The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area edged down 0.1 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that food prices increased 0.3 percent and energy prices rose 0.9 percent in March. 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 category, prices were lower 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 increased 2.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy costs rose 11.8 percent over the year, primarily due to an increase in the index for gasoline. The all items less food and energy index was 1.4 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices had an increase of 0.3 percent in March after remaining unchanged in February. Over the month the indexes for both food at home (groceries) and food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.5 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. Within the food at home group, prices were higher in March for other fresh fruits, apples, and coffee. In contrast, the indexes nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks and cakes, cupcakes, and cookies were lower.

From March 2016 to March 2017, the food index rose 0.7 percent. Grocery prices declined 0.4 percent, while food away from home prices rose 2.4 percent over the year.

Energy

The energy index increased 0.9 percent in March primarily due to gasoline prices rising 1.8 percent. The electricity index rose 1.7 percent over the month, while utility (piped) gas service costs decreased 2.0 percent.

Over the year, the Chicago area energy index rose 11.8 percent. The major contributing factors in the energy index’s rise were an 18.3-percent increase in gasoline prices and a 19.6-percent increase in the utility (piped) gas service index. Electricity costs were little changed with a 0.1-percent increase over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.3 percent in March. Among the index’s components, prices were lower for shelter (-0.4 percent), apparel (-3.9 percent), and education and communication (-1.4 percent), but higher for recreation (1.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.4 percent. Increases in the indexes for shelter (2.0 percent) and medical care (4.2 percent) were major contributing factors.

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

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.2	1.2	0.9	1.2	-0.2	0.4	0.8	0.9	0.7	1.8
February	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	-0.2	-0.2	0.7	0.1	2.2
March	-0.1	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	-0.6	0.1	0.2	-0.1	2.0
April	0.0	0.9	0.5	2.4	0.1	-0.9	0.6	0.7
May	0.5	1.5	-0.1	1.8	0.3	-0.5	0.0	0.3
June	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.0	0.2	-0.7	0.5	0.7
July	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.9	-0.1	-0.5	-0.8	-0.1
August	0.1	1.1	0.1	1.9	0.4	-0.1	0.2	-0.2
September	-0.2	0.7	0.0	2.1	-0.3	-0.4	0.6	0.6
October	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	2.0	-0.1	-0.2	0.1	0.8
November	-0.3	0.6	-0.8	1.6	-0.4	0.2	0.2	1.5
December	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	1.5	-0.6	0.0	-0.2	1.9

The April 2017 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 12, 2017.

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-
	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017	Mar. 2017	Mar. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017
Expenditure category
All items	232.155	232.491	232.225	2.0	0.0	-0.1
All items (1967=100)	693.581	694.586	693.792	-	-	-
Food and beverages	242.524	242.266	242.987	0.6	0.2	0.3
Food	242.117	242.088	242.842	0.7	0.3	0.3
Food at home	232.695	232.648	233.725	-0.4	0.4	0.5
Food away from home	250.726	250.726	250.953	2.4	0.1	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	246.802	243.173	243.410	-0.9	-1.4	0.1
Housing	240.097	240.382	239.698	2.1	-0.2	-0.3
Shelter	300.959	301.142	299.877	2.0	-0.4	-0.4
Rent of primary residence(1)	317.668	318.021	318.071	2.4	0.1	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	304.947	304.978	305.444	2.3	0.2	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	304.947	304.978	305.444	2.3	0.2	0.2
Fuels and utilities	202.833	203.417	203.895	6.0	0.5	0.2
Household energy	160.768	161.380	161.621	6.9	0.5	0.1
Energy services(1)	163.895	164.534	164.878	7.0	0.6	0.2
Electricity(1)	154.025	154.027	156.635	0.1	1.7	1.7
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	165.549	167.158	163.828	19.6	-1.0	-2.0
Household furnishings and operations	91.776	92.163	92.416	-1.2	0.7	0.3
Apparel	85.121	86.958	83.546	-4.8	-1.9	-3.9
Transportation	182.556	180.859	182.158	3.9	-0.2	0.7
Private transportation	179.380	177.223	178.455	4.0	-0.5	0.7
Motor fuel	223.642	211.378	215.119	18.3	-3.8	1.8
Gasoline (all types)	221.456	209.239	212.950	18.3	-3.8	1.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	212.045	200.295	203.631	18.4	-4.0	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	250.531	236.133	242.219	18.3	-3.3	2.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	248.844	236.313	240.732	17.1	-3.3	1.9
Medical care	492.224	492.667	491.401	4.2	-0.2	-0.3
Recreation(5)	107.772	111.345	113.501	2.3	5.3	1.9
Education and communication(5)	145.522	145.495	143.432	0.9	-1.4	-1.4
Other goods and services	385.260	384.379	384.439	0.3	-0.2	0.0
Commodity and service group
All items	232.155	232.491	232.225	2.0	0.0	-0.1
Commodities	165.286	164.788	164.527	0.3	-0.5	-0.2
Commodities less food & beverages	126.184	125.614	124.971	0.1	-1.0	-0.5
Nondurables less food & beverages	167.297	165.539	164.413	2.9	-1.7	-0.7
Durables	87.967	88.288	88.036	-3.5	0.1	-0.3
Services	295.630	296.790	296.523	2.9	0.3	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	220.993	221.324	221.102	1.7	0.0	-0.1
All items less shelter	208.956	209.346	209.426	1.9	0.2	0.0
Commodities less food	130.512	129.859	129.232	0.0	-1.0	-0.5
Nondurables	205.431	204.382	204.141	1.5	-0.6	-0.1
Nondurables less food	172.564	170.693	169.638	2.6	-1.7	-0.6
Services less rent of shelter(2)	305.271	307.536	308.418	3.9	1.0	0.3
Services less medical care services	280.617	281.815	281.660	2.6	0.4	-0.1
Energy	184.835	180.462	182.057	11.8	-1.5	0.9
All items less energy	238.546	239.321	238.881	1.3	0.1	-0.2
All items less food and energy	238.739	239.664	239.004	1.4	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. Data not seasonally adjusted.