Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.0 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The May 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 advanced 5.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.3 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 30.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 2.1 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent for the month of May. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 1.3 percent, and food at home inched up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.1 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.2 percent since a year ago and food at home decreased 0.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.9 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (3.5 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 3.4 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices surged 30.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (59.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 26.4 percent and prices for electricity rose 1.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent in May. Higher prices for used cars and trucks (6.2 percent), shelter (0.3 percent) and new vehicles (2.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for medical care commodities (-0.2 percent) and other goods and services (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included used cars and trucks (30.4 percent), and shelter (2.6 percent). A price decrease in medical care commodities (-2.0 percent) did little to slow the advance of the overall index.

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

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.7	2.2	0.4	1.6	-0.2	0.8	0.4	2.5	0.5	1.2
February	0.8	2.4	0.9	1.7	0.9	1.3	0.3	2.1	0.8	1.7
March	0.2	1.9	0.4	1.8	1.3	1.7	-0.5	1.0	0.7	3.0
April	0.5	1.8	0.6	1.8	0.9	1.5	-1.1	-0.4	0.8	4.9
May	0.4	1.4	0.9	2.3	0.6	1.3	0.3	-0.4	1.0	5.6
June	0.0	0.9	0.7	2.5	0.3	1.2	0.8	0.4
July	0.1	1.3	0.1	2.4	0.2	1.5	0.5	0.7
August	0.3	1.5	-0.1	2.1	0.2	1.5	0.4	1.1
September	0.5	1.5	0.1	1.9	0.0	1.4	0.2	1.3
October	0.1	1.5	0.2	2.2	0.2	1.5	-0.1	1.0
November	0.0	1.9	-0.5	1.4	0.0	1.9	-0.2	1.0
December	0.0	1.7	-0.9	1.3	-0.2	2.3	0.1	1.1

The June 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.

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 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 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 individuals with sensory impairments 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
	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	May 2021	May 2020	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021
All items	246.246	248.169	250.582	5.6	1.8	1.0
All items (December 1977 = 100)	400.657	403.784	407.711
Food and beverages	257.839	258.926	260.699	2.2	1.1	0.7
Food	257.522	258.666	260.372	2.1	1.1	0.7
Food at home	236.421	237.832	238.169	-0.3	0.7	0.1
Cereals and bakery products	266.884	268.483	269.228	2.5	0.9	0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	258.463	259.467	264.274	-4.7	2.2	1.9
Dairy and related products	208.663	208.721	209.037	1.5	0.2	0.2
Fruits and vegetables	277.436	282.067	286.366	3.5	3.2	1.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	172.645	172.048	168.655	-0.1	-2.3	-2.0
Other food at home	204.534	206.096	203.672	-1.0	-0.4	-1.2
Food away from home	292.365	293.123	296.906	5.2	1.6	1.3
Alcoholic beverages	260.342	260.706	263.312	3.0	1.1	1.0
Housing	242.209	243.467	244.883	3.4	1.1	0.6
Shelter	290.464	291.656	292.571	2.6	0.7	0.3
Rent of primary residence(1)	292.777	293.452	294.051	2.5	0.4	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)(2)	297.566	298.401	299.181	2.6	0.5	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)(2)	297.487	298.319	299.100	2.6	0.5	0.3
Fuels and utilities	231.207	232.748	236.535	7.7	2.3	1.6
Household energy	185.415	186.910	190.985	9.2	3.0	2.2
Energy services(1)	191.221	193.353	197.813	8.7	3.4	2.3
Electricity(1)	201.986	200.386	203.885	1.0	0.9	1.7
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	161.579	169.477	175.164	26.4	8.4	3.4
Household furnishings and operations	119.950	121.198	122.670	4.8	2.3	1.2
Apparel	113.075	112.027	112.137	5.0	-0.8	0.1
Transportation	208.068	214.868	222.265	21.0	6.8	3.4
Private transportation	206.586	212.755	219.265	20.9	6.1	3.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)	101.170	105.690	110.267	13.0	9.0	4.3
New vehicles	139.018	139.867	143.518	3.8	3.2	2.6
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	98.291	98.891	101.463	3.8	3.2	2.6
New cars(4)	137.104	137.040	140.483	3.8	2.5	2.5
Used cars and trucks	153.483	168.641	179.162	30.4	16.7	6.2
Motor fuel	246.035	253.691	262.509	58.9	6.7	3.5
Gasoline (all types)	244.693	252.459	261.379	59.8	6.8	3.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	238.331	246.037	254.908	61.2	7.0	3.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	284.381	290.745	300.920	54.1	5.8	3.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	266.566	274.030	281.618	45.8	5.6	2.8
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	742.993	740.932	742.438	22.1	-0.1	0.2
Medical care	525.593	523.738	523.590	1.6	-0.4	0.0
Medical care commodities	374.872	374.730	373.797	-2.0	-0.3	-0.2
Medical care services	575.682	573.274	573.376	2.3	-0.4	0.0
Professional services	440.347	434.100	435.381	1.8	-1.1	0.3
Recreation(3)	125.974	126.499	127.355	3.5	1.1	0.7
Education and communication(3)	141.141	141.016	141.392	1.8	0.2	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,220.956	1,219.342	1,224.492	2.1	0.3	0.4
Other goods and services	451.954	453.953	453.565	2.0	0.4	-0.1
Commodity and service group
Commodities	185.171	187.652	190.571	8.6	2.9	1.6
Commodities less food and beverages	150.500	153.373	156.575	12.8	4.0	2.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	196.798	198.279	200.268	14.9	1.8	1.0
Durables	105.705	109.074	112.628	10.8	6.5	3.3
Services	309.237	310.492	312.287	3.7	1.0	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	232.834	235.007	237.930	6.9	2.2	1.2
All items less medical care	233.014	235.124	237.668	6.1	2.0	1.1
Commodities less food	153.899	156.715	159.913	12.4	3.9	2.0
Nondurables	226.707	228.007	229.902	7.6	1.4	0.8
Nondurables less food	200.157	201.563	203.585	13.8	1.7	1.0
Services less rent of shelter(2)	338.579	339.921	342.714	4.7	1.2	0.8
Services less medical care services	289.278	290.832	292.771	3.9	1.2	0.7
Energy	212.902	217.170	223.383	30.8	4.9	2.9
All items less energy	252.663	254.394	256.490	4.0	1.5	0.8
All items less food and energy	252.546	254.386	256.556	4.3	1.6	0.9
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.