Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.2 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The September increase was most influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy. (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 1.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.9 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.9 percent. Energy prices declined 8.5 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices inched up 0.1 percent for the month of September. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 1.3 percent, while prices for food at home decreased 0.9 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.9 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 3.7 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.6 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas service (6.5 percent). Prices for electricity rose 0.3 percent, while prices for gasoline decreased 1.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 8.5 percent over the year, almost entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-18.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 5.7 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in September. Higher prices for apparel (3.4 percent), new and used vehicles (1.1 percent) and recreation (1.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for motor vehicle insurance (-5.4 percent), household furnishings and operations (-0.5 percent) and shelter (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.9 percent. Components contributing the largest share of the increase included shelter (1.9 percent) and medical care services (5.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-7.4 percent).

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

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	-0.3	0.8	0.7	2.2	0.4	1.6	-0.2	0.8	0.4	2.5
February	0.2	0.4	0.8	2.4	0.9	1.7	0.9	1.3	0.3	2.1
March	0.6	0.5	0.2	1.9	0.4	1.8	1.3	1.7	-0.5	1.0
April	1.1	0.8	0.5	1.8	0.6	1.8	0.9	1.5	-1.1	-0.4
May	0.8	0.8	0.4	1.4	0.9	2.3	0.6	1.3	0.3	-0.4
June	1.0	0.8	0.0	0.9	0.7	2.5	0.3	1.2	0.8	0.4
July	0.1	0.4	0.1	1.3	0.1	2.4	0.2	1.5	0.5	0.7
August	-0.3	0.6	0.3	1.5	-0.1	2.1	0.2	1.5	0.4	1.1
September	0.4	1.1	0.5	1.5	0.1	1.9	0.0	1.4	0.2	1.3
October	0.1	1.0	0.1	1.5	0.2	2.2	0.2	1.5
November	-0.4	1.2	0.0	1.9	-0.5	1.4	0.0	1.9
December	-0.2	1.8	0.0	1.7	-0.9	1.3	-0.2	2.3

The October 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 12, 2020.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 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 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 (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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, Midwest Region, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from
	Jul. 2020	Aug. 2020	Sep. 2020	Sep. 2019	Jul. 2020	Aug. 2020
All items	240.430	241.362	241.878	1.3	0.6	0.2
All items (December 1977 = 100)	391.193	392.710	393.550
Food and beverages	255.651	254.994	255.255	2.8	-0.2	0.1
Food	255.251	254.488	254.773	2.9	-0.2	0.1
Food at home	236.510	234.738	232.725	2.2	-1.6	-0.9
Cereals and bakery products	263.315	262.515	265.766	2.4	0.9	1.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	270.371	262.086	259.576	4.9	-4.0	-1.0
Dairy and related products	205.139	208.633	205.470	4.5	0.2	-1.5
Fruits and vegetables	270.542	271.670	267.271	-0.5	-1.2	-1.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	168.582	166.247	165.299	0.9	-1.9	-0.6
Other food at home	205.355	204.547	202.170	1.4	-1.6	-1.2
Food away from home	286.524	287.265	291.003	3.7	1.6	1.3
Alcoholic beverages	259.202	259.869	259.826	2.1	0.2	0.0
Housing	238.178	238.822	238.977	1.9	0.3	0.1
Shelter	286.463	287.179	286.953	1.9	0.2	-0.1
Rent of primary residence(1)	288.153	288.963	289.072	3.0	0.3	0.0
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)(2)	292.860	293.867	293.778	2.6	0.3	0.0
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)(2)	292.780	293.789	293.701	2.6	0.3	0.0
Fuels and utilities	224.181	225.260	228.918	2.9	2.1	1.6
Household energy	179.607	180.476	184.255	2.6	2.6	2.1
Energy services(1)	187.152	188.155	192.147	3.0	2.7	2.1
Electricity(1)	212.409	212.582	213.271	1.9	0.4	0.3
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	134.840	137.092	146.049	5.7	8.3	6.5
Household furnishings and operations	117.419	117.653	117.054	0.9	-0.3	-0.5
Apparel	106.074	107.366	110.971	-7.4	4.6	3.4
Transportation	195.695	198.115	197.449	-2.7	0.9	-0.3
Private transportation	193.504	195.883	195.381	-1.4	1.0	-0.3
New and used motor vehicles(3)	99.656	101.697	102.820	6.3	3.2	1.1
New vehicles	140.327	139.697	140.250	3.4	-0.1	0.4
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	99.192	98.745	99.128	3.4	-0.1	0.4
New cars(4)	139.099	138.616	139.186	5.7	0.1	0.4
Used cars and trucks	141.128	149.390	152.937	10.9	8.4	2.4
Motor fuel	194.554	192.626	190.380	-18.9	-2.1	-1.2
Gasoline (all types)	193.576	191.645	189.403	-18.8	-2.2	-1.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	187.675	185.785	183.572	-19.1	-2.2	-1.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	230.053	227.404	225.632	-17.2	-1.9	-0.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	221.246	219.246	216.748	-16.2	-2.0	-1.1
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	735.087	746.387	705.868	-3.6	-4.0	-5.4
Medical care	519.089	521.898	522.679	4.4	0.7	0.1
Medical care commodities	383.436	390.020	386.677	-1.2	0.8	-0.9
Medical care services	564.365	565.988	568.082	5.7	0.7	0.4
Professional services	429.462	429.448	430.329	2.1	0.2	0.2
Recreation(3)	121.476	122.053	123.799	2.2	1.9	1.4
Education and communication(3)	140.550	141.137	141.456	2.7	0.6	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,207.969	1,212.665	1,218.868	1.1	0.9	0.5
Other goods and services	446.854	443.845	445.046	1.6	-0.4	0.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities	178.516	179.274	179.758	-0.2	0.7	0.3
Commodities less food and beverages	142.530	143.765	144.309	-2.1	1.2	0.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	181.492	181.997	182.319	-7.2	0.5	0.2
Durables	103.008	104.535	105.148	4.0	2.1	0.6
Services	304.487	305.595	306.135	2.2	0.5	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	226.387	227.396	228.160	1.0	0.8	0.3
All items less medical care	227.220	228.063	228.567	0.9	0.6	0.2
Commodities less food	146.082	147.306	147.836	-1.9	1.2	0.4
Nondurables	217.579	217.533	217.827	-1.9	0.1	0.1
Nondurables less food	185.786	186.299	186.597	-6.5	0.4	0.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)	332.955	334.528	335.902	2.6	0.9	0.4
Services less medical care services	285.032	286.104	286.522	1.7	0.5	0.1
Energy	186.542	186.154	187.227	-8.5	0.4	0.6
All items less energy	248.668	249.736	250.207	2.0	0.6	0.2
All items less food and energy	248.233	249.628	250.134	1.9	0.8	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.