The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Midwest declined 0.2 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Energy costs were down 5.7 percent in July due to declines in the indexes for gasoline and natural gas service. The food index was up 1.2 percent in July and the index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices for shelter and medical care increased and costs for public transportation and apparel were lower. (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 8.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.4 percent over the year. Energy prices advanced 34.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices were up 12.4 percent compared to their July 2021 levels. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, July 2019–July 2022

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jul 2019	1.5	1.9
Aug 2019	1.5	2.1
Sep 2019	1.4	2.2
Oct 2019	1.5	2.2
Nov 2019	1.9	2.1
Dec 2019	2.3	2.0
Jan 2020	2.5	2.1
Feb 2020	2.1	2.2
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

Food prices increased 1.2 percent for the month of July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.5 percent as all six major grocery store food group indexes were higher over the month. Categories increasing included nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, 2.6 percent; and cereals and bakery products, 2.2 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 0.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 12.4 percent. Prices for food at home were up 15.0 percent compared to a year ago. All six major grocery store food group indexes were higher over the year. Indexes posting annual increases included other food at home (includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils, for example), 18.4 percent; and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, 11.5 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 8.3 percent.

The energy index declined 5.7 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-8.8 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.5 percent, while prices for natural gas service decreased 6.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 34.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+46.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 37.9 percent, and prices for electricity rose 11.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in July. Higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.5 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+0.8 percent) and medical care (+0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for public transportation and apparel (-1.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+5.0 percent), new and used motor vehicles (+8.4 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+10.8 percent).

The August 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.

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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