Prices in the Northeast Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased by 0.2 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the March decrease was due to a 3.3-percent decrease in energy prices as all energy components’ prices were lower since February. The all items less food and energy index had no change while the food index increased just 0.1 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 Northeast all items CPI-U index rose 4.3 percent, primarily due to a 4.5-percent increase in the all items less food and energy index.(See chart 1 and table A.) The food index continued to moderate, up just 8.3 percent, while the energy index slightly offset the overall rise as it declined 5.0 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Northeast region, March 2020–March 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2020	1.7	2.3
Apr 2020	0.8	1.5
May 2020	0.6	1.4
Jun 2020	0.8	1.3
Jul 2020	1.1	1.6
Aug 2020	1.1	1.6
Sep 2020	1.2	1.5
Oct 2020	1.1	1.5
Nov 2020	1.1	1.5
Dec 2020	1.4	1.6
Jan 2021	1.1	1.1
Feb 2021	1.2	0.8
Mar 2021	2.1	1.3
Apr 2021	3.3	2.5
May 2021	3.9	3.0
Jun 2021	4.6	3.9
Jul 2021	4.3	3.5
Aug 2021	4.4	3.2
Sep 2021	4.6	3.2
Oct 2021	5.4	3.7
Nov 2021	6.0	4.1
Dec 2021	5.9	4.3
Jan 2022	6.3	4.6
Feb 2022	6.6	5.0
Mar 2022	7.3	5.0
Apr 2022	7.2	4.9
May 2022	7.5	4.6
Jun 2022	7.6	4.4
Jul 2022	7.3	4.3
Aug 2022	7.4	5.0
Sep 2022	7.2	5.4
Oct 2022	6.9	5.2
Nov 2022	6.4	4.7
Dec 2022	6.1	4.8
Jan 2023	6.0	4.9
Feb 2023	5.9	5.1
Mar 2023	4.3	4.5

In March, the food index rose 0.1 percent, the smallest increase since February 2021. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home had a 0.5-percent increase while prices for food at home decreased 0.1 percent. The grocery categories had an even mix of declines and advances which contributed to the small movement overall. The decreasing indexes included fruits and vegetables (down 2.7 percent, the greatest decline since April 2019); meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (down 0.5 percent), and dairy and related products (down 0.3 percent). The miscellaneous other food at home index rose 1.2 percent, cereals and bakery products rose 1.1 percent, and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials increased 0.2 percent over the month.

From March 2022 to March 2023, the food index increased 8.3 percent after peaking at 10.3 percent in October while the food at home index rose 8.4 percent following its peak of 12.0 percent in August. Within food at home, prices for the other food at home category increased 10.7 percent and cereals and bakery products prices were up 14.0 percent. All other grocery categories increased over the year but continued to moderate from their peaks in the last year. The food away from home index was up 8.2 percent, the highest 12-month increase for the index since October 1981.

The energy index decreased 3.3 percent over the month as all energy categories declined. The 7.5-percent decline in the utility (piped) gas service index was the greatest decrease since May 2012. Electricity prices declined 2.8 percent, the lowest since February 2022. Prices for gasoline were down 1.9 percent and only increased in 4 months of the last year. Prices for fuel oil decreased as well.

Energy prices also were lower over the year — down 5.0 percent, the first index decline since January 2021. This drop was due to a 19.6-percent decrease in prices for gasoline — the largest decrease since July 2020 — and a decline in fuel oil prices. The other components of the energy index showed moderation in the rate of increase although they were higher than the year before. The electricity index was up 14.6 percent (down from a series-high 23.2 percent last month) and the utility (piped) gas service index continued to moderate, up 8.1 percent (the smallest increase since May 2021) after 20 consecutive months of double-digit increases that peaked at 39.6 percent in September 2022.

The index for all items less food and energy did not change over the month of March mainly as increases in the shelter index components largely countered decreases in medical care prices; the remaining categories showed a combination of rises and falls. The medical care index was down 2.5 percent due to a 3.0-percent decrease in the medical care services index, both constituting the greatest decline in these indexes since they began in 1987. Prices for household furnishings and operations were down 0.6 percent. Balancing these decreases, the shelter index was up 0.5 percent, with moderating increases in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (up 0.3 percent) and rent of primary residence index (up 0.4 percent). Lodging away from home prices increased as well. Prices for apparel also rose, up 1.2 percent, while the other goods and services index increased 0.9 percent.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy was up 4.5 percent, mainly due to a 6.3-percent increase in the shelter index (the largest increase in 32 years). Within shelter, the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index rose 5.9 percent (the most since October 2002) and rent of primary residence increased 6.7 percent (the largest since February 1987). Prices for household furnishings and operations increased 5.7 percent, and new and used motor vehicles prices rose 2.4 percent. Within new and used motor vehicles, prices for new vehicles advanced 6.4 percent while the used cars and trucks index continued to decline as it has since November, down 11.3 percent over the year. Prices for medical care were 0.4 percent lower as medical care services were down 1.1 percent, both the first declines in these indexes since 2021 which was the first year with decreases since these indexes began in 1978.

