Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.9 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index increased 1.5 percent, and the energy index was unchanged in January. The all items less food and energy index advanced 0.9 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for household furnishings and operations, shelter, and apparel. (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 rose 6.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent over the year. Energy prices were 29.8 percent higher, largely the result of an increase in gasoline prices. Food prices rose 8.0 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 1.5 percent for the month of January. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) increased 2.2 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were up 0.2 percent for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were higher in January for citrus fruits, fresh fish and seafood, canned fruits and vegetables, and snacks. In contrast, the index for pork chops was lower.

Over the year, food prices rose 8.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 7.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 8.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index was unchanged over the month. Prices for electricity advanced 4.7 percent and gasoline prices were up 0.4 percent. In contrast, prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 5.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 29.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (38.8 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service advanced 42.0 percent, and prices for electricity rose 9.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent in January. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (4.3 percent), shelter (0.4 percent), and apparel (3.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (3.7 percent), new and used motor vehicles (18.3 percent), and household furnishings and operations (16.1 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	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.8	1.8	0.6	0.8	0.9	2.6	0.7	0.7	0.9	6.8
February	0.0	1.6	0.6	1.4	0.0	2.0	0.6	1.2
March	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5	-0.7	1.1	0.6	2.6
April	0.7	2.1	-0.1	0.8	-0.9	0.3	1.0	4.6
May	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.4	1.0	4.7
June	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0	0.3	1.1	0.4	4.7
July	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	0.2	1.0	0.4	4.9
August	0.1	1.7	0.2	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.1	4.8
September	0.4	1.6	0.2	1.4	0.6	1.4	0.3	4.5
October	0.0	2.0	0.3	1.8	-0.1	1.0	0.7	5.3
November	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	0.8	0.2	6.0
December	-0.3	1.1	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	0.9	0.4	6.6

The February 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on March 10, 2022.

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-
	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022	Jan. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021
Expenditure category
All items	259.254	260.368	262.730	6.8	1.3	0.9
All items (1967=100)	774.542	777.870	784.929	-	-	-
Food and beverages	283.501	284.364	288.570	7.6	1.8	1.5
Food	284.159	285.170	289.350	8.0	1.8	1.5
Food at home	261.520	262.444	268.188	7.5	2.5	2.2
Cereals and bakery products	284.393	293.176	291.706	4.1	2.6	-0.5
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	289.872	293.553	301.691	13.9	4.1	2.8
Dairy and related products	225.262	227.815	235.439	2.5	4.5	3.3
Fruits and vegetables	335.309	332.666	348.033	7.8	3.8	4.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	218.162	217.539	223.292	7.0	2.4	2.6
Other food at home	211.391	209.396	211.218	5.8	-0.1	0.9
Food away from home	309.611	310.721	311.365	8.1	0.6	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	273.445	272.387	277.008	3.3	1.3	1.7
Housing	273.651	274.812	277.027	6.3	1.2	0.8
Shelter	342.540	343.329	344.644	3.7	0.6	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)	363.766	364.376	365.851	3.3	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	352.725	353.712	354.461	3.3	0.5	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	352.725	353.712	354.461	3.3	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities	242.674	247.096	246.308	17.3	1.5	-0.3
Household energy	193.364	197.254	196.597	21.7	1.7	-0.3
Energy services(2)	197.269	201.250	200.566	21.7	1.7	-0.3
Electricity(2)	167.073	167.641	175.500	9.1	5.0	4.7
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	226.113	234.856	223.108	42.0	-1.3	-5.0
Household furnishings and operations	99.215	99.657	103.983	16.1	4.8	4.3
Apparel	82.241	82.422	85.619	5.3	4.1	3.9
Transportation	211.869	213.160	214.728	18.9	1.3	0.7
Private transportation	213.691	216.244	217.830	19.8	1.9	0.7
New and used motor vehicles(4)	111.104	115.680	116.825	18.3	5.1	1.0
New vehicles(1)	188.008	198.091	198.163	11.1	5.4	0.0
Used cars and trucks(1)	385.629	399.698	406.239	41.2	5.3	1.6
Motor fuel	313.647	301.508	302.793	38.8	-3.5	0.4
Gasoline (all types)	310.637	298.513	299.814	38.8	-3.5	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	300.378	288.291	289.639	39.6	-3.6	0.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	337.327	327.250	327.513	36.5	-2.9	0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	327.014	318.309	318.621	30.8	-2.6	0.1
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	524.117	525.778	-	-	-	-
Medical care	528.021	531.801	537.136	0.1	1.7	1.0
Recreation(4)	114.917	116.636	117.793	3.2	2.5	1.0
Education and communication(4)	142.210	141.682	139.762	-1.1	-1.7	-1.4
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,232.924	1,224.551	1,226.800	0.5	-0.5	0.2
Other goods and services	414.608	414.181	422.153	4.1	1.8	1.9
Commodity and service group
All items	259.254	260.368	262.730	6.8	1.3	0.9
Commodities	186.077	187.103	189.790	11.0	2.0	1.4
Commodities less food and beverages	138.398	139.415	141.373	13.7	2.1	1.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	183.467	181.079	184.551	12.8	0.6	1.9
Durables	96.180	99.187	100.057	14.8	4.0	0.9
Services	327.824	328.982	330.816	4.3	0.9	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	247.850	248.844	251.077	7.5	1.3	0.9
All items less shelter	231.005	232.222	234.905	8.4	1.7	1.2
Commodities less food	143.173	144.146	146.188	13.1	2.1	1.4
Nondurables	233.384	232.514	236.374	9.7	1.3	1.7
Nondurables less food	189.319	187.005	190.560	11.9	0.7	1.9
Services less rent of shelter(3)	328.509	330.116	332.580	4.8	1.2	0.7
Services less medical care services	312.114	313.034	314.445	4.8	0.7	0.5
Energy	240.269	237.730	237.787	29.8	-1.0	0.0
All items less energy	263.514	264.956	267.538	5.4	1.5	1.0
All items less food and energy	260.687	262.212	264.505	4.8	1.5	0.9
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.