The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area increased 0.3 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that food prices declined 0.4 percent while the energy index rose 1.0 percent and the all items less food and energy index increased 0.4 percent over the month. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for other goods and services, recreation, and shelter. (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.) Over the year, the energy index increased 0.9 percent. The food index and the all items less food and energy index rose 1.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.4 percent in July. Of the two components within the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) fell 0.9 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.2 percent. Within the food at home group, indexes were lower in July for cheese and related products and ice cream and related products. Prices increased for bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products and salad dressing.

From July 2018 to July 2019, the food index increased 1.5 percent. Over the year, grocery prices were unchanged, while costs for food away from home rose 3.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.0 percent in July. Gasoline prices rose 3.4 percent over the month. Costs for electricity and utility (piped) gas service declined 2.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Over the year, the Chicago area energy index rose 0.9 percent. From July 2018 to July 2019, gasoline prices were 3.1 percent higher. Utility (piped) gas service prices fell 4.2 percent and electricity prices were down 0.2 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in July. Among the index’s components, prices were higher over the month for other goods and services (1.4 percent), recreation (0.6 percent), and shelter (0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent. The shelter index was a contributing factor, rising 3.0 percent over the year.

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

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	-0.2	0.4	0.8	0.9	0.7	1.8	0.8	1.8	0.6	0.8
February	0.0	-0.2	-0.2	0.7	0.1	2.2	0.0	1.6	0.6	1.4
March	0.7	-0.6	0.1	0.2	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5
April	0.1	-0.9	0.6	0.7	0.4	1.7	0.7	2.1	-0.1	0.8
May	0.3	-0.5	0.0	0.3	0.2	1.8	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2
June	0.2	-0.7	0.5	0.7	0.0	1.3	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0
July	-0.1	-0.5	-0.8	-0.1	0.0	2.2	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6
August	0.4	-0.1	0.2	-0.2	0.3	2.3	0.1	1.7
September	-0.3	-0.4	0.6	0.6	0.4	2.1	0.4	1.6
October	-0.1	-0.2	0.1	0.8	-0.4	1.6	0.0	2.0
November	-0.4	0.2	0.2	1.5	0.4	1.8	-0.6	1.0
December	-0.6	0.0	-0.2	1.9	-0.4	1.7	-0.3	1.1

The August 2019 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 12, 2019.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, 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-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2019	Jun. 2019	Jul. 2019	Jul. 2018	May 2019	Jun. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	241.758	240.835	241.589	1.6	-0.1	0.3
All items (1967=100)	722.273	719.514	721.766	-	-	-
Food and beverages	252.645	253.122	252.270	1.5	-0.1	-0.3
Food	252.177	252.500	251.520	1.5	-0.3	-0.4
Food at home	235.649	236.262	234.052	0.0	-0.7	-0.9
Cereals and bakery products	267.095	267.266	267.071	1.9	0.0	-0.1
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	252.853	252.895	254.512	-0.7	0.7	0.6
Dairy and related products	211.525	215.922	209.450	0.2	-1.0	-3.0
Fruits and vegetables	309.203	305.499	293.708	-2.1	-5.0	-3.9
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	191.282	190.799	195.832	4.2	2.4	2.6
Other food at home	188.173	190.412	188.561	-0.6	0.2	-1.0
Food away from home	269.857	269.805	270.406	3.1	0.2	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	257.428	260.355	261.544	1.5	1.6	0.5
Housing	253.550	253.584	253.640	2.4	0.0	0.0
Shelter	322.367	322.249	322.604	3.0	0.1	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)	341.088	341.818	341.101	3.1	0.0	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	328.744	329.159	329.281	3.1	0.2	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	328.744	329.159	329.281	3.1	0.2	0.0
Fuels and utilities	205.675	208.079	205.648	-0.3	0.0	-1.2
Household energy	159.131	161.483	158.396	-1.9	-0.5	-1.9
Energy services(2)	162.251	164.669	161.510	-1.9	-0.5	-1.9
Electricity(2)	163.588	163.059	159.643	-0.2	-2.4	-2.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	146.962	153.425	150.895	-4.2	2.7	-1.6
Household furnishings and operations	89.233	88.537	89.009	0.0	-0.3	0.5
Apparel	85.015	81.729	82.728	2.6	-2.7	1.2
Transportation	194.333	190.503	191.962	1.4	-1.2	0.8
Private transportation	189.801	187.099	189.508	1.7	-0.2	1.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)	95.831	96.132	96.360	0.7	0.6	0.2
New vehicles(1)	172.532	172.391	172.214	1.0	-0.2	-0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)	267.497	272.060	275.335	1.8	2.9	1.2
Motor fuel	279.551	264.372	273.282	3.0	-2.2	3.4
Gasoline (all types)	276.898	261.790	270.619	3.1	-2.3	3.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	267.280	252.314	260.987	3.1	-2.4	3.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	303.169	289.356	297.887	3.3	-1.7	2.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	296.857	284.370	292.398	2.3	-1.5	2.8
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	530.637	532.866	532.866	-0.4	0.4	0.0
Medical care	499.410	500.230	-	-	-	-
Recreation(4)	112.089	111.581	112.290	1.6	0.2	0.6
Education and communication(4)	140.119	140.907	141.408	-1.6	0.9	0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,172.322	1,179.324	1,185.858	-0.5	1.2	0.6
Other goods and services	401.779	399.874	405.475	2.6	0.9	1.4
Commodity and service group
All items	241.758	240.835	241.589	1.6	-0.1	0.3
Commodities	170.595	168.957	169.839	1.4	-0.4	0.5
Commodities less food and beverages	129.363	127.146	128.539	1.4	-0.6	1.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	180.011	174.708	178.245	2.1	-1.0	2.0
Durables	84.272	84.356	84.163	0.3	-0.1	-0.2
Services	309.371	309.162	309.782	1.6	0.1	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	230.713	229.712	230.275	1.7	-0.2	0.2
All items less shelter	214.477	213.269	214.164	0.8	-0.1	0.4
Commodities less food	133.926	131.776	133.187	1.4	-0.6	1.1
Nondurables	217.282	214.451	216.098	1.8	-0.5	0.8
Nondurables less food	185.362	180.372	183.841	2.1	-0.8	1.9
Services less rent of shelter(3)	311.348	311.035	311.966	0.2	0.2	0.3
Services less medical care services	295.500	295.200	295.446	1.8	0.0	0.1
Energy	207.579	202.364	204.485	0.9	-1.5	1.0
All items less energy	246.993	246.468	247.098	1.6	0.0	0.3
All items less food and energy	246.944	246.280	247.173	1.6	0.1	0.4
Footnotes (1) Index on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Index on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (5) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (6) Index on a December 1993=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.