The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Midwest rose 0.7 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The monthly advance was led by increases in the indexes for motor fuel (6.1 percent) and shelter (0.5 percent). The broader energy index was up 4.1 percent, while food prices rose 0.2 percent. The all items less food and energy, which includes shelter, increased 0.4 percent over the month. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The CPI-U for the Midwest rose 2.2 percent from January 2016 to January 2017, the largest over-the-year increase since June 2013. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, was up 14.4 percent, but food prices decreased 0.6 percent. Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U advanced 1.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices in the Midwest rose 0.2 percent in January. The index for food at home was 0.4 percent higher, while costs for food away from home were unchanged over the month.

From January 2016 to January 2017, the index for food decreased 0.6 percent. Prices for food at home registered their sixteenth consecutive over-the-year decrease, down 2.4 percent. Costs for food away from home rose 2.2 percent over the year.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.1 percent in January following an increase of 2.7 percent in December. Higher motor fuel prices were largely responsible for both increases, up 6.1 percent in January after registering a 6.0-percent advance in the prior month. Also contributing to the rise in the energy component, costs for utility (piped) gas service and electricity increased 4.7 and 1.3 percent, respectively, over the month.

Energy costs advanced 14.4 percent from January 2016 to January 2017. Motor fuel prices jumped 28.3 percent over the year, the largest 12-month gain since September 2011. Costs for utility (piped) gas service increased 12.4 percent and prices for electricity were up 0.4 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy for the Midwest rose 0.4 percent in January. Expenditure categories registering higher prices over the month included shelter (0.5 percent), recreation (0.7 percent), and medical care commodities (1.1 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy was up 1.7 percent from January 2016 to January 2017. Higher costs for shelter (2.7 percent) and medical care services (4.1 percent) led the advance.

The Midwest Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) stood at 228.279 in January 2017. A typical market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in the 1982-84 base period cost $228.28 in January 2017.

CPI-W

In January, the Midwest Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 222.428, up 0.7 percent over the month. The CPI-W increased 2.3 percent over the year.

Table A. Midwest region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.1	1.3	0.5	1.4	-0.6	-0.3	0.3	0.8	0.7	2.2
February	1.1	2.2	0.6	0.9	0.3	-0.5	0.0	0.4
March	0.2	1.4	0.9	1.5	0.6	-0.9	0.6	0.5
April	-0.1	1.2	0.3	1.9	0.1	-1.1	0.4	0.8
May	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.6	0.4	-0.8	0.4	0.8
June	0.3	2.2	0.5	1.7	0.5	-0.7	0.6	0.8
July	-0.4	1.8	-0.3	1.8	0.0	-0.5	-0.5	0.4
August	0.1	1.2	-0.2	1.6	0.0	-0.3	0.1	0.6
September	0.1	1.0	0.1	1.6	-0.3	-0.8	0.2	1.1
October	-0.5	0.8	-0.5	1.6	-0.1	-0.3	-0.1	1.0
November	-0.2	1.0	-0.6	1.2	-0.5	-0.2	-0.3	1.2
December	-0.2	1.0	-0.7	0.7	-0.6	0.0	0.1	1.8

The February 2017 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest region is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 28 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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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/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 areas; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

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