home edged up 0.2 percent and those for food at home inched up 0.1 percent over the month.

From January 2014 to January 2015, the food index increased 2.8 percent. Food at home prices rose 3.0 percent over the year and prices for food away from home increased 2.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, decreased 5.6 percent in January due almost entirely to lower gasoline prices, down 16.0 percent—the largest one-month decrease for each of these indexes since December 2008. Utility (piped) gas service prices also fell over the month, down 0.5 percent. Prices for electricity rose 7.3 percent.

The energy index dropped 19.1 percent since January 2014 due to a 32.9-percent drop in gasoline prices—the largest 12-month decrease for each of these indexes in over five years. Prices for utility (piped) gas service also fell over the year, down 7.7 percent, while those for electricity increased 1.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.3 percent in January. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter, particularly owners’ equivalent rent of residences, up 0.3 percent each. Prices also rose over the month for apparel (1.3 percent), other goods and services (0.8 percent), medical care (0.3 percent), and recreation (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.3 percent, led by higher prices for shelter (2.1 percent). Medical care prices also advanced since January 2014, up 3.2 percent. Moderating the 12-month advance in the all items less food and energy index were lower prices for recreation and household furnishings and operations, down 1.5 and 2.1 percent, respectively.

 

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

Month	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	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	0.4	3.0	0.4	1.6	0.4	2.9	0.3	1.8	0.6	1.5	-0.2	-0.4
February	0.0	2.5	0.5	2.0	0.4	2.8	0.6	2.0	0.1	1.0
March	0.3	2.6	0.8	2.5	0.5	2.5	0.0	1.5	0.5	1.5
April	0.2	2.5	0.5	2.8	0.3	2.3	-0.1	1.1	0.0	1.6
May	0.2	2.6	0.5	3.2	-0.1	1.7	0.0	1.2	0.4	2.0
June	-0.1	1.7	0.1	3.4	-0.2	1.5	0.1	1.5	0.0	1.9
July	0.0	1.6	0.2	3.6	-0.1	1.1	0.2	1.8	0.1	1.8
August	0.1	1.4	0.3	3.8	0.5	1.3	0.2	1.5	-0.3	1.3
September	-0.1	1.2	0.1	4.0	0.5	1.7	0.1	1.1	0.0	1.2
October	0.3	1.5	-0.1	3.6	0.1	1.9	-0.4	0.7	-0.2	1.4
November	0.2	1.5	-0.1	3.2	0.2	1.8	0.1	1.0	-0.4	0.9
December	0.0	1.6	-0.3	2.9	-0.3	1.8	0.0	1.3	-0.5	0.4

The Consumer Price Index for February 2015 is scheduled to be released Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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/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 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; Federal Relay Service:  1-800-877-8339.

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. 2014	Dec. 2014	Jan. 2015	Jan. 2014	Nov. 2014	Dec. 2014
All items		251.781	250.519	250.016	-0.4	-0.7	-0.2
All items (December 1977 = 100)		396.478	394.492	393.699
Food and beverages		249.408	250.444	250.774	2.7	0.5	0.1
Food		249.386	250.516	250.847	2.8	0.6	0.1
Food at home		246.920	248.691	248.942	3.0	0.8	0.1
Food away from home		256.153	256.346	256.799	2.5	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages		248.508	248.323	248.652	1.5	0.1	0.1
Housing		262.149	261.939	263.363	0.9	0.5	0.5
Shelter		319.239	319.376	320.295	2.1	0.3	0.3
Rent of primary residence (1)		320.069	320.606	321.124	2.4	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)		330.925	331.392	332.339	1.9	0.4	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)		330.756	331.222	332.166	1.9	0.4	0.3
Fuels and utilities		221.300	219.675	225.280	-4.6	1.8	2.6
Household energy		198.919	197.158	203.231	-5.8	2.2	3.1
Energy services (1)		191.303	191.825	201.727	-1.1	5.4	5.2
Electricity (1)		197.266	196.345	210.584	1.4	6.8	7.3
Utility (piped) gas service (1)		166.432	170.300	169.493	-7.7	1.8	-0.5
Household furnishings and operations		123.395	123.004	123.219	-2.1	-0.1	0.2
Apparel		132.251	126.185	127.778	1.5	-3.4	1.3
Transportation		208.769	203.360	195.235	-9.6	-6.5	-4.0
Private transportation		200.291	195.468	187.107	-10.4	-6.6	-4.3
New and used motor vehicles (3)		97.523	96.961	97.019	-1.1	-0.5	0.1
New vehicles		144.366	144.186	144.923	0.3	0.4	0.5
New cars and trucks (3) (4)		100.008	99.890	100.409	0.4	0.4	0.5
New cars (4)		137.408	137.366	138.324	-0.3	0.7	0.7
Used cars and trucks		151.540	149.169	148.559	-3.6	-2.0	-0.4
Motor fuel		253.633	233.855	196.553	-32.8	-22.5	-16.0
Gasoline (all types)		252.361	232.565	195.288	-32.9	-22.6	-16.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)		251.127	230.940	193.172	-33.8	-23.1	-16.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)		263.994	245.039	208.492	-30.1	-21.0	-14.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)		253.480	236.160	202.677	-28.8	-20.0	-14.2
Medical care		459.461	460.596	462.132	3.2	0.6	0.3
Medical care commodities		374.465	373.682	374.814	3.7	0.1	0.3
Medical care services		482.795	484.578	486.233	3.0	0.7	0.3
Professional services		356.199	358.519	358.844	2.4	0.7	0.1
Recreation (3)		119.260	119.093	119.495	-1.5	0.2	0.3
Education and communication (3)		137.975	137.850	138.118	0.3	0.1	0.2
Other goods and services		444.355	445.391	448.803	2.7	1.0	0.8
Commodity and service group
Commodities		191.319	188.554	185.655	-4.0	-3.0	-1.5
Commodities less food and beverages		158.474	154.189	150.020	-8.3	-5.3	-2.7
Nondurables less food and beverages		204.421	196.400	187.409	-11.7	-8.3	-4.6
Durables		106.758	106.045	106.389	-2.7	-0.3	0.3
Services		310.767	310.844	312.501	1.6	0.6	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		228.962	227.159	226.115	-1.7	-1.2	-0.5
All items less medical care		242.635	241.277	240.691	-0.7	-0.8	-0.2
Commodities less food		161.833	157.655	153.606	-7.9	-5.1	-2.6
Nondurables		227.404	223.610	218.962	-4.4	-3.7	-2.1
Nondurables less food		206.943	199.400	190.977	-10.8	-7.7	-4.2
Services less rent of shelter (2)		312.590	312.601	315.145	1.1	0.8	0.8
Services less medical care services		298.824	298.798	300.447	1.5	0.5	0.6
Energy		221.924	212.652	200.653	-19.1	-9.6	-5.6
All items less energy		257.316	256.872	257.555	1.5	0.1	0.3
All items less food and energy		260.392	259.664	260.414	1.3	0.0	0.3
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.