Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The August increase was influenced by a 0.3-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index, with higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences contributing most to the increase. The energy index and food index both fell in August, decreasing 1.3 and 0.1 percent, respectively. (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 rose 2.6 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year, while food prices increased 1.8 percent. Energy prices declined 2.6 percent, largely the result of decreasing prices for gasoline. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jul 2024	2.7	2.9
Aug 2024	2.6	3.2

Food prices fell 0.1 percent for the month of August. Prices for food at home (grocery store prices) declined 0.3 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.3 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the index for fruits and vegetables contributed most to the decline (-1.4 percent) but decreasing prices for dairy and related products (-0.9 percent) and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-0.6 percent) also contributed.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.8 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 0.7 percent, led by a 2.3-percent rise in the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index.

The energy index decreased 1.3 percent over the month. The decrease was almost entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.3 percent), but falling prices for natural gas service (-2.0 percent) also contributed. Electricity prices increased 0.5 percent over the same period.

Energy prices declined 2.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.7 percent). Rising prices for electricity (+3.5 percent) and natural gas service (+0.8 percent) partly offset the decline.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in August. Component indexes contributing most to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.7 percent), rent of primary residences (+0.5 percent), apparel (+0.9 percent), and education and communication (+0.3 percent). These advances were partially offset by lower prices for lodging away from home, used cars and trucks (-0.8 percent), and household furnishings and operations (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. The indexes for shelter (+6.3 percent) and other goods and services (+6.8 percent) contributed most to the increase.  Declining prices for used cars and trucks (-9.6 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.2 percent) partially offset the rise.

The September 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 10, 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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