Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.). The all items less food and energy index advanced 0.1 percent in September, primarily due to higher costs for owners’ equivalent rent of residences. The food index also contributed to the over-the-month increase, advancing 0.3 percent. The energy index declined 1.1 percent over the month, almost entirely offsetting increases in the other categories. (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 3.2 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.2 percent over the year, while food prices rose 3.4 percent. Somewhat offsetting the increase was a decline in energy prices by 6.0 percent, largely the result of falling natural gas service prices over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Apr 2023	4.9	5.5
May 2023	3.7	5.0
Jun 2023	2.4	4.8
Jul 2023	2.9	5.0
Aug 2023	3.4	4.5
Sep 2023	3.2	4.2

Food prices increased 0.3 percent for the month of September. Prices for food away from home increased 0.4 percent, and prices for food at home rose 0.2 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the indexes for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+1.8 percent) and cereals and bakery products (+0.5 percent) contributed the most to the over-the-month increase. A decline in the index for other food at home (-0.4 percent) moderated rising prices for this category in September.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.4 percent. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 4.7 percent, and prices for food at home (grocery store prices) increased 2.6 percent in the same period. Within the food at home category, the indexes for other food at home (+4.7 percent) and cereals and bakery products (+5.1 percent) contributed the most to the over-the-year increase.

The energy index declined 1.1 percent over the month. The decrease was largely due to falling prices for natural gas service (-5.8 percent), but a decline in prices paid for gasoline (-1.0 percent) also contributed. Rising prices for electricity (+0.2 percent) and fuel oil slightly offset energy price decreases in September.

From September 2022 to September 2023, energy prices fell 6.0 percent, almost entirely driven by lower prices for natural gas service (-34.5 percent). Partially offsetting the over-the-year decline were increasing prices for electricity (+3.7 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in September, with the increase almost entirely due to higher prices for shelter (+0.5 percent) and apparel (+1.6 percent). Lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.6 percent), medical care (-0.3 percent), and motor vehicle parts and equipment almost entirely offset the one-month increases from other components.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+7.4 percent) and recreation (+4.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increase were falling prices for used cars and trucks, which declined by 7.7 percent over the year.

The October 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 14, 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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