Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.6 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index rose 0.7 percent, and the energy index fell 5.1 percent in November. The all items less food and energy index was down 0.3 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were lower over the month for household furnishings and operations, lodging away from home, used cars and trucks, and apparel, but higher for motor vehicle maintenance and repair. (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 increased 6.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent over the year. Food prices increased 9.1 percent. Energy prices increased 14.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of utility (piped) gas service. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.7 percent for the month of November. Prices for food at home (groceries) rose 1.0 percent as four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the month. Categories increasing included fruits and vegetables (6.2 percent), cereals and bakery products (2.3 percent), dairy and related products (0.7 percent), and other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) (0.3 percent). The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs was down 1.9 percent and the nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials index decreased 1.1 percent. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 9.1 percent. Prices for food at home increased 10.3 percent since a year ago. All six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year. The index for dairy and related products rose 18.3 percent and the cereals and bakery products index advanced 15.3 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 7.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 5.1 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for utility (piped) gas service (-9.0 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 0.4 percent, while prices for gasoline declined 4.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 14.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (32.3 percent). Prices paid for gasoline rose 16.4 percent, while prices for electricity declined 8.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.3 percent in November. Lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-4.1 percent), lodging away from home, used cars and trucks (-2.8 percent), and apparel (-2.3 percent) were only partially offset by higher prices for motor vehicle maintenance and repair.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.7 percent. Increases in the indexes for shelter (5.9 percent) and new vehicles (13.3 percent) were contributing factors.

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	0.4	7.2
May	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.4	1.0	4.7	1.8	8.0
June	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0	0.3	1.1	0.4	4.7	1.3	8.9
July	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	0.2	1.0	0.4	4.9	-0.2	8.4
August	0.1	1.7	0.2	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.1	4.8	0.1	8.3
September	0.4	1.6	0.2	1.4	0.6	1.4	0.3	4.5	0.2	8.2
October	0.0	2.0	0.3	1.8	-0.1	1.0	0.7	5.3	0.1	7.7
November	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	0.8	0.2	6.0	-0.6	6.8
December	-0.3	1.1	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	0.9	0.4	6.6

The December 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on January 12, 2023.

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-
	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Nov. 2021	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022
Expenditure category
All items	(r)278.030	278.415	276.861	6.8	(r)-0.4	-0.6
All items (1967=100)	(r)830.638	831.789	827.146	-	-	-
Food and beverages	306.514	307.040	309.360	9.1	0.9	0.8
Food	307.977	307.947	310.034	9.1	0.7	0.7
Food at home	285.822	285.583	288.405	10.3	0.9	1.0
Cereals and bakery products	319.882	320.577	327.905	15.3	2.5	2.3
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	313.629	311.643	305.777	5.5	-2.5	-1.9
Dairy and related products	255.628	264.611	266.554	18.3	4.3	0.7
Fruits and vegetables	352.283	347.089	368.546	9.9	4.6	6.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	242.010	240.129	237.547	8.9	-1.8	-1.1
Other food at home	231.212	231.728	232.349	9.9	0.5	0.3
Food away from home	330.652	331.052	331.470	7.1	0.2	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	284.272	293.536	299.504	9.5	5.4	2.0
Housing	(r)293.130	293.956	290.838	6.3	(r)-0.8	-1.1
Shelter	359.095	362.707	362.667	5.9	1.0	0.0
Rent of primary residence(2)	379.085	383.055	384.450	5.7	1.4	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	368.438	372.871	374.185	6.1	1.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	368.438	372.871	374.185	6.1	1.6	0.4
Fuels and utilities	(r)292.341	280.297	268.154	10.5	(r)-8.3	-4.3
Household energy	(r)241.570	229.268	216.693	12.1	(r)-10.3	-5.5
Energy services(2)	(r)246.452	233.854	220.946	12.0	(r)-10.3	-5.5
Electricity(2)	(r)171.507	151.598	152.168	-8.9	(r)-11.3	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	331.501	329.029	299.259	32.3	-9.7	-9.0
Household furnishings and operations	108.224	108.678	104.244	5.1	-3.7	-4.1
Apparel	92.465	89.956	87.857	6.8	-5.0	-2.3
Transportation	236.086	237.823	235.613	11.2	-0.2	-0.9
Private transportation	237.148	240.301	237.609	11.2	0.2	-1.1
New and used motor vehicles(4)	121.333	120.450	119.281	7.4	-1.7	-1.0
New vehicles(1)	211.861	212.529	213.081	13.3	0.6	0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)	393.330	384.673	373.809	-3.1	-5.0	-2.8
Motor fuel	367.540	383.882	365.629	16.6	-0.5	-4.8
Gasoline (all types)	363.541	379.784	361.632	16.4	-0.5	-4.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	351.396	367.480	349.590	16.4	-0.5	-4.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	399.924	413.152	395.799	17.3	-1.0	-4.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	383.288	395.975	381.066	16.5	-0.6	-3.8
Medical care	546.894	544.424	541.431	2.5	-1.0	-0.5
Recreation(4)	124.488	126.185	125.258	9.0	0.6	-0.7
Education and communication(4)	140.525	139.080	139.886	-1.6	-0.5	0.6
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,238.373	1,239.502	1,253.021	1.6	1.2	1.1
Other goods and services	442.807	441.302	445.484	7.4	0.6	0.9
Commodity and service group
All items	(r)278.030	278.415	276.861	6.8	(r)-0.4	-0.6
Commodities	201.860	202.060	199.991	7.5	-0.9	-1.0
Commodities less food and beverages	150.509	150.579	147.110	6.3	-2.3	-2.3
Nondurables less food and beverages	202.934	204.747	200.664	9.4	-1.1	-2.0
Durables	102.885	101.966	99.258	3.2	-3.5	-2.7
Services	(r)348.895	349.472	348.617	6.3	(r)-0.1	-0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	(r)266.739	267.265	265.771	7.2	(r)-0.4	-0.6
All items less shelter	(r)250.380	249.732	247.703	7.2	(r)-1.1	-0.8
Commodities less food	155.411	155.675	152.356	6.4	-2.0	-2.1
Nondurables	254.739	255.954	254.899	9.2	0.1	-0.4
Nondurables less food	208.489	210.700	207.110	9.4	-0.7	-1.7
Services less rent of shelter(3)	(r)355.391	352.580	350.907	6.8	(r)-1.3	-0.5
Services less medical care services	(r)333.075	333.933	333.216	6.8	(r)0.0	-0.2
Energy	(r)290.506	288.717	273.920	14.0	(r)-5.7	-5.1
All items less energy	279.823	280.397	279.949	6.2	0.0	-0.2
All items less food and energy	275.652	276.341	275.417	5.7	-0.1	-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. (r) Revised
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.