The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area increased 0.8 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that energy prices fell 3.0 percent and food prices were up 0.9 percent in January. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.0 percent over the month. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher for shelter and apparel. (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 rose 0.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 11.0 percent over the year due to annual declines in costs for utility (piped) gas service, electricity, and gasoline. The all items less food and energy index was 1.7 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.9 percent in January following a 0.2-percent increase in December. Between the two components within the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) increased 1.3 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were 0.3 percent higher over the month. Within the food at home group, prices were up for tomatoes, other fresh fruits, and coffee. In contrast, other pork including roasts and picnics experienced a decrease.

From January 2015 to January 2016, the food index increased 2.4 percent. Prices for food eaten away from home increased 4.2 percent over the year, while grocery food prices rose 1.1 percent from the previous January.

Energy

The energy index was down 3.0 percent in January primarily due to lower gasoline prices (-5.9 percent). Costs for electricity were also down in January, dropping 2.3 percent, while utility (piped) gas service rose 2.2 percent.

On an annual basis, the Chicago area energy index declined 11.0 percent. The indexes for utility (piped) gas service (-16.8 percent), electricity (-11.0 percent), and gasoline (-7.6 percent), were all lower compared to their January 2015 levels.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.0 percent in January. Categories experiencing increases included shelter (1.3 percent), apparel (4.2 percent), and recreation (1.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for shelter (3.2 percent) and medical care (1.1 percent) were major contributing factors. In contrast, prices for recreation decreased 1.9 percent over the year.

Table A. Chicago CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	2.1	0.2	1.2	0.9	1.2	-0.2	0.4	0.8	0.9
February	0.0	1.6	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	-0.2
March	1.2	2.1	-0.1	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	-0.6
April	0.0	1.7	0.0	0.9	0.5	2.4	0.1	-0.9
May	-0.1	1.0	0.5	1.5	-0.1	1.8	0.3	-0.5
June	-0.1	0.9	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.0	0.2	-0.7
July	-0.2	1.1	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.9	-0.1	-0.5
August	0.6	1.5	0.1	1.1	0.1	1.9	0.4	-0.1
September	0.3	1.6	-0.2	0.7	0.0	2.1	-0.3	-0.4
October	-0.2	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	2.0	-0.1	-0.2
November	-0.4	1.5	-0.3	0.6	-0.8	1.6	-0.4	0.2
December	-0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	1.5	-0.6	0.0

The February 2016 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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-
	Nov. 2015	Dec. 2015	Jan. 2016	Jan. 2015	Nov. 2015	Dec. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	227.641	226.271	227.977	0.9	0.1	0.8
All items (1967=100)	680.098	676.002	681.101	-	-	-
Food and beverages	242.745	243.377	245.610	2.2	1.2	0.9
Food	242.684	243.108	245.397	2.4	1.1	0.9
Food at home	238.511	238.461	241.630	1.1	1.3	1.3
Food away from home	243.097	244.185	245.031	4.2	0.8	0.3
Alcoholic beverages	241.924	245.626	247.010	-0.2	2.1	0.6
Housing	232.702	231.915	234.312	1.3	0.7	1.0
Shelter	290.674	290.244	294.048	3.2	1.2	1.3
Rent of primary residence (1)	309.200	309.939	310.212	2.8	0.3	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	296.123	297.120	297.807	2.4	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	296.123	297.120	297.807	2.4	0.6	0.2
Fuels and utilities	192.048	188.610	187.636	-8.6	-2.3	-0.5
Household energy	154.632	150.959	149.835	-13.3	-3.1	-0.7
Energy services (1)	157.535	153.782	152.632	-13.5	-3.1	-0.7
Electricity (1)	160.603	158.638	155.005	-11.0	-3.5	-2.3
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	138.474	132.600	135.550	-16.8	-2.1	2.2
Household furnishings and operations	94.326	94.146	94.592	-2.2	0.3	0.5
Apparel	90.761	87.087	90.778	2.2	0.0	4.2
Transportation	179.136	173.699	173.581	0.1	-3.1	-0.1
Private transportation	174.810	170.155	169.114	-0.4	-3.3	-0.6
Motor fuel	205.304	185.278	174.279	-7.7	-15.1	-5.9
Gasoline (all types)	203.058	183.208	172.365	-7.6	-15.1	-5.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	194.445	174.715	163.518	-9.3	-15.9	-6.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	229.339	209.067	201.279	-2.3	-12.2	-3.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	228.411	211.555	203.500	3.7	-10.9	-3.8
Medical care	466.513	465.295	467.447	1.1	0.2	0.5
Recreation (5)	108.120	108.904	110.576	-1.9	2.3	1.5
Education and communication (5)	143.321	143.576	142.495	0.0	-0.6	-0.8
Other goods and services	383.420	384.159	382.564	-0.3	-0.2	-0.4
Commodity and service group
All items	227.641	226.271	227.977	0.9	0.1	0.8
Commodities	165.910	164.125	165.253	0.5	-0.4	0.7
Commodities less food & beverages	127.051	124.272	124.900	-0.9	-1.7	0.5
Nondurables less food & beverages	165.380	159.689	159.235	-1.2	-3.7	-0.3
Durables	90.299	90.274	91.635	-0.8	1.5	1.5
Services	286.111	285.128	287.389	1.2	0.4	0.8
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	217.406	216.027	217.716	0.9	0.1	0.8
All items less shelter	206.440	204.730	205.714	-0.1	-0.4	0.5
Commodities less food	131.226	128.598	129.252	-0.9	-1.5	0.5
Nondurables	204.585	201.847	202.691	0.8	-0.9	0.4
Nondurables less food	170.493	165.275	164.922	-1.1	-3.3	-0.2
Services less rent of shelter (2)	296.120	294.506	295.199	-0.9	-0.3	0.2
Services less medical care services	272.404	271.489	273.717	1.2	0.5	0.8
Energy	174.014	163.989	159.044	-11.0	-8.6	-3.0
All items less energy	234.552	233.997	236.334	1.8	0.8	1.0
All items less food and energy	233.904	233.165	235.519	1.7	0.7	1.0
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.