Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

23-283-CHI
Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Consumer Price Index, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area – January 2023

Area prices were up 0.9 percent over the past month, up 5.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.9 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the energy index advanced 0.7 percent, and the food index increased 0.8 percent in January. The all items less food and energy index was up 0.9 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for apparel and shelter but lower for used cars and trucks and medical care. (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 5.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.3 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 7.0 percent and energy prices were up 3.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price for utility (piped) gas service. (See table 1.)


Food

Food prices increased 0.8 percent for January. Prices for food at home (groceries) rose 1.3 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 7.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 7.3 percent over the year. All six major grocery store food group indexes advanced over the year. The index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) rose 11.1 percent, cereals and bakery products advanced 13.4 percent, and dairy and related products increased 12.5 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 6.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 0.7 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher gasoline prices (3.4 percent). Electricity prices advanced 1.9 percent, while utility (piped) gas service prices fell 5.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 3.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (8.5 percent). Gasoline prices increased 2.4 percent, while electricity prices fell 1.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent in January. Higher prices for apparel (7.7 percent) and shelter (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.5 percent) and medical care (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.3 percent. A 6.6-percent increase in the shelter index was a major contributing factor. The new vehicles index (8.1 percent) and the index for recreation (7.5 percent) were also higher 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
Month20192020202120222023
1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month

January

0.60.80.92.60.70.70.96.80.95.4

February

0.61.40.02.00.61.20.87.1

March

0.11.5-0.71.10.62.61.47.8

April

-0.10.8-0.90.31.04.60.47.2

May

0.81.21.00.41.04.71.88.0

June

-0.41.00.31.10.44.71.3(r)8.9(r)

July

0.31.60.21.00.44.9-0.2(r)8.4(r)

August

0.21.60.11.00.14.80.1(r)8.3(r)

September

0.21.40.61.40.34.50.2(r)8.2(r)

October

0.31.8-0.11.00.75.30.1(r)7.7(r)

November

-0.22.2-0.40.80.26.0-0.66.8

December

-0.22.2-0.20.90.46.6-0.85.5

Footnotes:
(r) Revised

The February 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at 7:30 a.m. (CT).


Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Chicago is published monthly. 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 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Lake 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

IndexesPercent change from-
Nov.
2022
Dec.
2022
Jan.
2023
Jan.
2022
Nov.
2022
Dec.
2022

Expenditure category

All items

276.861274.577276.9825.40.00.9

All items (1967=100)

827.146820.322827.506---

Food and beverages

309.360306.670309.4567.20.00.9

Food

310.034307.177309.5787.0-0.10.8

Food at home

288.405284.258287.8407.3-0.21.3

Cereals and bakery products

327.905324.301330.70313.40.92.0

Meats, poultry, fish and eggs

305.777305.976309.0762.41.11.0

Dairy and related products

266.554264.019264.85012.5-0.60.3

Fruits and vegetables

368.546353.422349.8160.5-5.1-1.0

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

237.547228.766240.3377.61.25.1

Other food at home

232.349231.853234.72511.11.01.2

Food away from home

331.470331.484331.4846.50.00.0

Alcoholic beverages

299.504299.430306.49510.62.32.4

Housing

290.838292.255293.5906.00.90.5

Shelter

362.667365.482367.3856.61.30.5

Rent of primary residence(2)

384.450388.585390.1226.61.50.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)

374.185377.596378.8246.91.20.3

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)

374.185377.596378.8246.91.20.3

Fuels and utilities

268.154259.194256.6954.2-4.3-1.0

Household energy

216.693207.393204.4284.0-5.7-1.4

Energy services(2)

220.946211.463208.6924.1-5.5-1.3

Electricity(2)

152.168169.807172.951-1.513.71.9

Utility (piped) gas service(2)

299.259255.013242.1418.5-19.1-5.0

Household furnishings and operations

104.244106.655107.9303.83.51.2

Apparel

87.85784.80891.3076.63.97.7

Transportation

235.613222.900225.6315.1-4.21.2

Private transportation

237.609225.076227.6564.5-4.21.1

New and used motor vehicles(4)

119.281118.129117.9411.0-1.1-0.2

New vehicles(1)

213.081213.469214.1508.10.50.3

Used cars and trucks(1)

373.809365.191359.802-11.4-3.7-1.5

Motor fuel

365.629300.391310.1602.4-15.23.3

Gasoline (all types)

361.632296.891307.1222.4-15.13.4

Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)

349.590285.755296.0682.2-15.33.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)

395.799334.067340.3243.9-14.01.9

Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)

381.066328.788334.9555.1-12.11.9

Medical care

541.431544.045542.2300.90.1-0.3

Recreation(4)

125.258125.777126.6287.51.10.7

Education and communication(4)

139.886140.106141.5141.31.21.0

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,253.0211,250.6471,250.8802.0-0.20.0

Other goods and services

445.484442.860444.6745.3-0.20.4

Commodity and service group

All items

276.861274.577276.9825.40.00.9

Commodities

199.991195.550198.3724.5-0.81.4

Commodities less food and beverages

147.110142.369144.9512.5-1.51.8

Nondurables less food and beverages

200.664187.466194.5305.4-3.13.8

Durables

99.25899.85299.332-0.70.1-0.5

Services

348.617348.990350.8376.10.60.5

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

265.771263.236265.8175.90.01.0

All items less shelter

247.703243.804246.3834.9-0.51.1

Commodities less food

152.356147.647150.3672.9-1.31.8

Nondurables

254.899246.604251.9506.6-1.22.2

Nondurables less food

207.110194.504201.5795.8-2.73.6

Services less rent of shelter(3)

350.907348.647350.5445.4-0.10.5

Services less medical care services

333.216333.337335.3436.60.60.6

Energy

273.920243.786245.5083.2-10.40.7

All items less energy

279.949280.002282.4855.60.90.9

All items less food and energy

275.417276.015278.5155.31.10.9

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, February 14, 2023