Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.8 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that all items less food and energy index was up 0.8 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for shelter and new and used motor vehicles. The food index was unchanged while the energy index rose 3.1 percent in March. (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 4.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.5 percent over the year. Food prices increased 5.9 percent. Energy prices declined 8.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, March 2020–March 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2020	1.1	1.6
Apr 2020	0.3	1.4
May 2020	0.4	1.2
Jun 2020	1.1	1.8
Jul 2020	1.0	1.7
Aug 2020	1.0	1.6
Sep 2020	1.4	1.6
Oct 2020	1.0	1.0
Nov 2020	0.8	0.8
Dec 2020	0.9	0.6
Jan 2021	0.7	0.2
Feb 2021	1.2	0.5
Mar 2021	2.6	1.2
Apr 2021	4.6	2.9
May 2021	4.7	3.1
Jun 2021	4.7	2.9
Jul 2021	4.9	3.1
Aug 2021	4.8	2.6
Sep 2021	4.5	2.3
Oct 2021	5.3	3.1
Nov 2021	6.0	3.5
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	6.8	4.8
Feb 2022	7.1	5.2
Mar 2022	7.8	5.3
Apr 2022	7.2	4.8
May 2022	8.0	4.7
Jun 2022	8.9	5.0
Jul 2022	8.4	5.0
Aug 2022	8.3	6.0
Sep 2022	8.2	6.4
Oct 2022	7.7	6.1
Nov 2022	6.8	5.7
Dec 2022	5.5	5.3
Jan 2023	5.4	5.3
Feb 2023	5.0	5.0
Mar 2023	4.4	5.5

Food prices were unchanged for the month of March. Prices for food at home (groceries) fell 0.3 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 5.9 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.8 percent over the year. Five of the 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 10.6 percent, cereals and bakery products advanced 10.4 percent, and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials increased 7.4 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 6.2 percent over the year.

The energy index increased 3.1 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (14.9 percent). Prices for gasoline advanced 2.7 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service declined 12.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 8.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.5 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service fell 18.1 percent while prices paid for electricity increased 11.5 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent in March. Higher prices for shelter (1.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (2.4 percent) contributed to the increase.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.6 percent) and recreation (8.5 percent).

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 7:30 a.m. (CT).

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-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Core Based Statistical Area consists 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.