Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.1 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The June increase was mainly influenced by a 0.2 percent rise in the all items less food and energy index, with higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent contributing most to the increase. The food index rose 0.1 percent, while the energy index was unchanged for June. (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 increased 2.5 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent over the year, and food prices increased 1.7 percent. Energy prices declined by 0.8 percent, primarily due to falling gasoline prices. (See table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, June 2021–June 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Oct 2023	2.9	4.3
Nov 2023	2.9	4.2
Dec 2023	3.2	4.1
Jan 2024	2.7	3.7
Feb 2024	2.8	3.4
Mar 2024	2.8	3.2
Apr 2024	2.8	3.1
May 2024	2.7	3.0
Jun 2024	2.5	2.9

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the month of June. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.2 percent, while prices for food at home (grocery store prices) advanced by 0.1 percent for the same period. Within the index for food at home, other food at home and dairy and related products both contributed to the June increase, advancing 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent respectively. A decline in prices paid for fruits and vegetables (-0.6 percent) almost entirely offsetting the rise for grocery store prices in June.

The food index rose 1.7 percent over the year, largely due to an advance in prices for food away from home (+3.2 percent). The index for food at home increased 0.8 percent, led by a 3.7 percent rise in the index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials.

Energy prices were unchanged for the month of June. Prices paid for electricity (+2.0 percent) and natural gas service (+4.5 percent) were entirely offset by a decline in gasoline prices (-2.2 percent) in June.

From June 2023 to June 2024, energy prices fell 0.8 percent, primarily due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.4 percent). Rising prices for electricity (+1.1 percent) and natural gas service (+2.1 percent) somewhat offset the decline.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in June. Components contributing most to the increase were owners’ equivalent rent (+0.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (+0.8 percent). Declining prices for apparel (-2.1 percent), public transportation, and recreation (-0.3 percent) partially offset increases in the index.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent. The indexes for owners’ equivalent rent of residence (+6.2 percent), rent of primary residence (+5.9 percent), and other goods and services (+6.9 percent) contributed most to the increase. Falling prices for used cars and trucks (-9.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-2.2 percent) slightly offset the rise.

The July 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.

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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