Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.5 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The index for energy decreased by 7.2 percent in December, mainly due to falling prices for gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent, while the food index rose 0.3 percent over the month. Within the all items less food and energy index, prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences contributed the most to the rise. (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 6.0 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.2 percent, and food prices rose 11.4 percent compared to their December 2021 levels. Energy prices advanced 5.3 percent, partly the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.3 percent for the month of December. Prices for food at home (grocery store products) advanced 0.3 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) also rose 0.3 percent over the month. Within the food at home category, increases in other food at home (+0.8 percent) contributed the most to the over-the-month increase.

Over the year, food prices advanced 11.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 13.0 percent since a year ago, with all six major grocery store food group indexes contributing to the rise. The other food at home index (which includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils) contributed the most to the rise at 16.0 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 8.8 percent over the same period.

Energy

The energy index decreased 7.2 percent over the month, almost entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.9 percent). Somewhat offsetting the decline were increasing prices for natural gas service (+2.8 percent) and electricity (+1.5 percent).

From December 2021 to December 2022, energy prices advanced 5.3 percent, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (+16.0 percent) and electricity (+9.1 percent). These increases were partially offset by lower prices for gasoline (-1.7 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.1 percent in December. Components which contributed most to the rise were owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.7 percent), rent of primary residence (+0.6 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+0.4 percent). These increases were almost entirely offset by declines in the indexes for used cars and trucks (-2.4 percent), apparel (-1.8 percent), public transportation, and medical care (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose by 5.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.4 percent), rent of primary residences (+7.0 percent), and recreation (+6.8 percent). Partially offsetting the rise was a decrease in prices paid for used cars and trucks (-9.1 percent).

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

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	1.6	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.5	0.5	1.2	0.8	7.9
February	0.2	1.7	0.7	1.3	0.3	2.1	0.8	1.7	0.9	8.0
March	0.2	1.8	0.6	1.7	-0.5	1.0	0.7	3.0	1.3	8.6
April	0.4	1.8	0.3	1.5	-1.1	-0.4	0.8	4.9	0.5	8.2
May	0.5	2.3	0.3	1.3	0.3	-0.4	1.0	5.6	1.5	8.8
June	0.2	2.5	0.0	1.2	0.8	0.4	1.0	5.8	1.6	9.5
July	0.0	2.4	0.2	1.5	0.5	0.7	0.6	5.9	-0.2	8.6
August	0.0	2.1	0.0	1.5	0.4	1.1	0.2	5.7	-0.2	8.1
September	0.1	1.9	0.0	1.4	0.2	1.3	0.2	5.7	0.2	8.1
October	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.5	-0.1	1.0	0.8	6.6	0.1	7.4
November	-0.6	1.4	-0.2	1.9	-0.2	1.0	0.4	7.3	-0.2	6.8
December	-0.4	1.3	0.0	2.3	0.1	1.1	0.3	7.5	-0.5	6.0

The January 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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
	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2021	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022
All items	276.908	276.436	275.182	6.0	-0.6	-0.5
All items (December 1977 = 100)	450.545	449.777	447.736
Food and beverages	302.322	303.124	304.158	11.0	0.6	0.3
Food	304.053	304.679	305.627	11.4	0.5	0.3
Food at home	282.059	282.201	283.100	13.0	0.4	0.3
Cereals and bakery products	321.565	326.675	326.939	16.7	1.7	0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	313.539	311.139	312.238	7.9	-0.4	0.4
Dairy and related products	248.389	248.426	249.347	16.7	0.4	0.4
Fruits and vegetables	314.310	318.502	318.399	9.8	1.3	0.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	202.987	203.323	202.897	12.9	0.0	-0.2
Other food at home	248.919	246.936	248.908	16.0	0.0	0.8
Food away from home	338.681	340.248	341.267	8.8	0.8	0.3
Alcoholic beverages	278.109	281.258	283.424	6.8	1.9	0.8
Housing	268.641	268.715	270.680	6.6	0.8	0.7
Shelter	315.262	317.131	319.195	6.0	1.2	0.7
Rent of primary residence(1)	319.052	321.247	323.196	7.0	1.3	0.6
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(1)(2)	322.420	324.528	326.773	6.4	1.4	0.7
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(1)(2)	322.317	324.430	326.679	6.4	1.4	0.7
Fuels and utilities	279.343	272.977	277.057	10.2	-0.8	1.5
Household energy	232.365	225.658	229.988	11.6	-1.0	1.9
Energy services(1)	239.548	232.139	236.860	11.9	-1.1	2.0
Electricity(1)	224.779	221.436	224.797	9.1	0.0	1.5
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	246.360	233.365	239.812	16.0	-2.7	2.8
Household furnishings and operations	139.041	137.790	138.380	6.8	-0.5	0.4
Apparel	118.272	114.852	112.806	2.1	-4.6	-1.8
Transportation	260.375	257.439	247.495	3.9	-4.9	-3.9
Private transportation	258.154	254.925	245.121	3.2	-5.0	-3.8
New and used motor vehicles(3)	127.246	126.043	124.923	1.2	-1.8	-0.9
New vehicles	168.730	169.169	169.594	6.6	0.5	0.3
New cars and trucks(3)(4)
New cars(4)	165.550	165.426	166.799		0.8	0.8
Used cars and trucks	198.594	192.881	188.271	-9.1	-5.2	-2.4
Motor fuel	346.406	330.927	278.775	-1.2	-19.5	-15.8
Gasoline (all types)	343.362	327.613	275.513	-1.7	-19.8	-15.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	335.143	319.463	267.733	-2.1	-20.1	-16.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	394.966	379.080	325.104	0.3	-17.7	-14.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	366.184	353.248	309.101	2.6	-15.6	-12.5
Medical care	548.934	548.459	546.667	3.6	-0.4	-0.3
Medical care commodities	380.431	381.017	379.713	2.6	-0.2	-0.3
Medical care services	604.819	603.994	602.040	3.8	-0.5	-0.3
Professional services	454.035	456.749	457.057	3.9	0.7	0.1
Recreation(3)	136.241	136.504	136.972	6.8	0.5	0.3
Education and communication(3)	140.989	142.104	142.374	0.5	1.0	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,263.182	1,265.613	1,265.198	3.3	0.2	0.0
Other goods and services	495.642	500.211	501.439	7.8	1.2	0.2
Commodity and service group
Commodities	217.441	215.557	211.678	4.9	-2.7	-1.8
Commodities less food and beverages	177.147	174.497	169.244	1.7	-4.5	-3.0
Nondurables less food and beverages	230.235	225.747	213.231	3.6	-7.4	-5.5
Durables	126.249	124.888	124.016	0.1	-1.8	-0.7
Services	337.434	338.550	340.254	6.8	0.8	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	265.668	264.386	261.981	6.0	-1.4	-0.9
All items less medical care	264.115	263.641	262.410	6.3	-0.6	-0.5
Commodities less food	180.420	177.885	172.768	1.8	-4.2	-2.9
Nondurables	265.564	263.545	257.349	7.6	-3.1	-2.4
Nondurables less food	232.593	228.556	216.915	3.8	-6.7	-5.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)	370.880	371.146	372.453	7.4	0.4	0.4
Services less medical care services	317.552	318.835	320.853	7.2	1.0	0.6
Energy	283.218	272.717	253.118	5.3	-10.6	-7.2
All items less energy	280.112	280.546	280.944	6.1	0.3	0.1
All items less food and energy	276.873	277.276	277.585	5.2	0.3	0.1
(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.