Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.4 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index increased 1.4 percent, and the energy index rose 12.0 percent in March. The all items less food and energy index advanced 0.3 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for household furnishings and operations and new vehicles. (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 7.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.)  The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.3 percent over the year. Energy prices increased 33.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in gasoline prices. Food prices rose 9.4 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.4 percent for the month of March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) rose 1.9 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were up 0.6 percent for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were higher in March for other meats, other bakery products, and butter and margarine. In contrast, the index for other fresh fruits was lower.

Over the year, food prices increased 9.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 10.2 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 7.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 12.0 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher gasoline prices (20.3 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service rose 8.6 percent, and electricity prices were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices increased 33.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher gasoline prices (48.5 percent). Prices paid for utility (piped) gas service advanced 40.4 percent, and electricity prices rose 8.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in March. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.3 percent) and new vehicles (2.1 percent) were partially offset by lower apparel prices (-1.6 percent) and used cars and trucks (-2.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.3 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (16.8 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	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	0.8	7.1
March	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5	-0.7	1.1	0.6	2.6	1.4	7.8
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 April 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 11, 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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-
	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022	Mar. 2022	Mar. 2021	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022
Expenditure category
All items	262.730	264.828	268.417	7.8	2.2	1.4
All items (1967=100)	784.929	791.195	801.917	-	-	-
Food and beverages	288.570	289.490	293.398	9.0	1.7	1.3
Food	289.350	290.235	294.405	9.4	1.7	1.4
Food at home	268.188	269.406	274.477	10.2	2.3	1.9
Cereals and bakery products	291.706	290.265	301.851	7.7	3.5	4.0
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	301.691	298.459	305.735	13.0	1.3	2.4
Dairy and related products	235.439	236.896	242.656	8.1	3.1	2.4
Fruits and vegetables	348.033	355.665	354.147	12.4	1.8	-0.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	223.292	222.339	229.551	10.3	2.8	3.2
Other food at home	211.218	213.856	216.705	8.2	2.6	1.3
Food away from home	311.365	311.497	313.501	7.8	0.7	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	277.008	278.482	278.298	3.4	0.5	-0.1
Housing	277.027	278.544	280.012	6.6	1.1	0.5
Shelter	344.644	346.992	346.940	4.3	0.7	0.0
Rent of primary residence(2)	365.851	367.296	367.338	3.6	0.4	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	354.461	356.211	356.830	4.0	0.7	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	354.461	356.211	356.830	4.0	0.7	0.2
Fuels and utilities	246.308	248.263	256.232	16.6	4.0	3.2
Household energy	196.597	198.609	206.806	20.6	5.2	4.1
Energy services(2)	200.566	202.627	210.915	20.6	5.2	4.1
Electricity(2)	175.500	184.156	184.156	8.1	4.9	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	223.108	216.496	235.138	40.4	5.4	8.6
Household furnishings and operations	103.983	103.533	104.927	13.6	0.9	1.3
Apparel	85.619	90.265	88.821	6.6	3.7	-1.6
Transportation	214.728	219.412	232.239	22.5	8.2	5.8
Private transportation	217.830	221.623	234.290	22.0	7.6	5.7
New and used motor vehicles(4)	116.825	117.343	118.006	16.8	1.0	0.6
New vehicles(1)	198.163	198.494	202.583	12.3	2.2	2.1
Used cars and trucks(1)	406.239	409.929	401.031	35.8	-1.3	-2.2
Motor fuel	302.793	322.798	388.256	48.5	28.2	20.3
Gasoline (all types)	299.814	319.621	384.376	48.5	28.2	20.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	289.639	309.268	372.804	49.2	28.7	20.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	327.513	345.363	409.737	44.5	25.1	18.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	318.621	333.584	390.444	40.1	22.5	17.0
Medical care	537.136	534.124	536.127	0.5	-0.2	0.4
Recreation(4)	117.793	119.738	120.292	3.0	2.1	0.5
Education and communication(4)	139.762	139.906	139.443	-1.6	-0.2	-0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,226.800	1,226.800	1,226.800	0.4	0.0	0.0
Other goods and services	422.153	422.171	426.749	5.8	1.1	1.1
Commodity and service group
All items	262.730	264.828	268.417	7.8	2.2	1.4
Commodities	189.790	191.922	196.766	12.5	3.7	2.5
Commodities less food and beverages	141.373	143.780	148.608	15.2	5.1	3.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	184.551	190.794	202.102	17.1	9.5	5.9
Durables	100.057	100.013	100.611	13.3	0.6	0.6
Services	330.816	332.739	334.637	4.9	1.2	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	251.077	253.434	257.122	8.6	2.4	1.5
All items less shelter	234.905	236.909	241.639	9.5	2.9	2.0
Commodities less food	146.188	148.608	153.398	14.6	4.9	3.2
Nondurables	236.374	240.130	248.007	12.4	4.9	3.3
Nondurables less food	190.560	196.597	207.386	16.0	8.8	5.5
Services less rent of shelter(3)	332.580	334.114	338.196	5.4	1.7	1.2
Services less medical care services	314.445	316.835	318.734	5.4	1.4	0.6
Energy	237.787	246.491	276.004	33.7	16.1	12.0
All items less energy	267.538	269.097	270.525	6.0	1.1	0.5
All items less food and energy	264.505	266.196	267.118	5.3	1.0	0.3
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.