(NOTE: Index and average price data for electricity in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI for January 2024 through March 2024 were incorrectly published in the database and this news release. Data in this news release will not be corrected. The incorrect values were removed from the database on 5/15/2024. Corrected values were made available in the database on 6/12/2024.)

Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.5 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the increase was attributed to higher energy costs. The all items less food and energy index rose 0.3 percent in February. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher over the month for shelter and apparel. The indexes for public transportation and recreation were lower. (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 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.8 percent over the year. Food prices increased 2.8 percent. Energy prices fell 0.7 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of utility (piped) gas service. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices fell 0.3 percent for the month of February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home (groceries) decreased 0.6 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were higher in February for snacks, other miscellaneous foods, and eggs. In contrast, the indexes for processed fish and seafood, candy and chewing gum, and other fresh vegetables were lower.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.8 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.4 percent since a year ago. All six major grocery store food group indexes rose over the year. The index for other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example) rose 2.9 percent, nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials was up 6.3 percent, and the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 1.7 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 5.0 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (+7.9 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service rose 3.4 percent, and prices for electricity increased 1.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 0.7 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for utility (piped) gas service (-9.5 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 11.1 percent, while prices for gasoline fell 4.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in February. Higher prices for shelter (+0.3 percent) and apparel (+2.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+4.9 percent) and other goods and services (+7.9 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in public transportation.

Table A. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2020		2021		2022		2023		2024
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.9	2.6	0.7	0.7	0.9	6.8	0.9	5.4	0.8	3.3
February	0.0	2.0	0.6	1.2	0.8	7.1	0.4	5.0	0.5	3.4
March	-0.7	1.1	0.6	2.6	1.4	7.8	0.8	4.4
April	-0.9	0.3	1.0	4.6	0.4	7.2	0.8	4.8
May	1.0	0.4	1.0	4.7	1.8	8.0	0.4	3.3
June	0.3	1.1	0.4	4.7	1.3(r)	8.9(r)	0.1	2.1
July	0.2	1.0	0.4	4.9	-0.2(r)	8.4(r)	0.0	2.2
August	0.1	1.0	0.1	4.8	0.1(r)	8.3(r)	0.2	2.3
September	0.6	1.4	0.3	4.5	0.2(r)	8.2(r)	0.1	2.3
October	-0.1	1.0	0.7	5.3	0.1(r)	7.7(r)	0.3	2.4
November	-0.4	0.8	0.2	6.0	-0.6	6.8	-0.5	2.5
December	-0.2	0.9	0.4	6.6	-0.8	5.5	0.0	3.3
Footnotes: (r) Revised

The March 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on April 10, 2024.

Technical Note

(NOTE: Index and average price data for electricity in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI for January 2024 through March 2024 were incorrectly published in the database and this news release. Data in this news release will not be corrected. The incorrect values were removed from the database on 5/15/2024. Corrected values were made available in the database on 6/12/2024.)

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.

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-
	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Feb. 2023	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024
Expenditure category
All items	283.760	286.022	287.394	3.4	1.3	0.5
All items (1967=100)	847.756	854.515	858.612	-	-	-
Food and beverages	317.910	321.118	320.177	2.8	0.7	-0.3
Food	318.008	321.466	320.371	2.8	0.7	-0.3
Food at home	294.469	299.933	298.269	2.4	1.3	-0.6
Cereals and bakery products	339.611	338.101	338.852	2.5	-0.2	0.2
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	313.425	318.773	316.328	1.7	0.9	-0.8
Dairy and related products	260.768	261.941	262.774	1.0	0.8	0.3
Fruits and vegetables	353.280	363.558	356.926	0.8	1.0	-1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	242.996	259.359	262.482	6.3	8.0	1.2
Other food at home	247.291	249.544	247.074	2.9	-0.1	-1.0
Food away from home	342.815	342.531	342.505	3.3	-0.1	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	315.179	315.025	316.137	3.1	0.3	0.4
Housing	302.101	304.518	305.883	4.2	1.3	0.4
Shelter	384.745	386.837	387.820	4.9	0.8	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)	413.664	415.630	415.413	5.5	0.4	-0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	398.156	400.305	400.971	5.4	0.7	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	398.156	400.305	400.971	5.4	0.7	0.2
Fuels and utilities	244.685	255.003	259.261	2.7	6.0	1.7
Household energy	191.335	200.477	205.208	2.5	7.3	2.4
Energy services(2)	195.145	204.585	209.457	2.7	7.3	2.4
Electricity(2)	184.973	194.905	198.492	11.1	7.3	1.8
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	185.156	192.222	198.824	-9.5	7.4	3.4
Household furnishings and operations	105.313	105.082	105.888	0.4	0.5	0.8
Apparel	85.179	90.931	92.780	1.2	8.9	2.0
Transportation	231.945	230.179	234.534	2.8	1.1	1.9
Private transportation	236.031	231.773	237.614	3.9	0.7	2.5
New and used motor vehicles(4)	120.969	114.824	115.623	-1.5	-4.4	0.7
New vehicles(1)	215.247	215.864	215.769	0.5	0.2	0.0
Used cars and trucks(1)	360.719	347.253	348.646	-1.6	-3.3	0.4
Motor fuel	284.704	280.200	302.072	-4.2	6.1	7.8
Gasoline (all types)	282.094	277.782	299.822	-4.1	6.3	7.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	271.026	266.928	288.790	-4.2	6.6	8.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	321.991	315.903	336.404	-3.1	4.5	6.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	318.023	312.803	330.828	-2.8	4.0	5.8
Medical care	551.748	551.879	554.199	3.2	0.4	0.4
Recreation(4)	133.242	135.734	135.074	3.9	1.4	-0.5
Education and communication(4)	141.369	141.383	141.623	0.3	0.2	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,271.862	1,273.633	1,282.590	2.5	0.8	0.7
Other goods and services	471.270	479.572	481.401	7.9	2.1	0.4
Commodity and service group
All items	283.760	286.022	287.394	3.4	1.3	0.5
Commodities	197.685	199.420	201.153	1.3	1.8	0.9
Commodities less food and beverages	141.391	142.485	145.040	0.3	2.6	1.8
Nondurables less food and beverages	190.120	192.919	197.297	0.9	3.8	2.3
Durables	96.659	96.181	97.058	-1.1	0.4	0.9
Services	365.459	368.221	369.253	4.7	1.0	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	272.480	274.854	276.187	3.4	1.4	0.5
All items less shelter	249.548	251.884	253.401	2.6	1.5	0.6
Commodities less food	147.094	148.170	150.717	0.5	2.5	1.7
Nondurables	253.198	256.279	258.479	2.0	2.1	0.9
Nondurables less food	197.948	200.628	204.885	1.2	3.5	2.1
Services less rent of shelter(3)	362.733	366.407	367.606	4.5	1.3	0.3
Services less medical care services	350.704	353.562	354.577	5.0	1.1	0.3
Energy	227.714	231.437	242.931	-0.7	6.7	5.0
All items less energy	291.225	293.388	293.925	3.6	0.9	0.2
All items less food and energy	287.317	289.278	290.073	3.8	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.