Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.6 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The all items less food and energy index increased 0.8 percent, led by an advance in prices paid for owners’ equivalent rent of residence. Food prices rose 0.1 percent over the month, while energy prices declined 0.3 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 advanced 4.9 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.4 percent over the year, while food prices increased 8.9 percent. Energy prices declined 6.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, March 2020–March 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2020	1.0	1.8
Apr 2020	-0.4	1.2
May 2020	-0.4	0.8
Jun 2020	0.4	1.2
Jul 2020	0.7	1.6
Aug 2020	1.1	1.9
Sep 2020	1.3	1.9
Oct 2020	1.0	1.6
Nov 2020	1.0	1.6
Dec 2020	1.1	1.6
Jan 2021	1.2	1.2
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Mar 2021	3.0	1.8
Apr 2021	4.9	3.3
May 2021	5.6	4.3
Jun 2021	5.8	4.6
Jul 2021	5.9	4.6
Aug 2021	5.7	4.2
Sep 2021	5.7	4.0
Oct 2021	6.6	4.6
Nov 2021	7.3	5.0
Dec 2021	7.5	5.7
Jan 2022	7.9	6.4
Feb 2022	8.0	6.4
Mar 2022	8.6	6.4
Apr 2022	8.2	6.0
May 2022	8.8	5.9
Jun 2022	9.5	5.7
Jul 2022	8.6	5.4
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Sep 2022	8.1	6.2
Oct 2022	7.4	5.8
Nov 2022	6.8	5.5
Dec 2022	6.0	5.2
Jan 2023	6.0	4.9
Feb 2023	5.6	5.0
Mar 2023	4.9	5.4

Food prices increased 0.1 percent for the month of March. Prices for food at home fell 0.2 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.6 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, prices paid for fruits and vegetables (-1.4 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-0.6 percent) contributed most to the over-the-month decline. Somewhat offsetting the decline were prices paid for other food at home (+0.5 percent) and cereals and bakery products (+0.8 percent).

Over the year, food prices advanced 8.9 percent, easing into the single digits for the first time since February 2022. Prices for food at home increased 8.7 percent, led by a rise in the other food at home index (+12.5 percent), but with the five other major grocery store food group indexes also contributing. Prices for food away from home rose 9.2 percent over the same period.

The energy index declined 0.3 percent over the month, due almost entirely to lower prices for natural gas service (-8.3 percent). Rising prices for electricity (+2.4 percent) and gasoline (+1.2 percent) mostly offset the over-the-month decline.

Energy prices declined 6.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.2 percent), but the index for natural gas service also declined (-0.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 9.8 percent during the 12-month period, partly offsetting the rise.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent in March. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for shelter (+0.9 percent); which includes increases in prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.7 percent), lodging away from home, and rent of primary residence (+0.6 percent).  New and used motor vehicles (+2.1 percent) and recreation (+0.9 percent) also made notable contributions to the rise.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.4 percent. The largest component contributing to the increase was owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.9 percent), surpassing February’s increase and establishing a new series high. Increases in rent of primary residence (+7.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (+6.7 percent) and recreation (+7.3 percent) also contributed. A decline in prices paid for used cars and trucks (-10.8 percent) over the same period slightly offset the increase.

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

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.

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