Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the energy index was down 0.6 percent, while the food index was unchanged in October. The all items less food and energy index rose 0.2 percent. (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 7.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 6.1 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 21.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of utility (piped) gas service. Food prices rose 9.3 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, October 2019–October 2022

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Oct 2019	1.8	2.2
Nov 2019	2.2	2.2
Dec 2019	2.2	2.1
Jan 2020	2.6	2.3
Feb 2020	2.0	1.9
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(r)	5.0
Jul 2022	8.4(r)	5.0
Aug 2022	8.3(r)	6.0
Sep 2022	8.2(r)	6.4
Oct 2022	7.7(r)	6.1
Footnotes: (r) Revised

Food prices were unchanged for the month of October. Prices for food at home (groceries) declined 0.1 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 9.3 percent. Prices for food at home rose 10.0 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home rose 7.8 percent.

The energy index declined 0.6 percent over the month The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-11.6 percent). Prices for gasoline increased 4.5 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service decreased 0.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 21.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (44.3 percent). Prices paid for gasoline increased 24.1 percent, while prices for electricity decreased 7.7 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in October. Higher prices for shelter (1.0 percent) and recreation (1.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-2.7 percent) and education and communication (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 6.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (6.2 percent), new and used motor vehicles (9.2 percent), and recreation (10.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in education and communication (-1.8 percent).

The November 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.

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.