Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index increased 0.9 percent, and the energy index rose 2.2 percent in June. The all items less food and energy index was up 0.1 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for shelter and used cars and trucks, but lower for recreation and other goods and services. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 4.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.)  The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 28.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices advanced 4.9 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.9 percent for the month of June.  Prices for food at home (groceries) were unchanged, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 2.1 percent for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were higher in June for uncooked beef steaks, snacks, and pork chops. In contrast, the indexes for other fresh fruits; cheese and related products; and cakes, cupcakes, and cookies were lower.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.9 percent. Prices for food at home declined 0.3 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home jumped 11.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.2 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (4.0 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service advanced 4.1 percent, while prices for electricity declined 2.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 28.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (43.2 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service jumped 43.6 percent, while prices for electricity declined 0.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was up 0.1 percent in June. Higher prices for shelter (0.5 percent) and used cars and trucks (11.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-2.3 percent) and other goods and services (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (2.4 percent) and used cars and trucks (45.8 percent).

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

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.7	1.8	0.8	1.8	0.6	0.8	0.9	2.6	0.7	0.7
February	0.1	2.2	0.0	1.6	0.6	1.4	0.0	2.0	0.6	1.2
March	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5	-0.7	1.1	0.6	2.6
April	0.4	1.7	0.7	2.1	-0.1	0.8	-0.9	0.3	1.0	4.6
May	0.2	1.8	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.4	1.0	4.7
June	0.0	1.3	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0	0.3	1.1	0.4	4.7
July	0.0	2.2	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	0.2	1.0
August	0.3	2.3	0.1	1.7	0.2	1.6	0.1	1.0
September	0.4	2.1	0.4	1.6	0.2	1.4	0.6	1.4
October	-0.4	1.6	0.0	2.0	0.3	1.8	-0.1	1.0
November	0.4	1.8	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	0.8
December	-0.4	1.7	-0.3	1.1	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	0.9

The July 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 11, 2021.

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 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, 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 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 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 individuals with sensory impairments 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-
	Apr. 2021	May 2021	Jun. 2021	Jun. 2020	Apr. 2021	May 2021
Expenditure category
All items	251.491	253.934	254.974	4.7	1.4	0.4
All items (1967=100)	751.350	758.649	761.756	-	-	-
Food and beverages	269.948	271.621	273.992	4.8	1.5	0.9
Food	269.946	271.860	274.439	4.9	1.7	0.9
Food at home	249.805	251.459	251.539	-0.3	0.7	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	277.875	280.976	280.096	2.0	0.8	-0.3
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	266.578	272.109	276.451	-5.5	3.7	1.6
Dairy and related products	227.370	228.192	226.946	0.1	-0.2	-0.5
Fruits and vegetables	325.463	324.171	318.730	3.1	-2.1	-1.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	210.875	208.845	210.524	0.6	-0.2	0.8
Other food at home	199.123	200.777	200.580	0.8	0.7	-0.1
Food away from home	292.196	294.432	300.483	11.8	2.8	2.1
Alcoholic beverages	268.487	267.047	266.701	3.3	-0.7	-0.1
Housing	265.555	267.273	268.334	3.7	1.0	0.4
Shelter	334.088	335.387	337.136	2.4	0.9	0.5
Rent of primary residence(2)	355.331	355.663	357.057	2.2	0.5	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	344.709	345.517	346.814	2.3	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	344.709	345.517	346.814	2.3	0.6	0.4
Fuels and utilities	228.663	233.218	234.597	12.8	2.6	0.6
Household energy	180.510	184.985	185.719	16.2	2.9	0.4
Energy services(2)	184.223	188.802	189.545	16.2	2.9	0.4
Electricity(2)	164.628	168.112	163.739	-0.3	-0.5	-2.6
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	198.335	204.171	212.479	43.6	7.1	4.1
Household furnishings and operations	95.484	96.689	95.973	4.9	0.5	-0.7
Apparel	80.630	81.906	81.435	4.0	1.0	-0.6
Transportation	196.186	202.800	207.171	17.0	5.6	2.2
Private transportation	196.350	201.898	206.448	16.3	5.1	2.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)	102.787	105.236	107.722	10.9	4.8	2.4
New vehicles(1)	179.779	180.867	179.175	2.7	-0.3	-0.9
Used cars and trucks(1)	325.653	345.471	383.377	45.8	17.7	11.0
Motor fuel	271.152	284.351	295.598	43.0	9.0	4.0
Gasoline (all types)	268.634	281.843	292.987	43.2	9.1	4.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	259.291	272.201	283.147	44.2	9.2	4.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	293.742	307.702	318.980	38.9	8.6	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	288.399	300.648	310.365	33.6	7.6	3.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	522.145	524.104	523.915	-0.7	0.3	0.0
Medical care	532.683	533.658	532.015	-0.5	-0.1	-0.3
Recreation(4)	118.887	119.426	116.658	2.7	-1.9	-2.3
Education and communication(4)	141.608	141.478	141.478	0.1	-0.1	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,221.704	1,225.908	1,228.788	1.1	0.6	0.2
Other goods and services	409.363	415.284	409.666	-0.9	0.1	-1.4
Commodity and service group
All items	251.491	253.934	254.974	4.7	1.4	0.4
Commodities	176.451	178.823	180.538	7.9	2.3	1.0
Commodities less food and beverages	130.835	133.302	134.666	10.2	2.9	1.0
Nondurables less food and beverages	173.221	177.084	178.210	10.6	2.9	0.6
Durables	91.060	92.409	93.778	9.7	3.0	1.5
Services	322.490	324.896	325.139	2.9	0.8	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	239.466	241.990	243.161	5.3	1.5	0.5
All items less shelter	223.492	226.305	227.108	5.9	1.6	0.4
Commodities less food	135.604	137.994	139.328	9.8	2.7	1.0
Nondurables	221.435	224.303	226.036	7.2	2.1	0.8
Nondurables less food	179.366	182.920	183.960	9.9	2.6	0.6
Services less rent of shelter(3)	326.529	330.241	328.855	3.5	0.7	-0.4
Services less medical care services	306.013	308.530	309.020	3.3	1.0	0.2
Energy	215.646	223.581	228.513	28.7	6.0	2.2
All items less energy	257.135	259.126	259.839	3.3	1.1	0.3
All items less food and energy	255.705	257.717	258.095	2.9	0.9	0.1
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.