The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area decreased 0.8 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that energy prices fell 7.2 percent while food prices were 0.2 percent higher in November. The all items less food and energy index declined 0.3 percent over the month. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy index, prices were lower for apparel and recreation. The index for shelter edged up in November. (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 Chicago area all items CPI-U increased 1.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index recorded no change over the year as increases in the cost of electricity and utility (piped ) gas service were offset by decreases in gasoline prices. The all items less food and energy index was 1.1 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.2 percent in November following a 0.4 percent increase in October. Of the two components within the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) edged down 0.1 percent and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.6 percent over the month. Within the food at home group, categories experiencing increases included tomatoes; spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces; and uncooked beef roasts. Prices were lower for potatoes, other bakery products, and ham.

From November 2013 to November 2014, the food index increased 4.7 percent. Grocery food prices rose 4.6 percent over the year, while prices for food eaten away from home increased 4.9 percent compared to last November.

Energy

The energy index was down 7.2 percent in November due to declines in the indexes for gasoline (-9.0 percent) and electricity (-10.9 percent). In contrast, utility (piped) gas service costs rose 2.3 percent.

On an annual basis, the Chicago area energy index recorded no change. Over the year, the indexes for electricity and utility (piped) gas service rose 18.7 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, while gasoline prices fell 8.6 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.3 percent in November. Among the index’s components, prices were 3.4 percent lower for apparel and 1.3 percent lower for recreation. In contrast, the index for shelter edged up 0.1 percent over the month.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for shelter (2.1 percent), medical care (2.5 percent), and education and communication (2.4 percent) were the major contributing factors.

Table A. Percent Changes in the CPI-U, Chicago-Gary-Kenosha (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure Category	Percent changes from preceding month							12 mo. ended Nov. '14
	2014
	May	Jun.	Jul.	Aug.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.
All items	-0.1	0.4	-0.4	0.1	0.0	-0.4	-0.8	1.6
Food & beverages	0.5	-0.1	-0.1	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.2	4.5
Food	0.7	-0.1	0.0	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.2	4.7
Housing	-0.5	0.7	0.4	-0.1	-0.2	-0.3	-0.5	2.7
Apparel	0.2	-2.6	-3.7	4.3	0.2	-1.6	-3.4	-4.9
Transportation	-0.2	1.2	-2.9	-1.5	-0.3	-2.3	-2.5	-2.5
Medical care	0.0	-0.2	0.6	0.3	0.1	1.0	-0.4	2.5
Recreation	1.0	0.2	0.2	0.0	-0.9	0.1	-1.3	-1.1
Education & communication	0.1	0.2	-0.1	0.5	0.9	0.1	-0.3	2.4
Other goods & services	-0.3	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.3	-0.2	-0.6	-0.5
Special Indexes
Energy	-4.0	3.8(R)	-3.2	-3.0	-1.4	-6.4	-7.2	0.0
All items less food & energy	0.2	0.1	-0.2	0.4	0.1	0.2	-0.3	1.1
Footnotes: (R) Revised.

The December 2014 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Friday, January 16, 2015, at 7:30 a.m. (CT).

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 Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of 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.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Sep. 2014	Oct. 2014	Nov. 2014	Nov. 2013	Sep. 2014	Oct. 2014
Expenditure category
All items	229.829	228.987	227.184	1.6	-1.2	-0.8
All items (1967=100)	686.633	684.116	678.730	-	-	-
Food and beverages	238.733	239.670	240.189	4.5	0.6	0.2
Food	238.065	239.050	239.473	4.7	0.6	0.2
Food at home	237.160	238.639	238.386	4.6	0.5	-0.1
Food away from home	233.945	234.207	235.579	4.9	0.7	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	246.914	247.128	249.069	1.7	0.9	0.8
Housing	231.219	230.478	229.412	2.7	-0.8	-0.5
Shelter	283.560	283.879	284.083	2.1	0.2	0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	298.885	300.655	301.479	3.4	0.9	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	288.145	289.171	289.805	2.0	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	288.145	289.171	289.805	2.0	0.6	0.2
Fuels and utilities	210.419	202.809	194.224	9.8	-7.7	-4.2
Household energy	180.259	172.186	163.069	11.0	-9.5	-5.3
Energy services (1)	183.774	175.433	166.012	11.2	-9.7	-5.4
Electricity (1)	166.303	169.367	150.964	18.7	-9.2	-10.9
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	190.650	167.320	171.207	3.3	-10.2	2.3
Household furnishings and operations	97.006	97.500	97.436	-0.7	0.4	-0.1
Apparel	95.678	94.121	90.884	-4.9	-5.0	-3.4
Transportation	199.520	195.023	190.087	-2.5	-4.7	-2.5
Private transportation	197.417	191.902	187.081	-2.4	-5.2	-2.5
Motor fuel	322.832	296.760	270.133	-8.6	-16.3	-9.0
Gasoline (all types)	319.414	293.546	267.032	-8.6	-16.4	-9.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	312.987	286.684	260.592	-8.7	-16.7	-9.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	337.551	313.959	285.394	-7.5	-15.5	-9.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	313.442	293.021	268.627	-7.2	-14.3	-8.3
Medical care	452.421	456.734	455.082	2.5	0.6	-0.4
Recreation (5)	109.036	109.118	107.683	-1.1	-1.2	-1.3
Education and communication (5)	143.498	143.703	143.298	2.4	-0.1	-0.3
Other goods and services	385.599	384.759	382.445	-0.5	-0.8	-0.6
Commodity and service group
All items	229.829	228.987	227.184	1.6	-1.2	-0.8
Commodities	174.966	173.001	170.358	-0.2	-2.6	-1.5
Commodities less food & beverages	141.510	138.343	134.408	-3.5	-5.0	-2.8
Nondurables less food & beverages	193.042	186.568	178.573	-4.1	-7.5	-4.3
Durables	92.257	92.219	92.125	-2.5	-0.1	-0.1
Services	281.818	282.035	281.023	2.6	-0.3	-0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	220.317	219.246	217.434	1.5	-1.3	-0.8
All items less shelter	211.929	210.672	208.150	1.3	-1.8	-1.2
Commodities less food	145.549	142.448	138.639	-3.3	-4.7	-2.7
Nondurables	217.440	214.430	210.408	0.4	-3.2	-1.9
Nondurables less food	197.094	190.943	183.438	-3.8	-6.9	-3.9
Services less rent of shelter (2)	294.713	294.829	292.484	3.1	-0.8	-0.8
Services less medical care services	268.951	268.785	267.713	2.6	-0.5	-0.4
Energy	235.329	220.273	204.366	0.0	-13.2	-7.2
All items less energy	231.113	231.621	231.150	1.7	0.0	-0.2
All items less food and energy	230.671	231.092	230.454	1.1	-0.1	-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) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.