Additional price indexes are available for the two divisions of the Northeast. Over the month, the all items CPI-U index for the Middle Atlantic division decreased by 0.3 percent. For the New England division, the all items CPI-U index had no percent change over the month.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 4.6 percent in the Middle Atlantic division and 3.6 percent in the New England division. (See table B.)

The April 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Region is scheduled to be released on May 10, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Region is published monthly. 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 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, 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 Northeast region is comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The New England division is comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The Middle Atlantic division is comprised of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. 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	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	Mar. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023
All items		310.323	311.986	311.243	4.3	0.3	-0.2
All items (December 1977 = 100)		488.664	491.282	490.113
Food and beverages		319.989	321.002	321.324	8.1	0.4	0.1
Food		322.420	323.444	323.698	8.3	0.4	0.1
Food at home		305.904	306.838	306.434	8.4	0.2	-0.1
Cereals and bakery products		377.050	378.465	382.573	14.0	1.5	1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		313.788	313.306	311.801	4.9	-0.6	-0.5
Dairy and related products		281.746	282.111	281.180	10.9	-0.2	-0.3
Fruits and vegetables		358.601	361.145	351.421	1.6	-2.0	-2.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		213.783	215.541	216.027	12.4	1.0	0.2
Other food at home		275.316	275.825	279.136	10.7	1.4	1.2
Food away from home		349.205	350.401	352.173	8.2	0.8	0.5
Alcoholic beverages		286.496	287.371	288.614	5.4	0.7	0.4
Housing		332.230	333.577	333.279	6.4	0.3	-0.1
Shelter		399.784	402.811	404.754	6.3	1.2	0.5
Rent of primary residence		403.654	406.089	407.727	6.7	1.0	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)		413.462	416.140	417.564	5.9	1.0	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)		413.097	415.759	417.206	5.9	1.0	0.3
Fuels and utilities		319.254	312.195	301.409	7.8	-5.6	-3.5
Household energy		291.083	282.706	271.169	7.8	-6.8	-4.1
Energy services		282.731	277.196	265.174	12.3	-6.2	-4.3
Electricity		280.471	277.558	269.856	14.6	-3.8	-2.8
Utility (piped) gas service		266.182	256.212	237.091	8.1	-10.9	-7.5
Household furnishings and operations		144.644	145.747	144.868	5.7	0.2	-0.6
Apparel		132.760	136.335	138.005	2.6	4.0	1.2
Transportation		249.807	252.783	251.864	-0.1	0.8	-0.4
Private transportation		248.359	250.860	249.439	-0.7	0.4	-0.6
New and used motor vehicles(2)		123.482	124.621	124.647	2.4	0.9	0.0
New vehicles		172.314	172.869	173.452	6.4	0.7	0.3
New cars(3)		163.851	164.302	164.982	6.8	0.7	0.4
Used cars and trucks		196.267	193.092	194.785	-11.3	-0.8	0.9
Motor fuel		292.188	293.390	287.636	-19.6	-1.6	-2.0
Gasoline (all types)		290.348	291.823	286.289	-19.6	-1.4	-1.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)		285.242	286.789	281.283	-20.5	-1.4	-1.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)		317.799	318.903	313.001	-15.7	-1.5	-1.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)		314.249	315.196	309.669	-12.8	-1.5	-1.8
Medical care		576.980	575.275	561.165	-0.4	-2.7	-2.5
Medical care commodities		396.552	396.336	397.262	3.5	0.2	0.2
Medical care services		630.056	627.903	609.273	-1.1	-3.3	-3.0
Professional services		432.078	432.476	430.906	1.7	-0.3	-0.4
Recreation(2)		137.964	138.639	138.262	1.7	0.2	-0.3
Education and communication(2)		154.754	154.904	154.764	1.3	0.0	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)		1,378.171	1,379.692	1,379.610	2.8	0.1	0.0
Other goods and services		568.819	580.957	586.037	6.2	3.0	0.9
Commodity and service group
Commodities		226.559	227.225	227.286	1.7	0.3	0.0
Commodities less food and beverages		177.685	178.177	178.130	-2.2	0.3	0.0
Nondurables less food and beverages		227.090	227.953	227.294	-4.0	0.1	-0.3
Durables		122.504	122.693	123.046	-0.2	0.4	0.3
Services		390.816	393.427	391.922	5.9	0.3	-0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		279.555	280.716	278.942	3.3	-0.2	-0.6
All items less medical care		298.573	300.392	300.259	4.7	0.6	0.0
Commodities less food		181.738	182.244	182.231	-1.9	0.3	0.0
Nondurables		272.986	273.924	273.743	2.5	0.3	-0.1
Nondurables less food		230.549	231.412	230.870	-3.3	0.1	-0.2
Services less rent of shelter(1)		394.246	396.434	390.861	5.3	-0.9	-1.4
Services less medical care services		374.286	377.232	376.926	6.7	0.7	-0.1
Energy		293.388	288.596	279.181	-5.0	-4.8	-3.3
All items less energy		315.869	318.113	318.113	5.1	0.7	0.0
All items less food and energy		316.724	319.196	319.151	4.5	0.8	0.0
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.