Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The energy index advanced 3.4 percent in August, with the index for gasoline driving almost all of the rise. The index for all items less food and energy and the index for food partially offset the rise in the two-month all items index, with both declining 0.1 percent over the same period. (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 3.4 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.5 percent over the year, while the index for food increased 3.9 percent. Partially offsetting the increase, the index for energy declined 6.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in prices paid for natural gas service. (See table 1.)

Food prices declined 0.1 percent for the month of August. Prices for food at home (grocery store prices) decreased 0.2 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.2 percent over the same period. Within the food at home category, the index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-1.5 percent) contributed the most to the over-the-month decline. The decrease in food at home prices was somewhat offset by a decline in prices paid for other food at home (which includes sugars, sweets, fats, and oils), which rose 0.5 percent.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.9 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.8 percent, and prices for food at home rose 2.8 percent over the same period. Within the food at home category, prices paid for other food at home (+4.8 percent) and cereals and bakery products (+5.7 percent) contributed the most to the rise. 

The energy index advanced 3.4 percent over the month. The increase was almost entirely due to higher prices for gasoline (+6.7 percent). Partially offsetting the increase was a decline in prices paid for natural gas service (-0.5 percent) and electricity (-0.1 percent).

Energy prices declined 6.6 percent over the year. A decrease in the index for natural gas service (-28.6 percent) contributed the most to the decline. Prices for gasoline also contributed to the decrease in the index, falling 3.4 percent over the year.  An increase in the index for electricity (+3.3 percent) slightly offset the decline.

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.1 percent in August, led by declines in the indexes for lodging away from home, used cars and trucks (-1.7 percent), and recreation (-0.5 percent). The largest index increasing contributors included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.4 percent), medical care (+1.0 percent), and apparel (+2.0 percent), which largely offset the declines.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.5 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.9 percent), rent of primary residences (+7.0 percent), and recreation (+4.3 percent). Partly offsetting these increases were falling prices for used cars and trucks (-6.4 percent) and public transportation.

The September 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 12, 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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