Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The food index rose 0.6 percent in December while the index for energy declined 2.1 percent as a result of lower gasoline prices. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.5 percent in December due to advances in the categories for new and used motor vehicles, medical care, household furnishings and operations, and recreation. (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 7.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 30.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices increased 7.5 percent. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, December 2018–December 2021

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Dec 2018	1.3	2.0
Jan 2019	0.8	1.9
Feb 2019	1.3	2.0
Mar 2019	1.7	1.9
Apr 2019	1.5	1.6
May 2019	1.3	1.6
Jun 2019	1.2	1.7
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

Food

Food prices rose 0.6 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent, and prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 7.5 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 7.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 7.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 2.1 percent over the month. The decrease was due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.0 percent) and to a lesser extent, a 0.8 percent drop in costs for natural gas service. The electricity index increased 0.2 percent in December.

Energy prices rose 30.6 percent over the year. Gasoline prices were up 48.8 percent compared to a year ago and natural gas service costs rose 33.7 percent over the year. Prices for electricity advanced 3.8 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.5 percent in December. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (2.0 percent), medical care (0.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.1 percent), and recreation (0.9 percent) were only partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.1 percent) and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (20.2 percent), shelter (4.5 percent), and household furnishings and operations (9.1 percent).

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 10, 2022.

Technical Note

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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