Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose for the fifth consecutive month, up 0.3 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the increase primarily to higher prices for shelter and energy, particularly gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U was up 0.9 percent. (See table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.9 percent. (See chart 1.) Higher prices for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes. (See table 1.)

  

The food index declined 0.5 percent in May—the largest decrease in nearly two years—due to lower prices for food at home (-1.0 percent). Lower prices for tomatoes, ice cream and related products, and baby food contributed to the drop in grocery prices. Food away from home prices inched up 0.1 percent.

Over the year, the food index increased 0.4 percent as away-from-home food prices rose 3.1 percent. By contrast, at-home food prices declined 1.5 percent.

The energy index rose 1.6 percent in May. Gasoline prices logged a third-consecutive monthly rise, up 7.3 percent. By contrast, household energy prices declined 1.8 percent with lower prices for electricity (-3.7 percent) and natural gas (-0.7 percent) partially offset by higher fuel oil prices.

For the year ended in May 2016, the energy index fell 10.9 percent. The decline was led by a 15.5-percent drop in gasoline prices, along with lower prices for electricity (-6.2 percent) and fuel oil.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent. Shelter prices climbed 0.4 percent, with higher prices for both residential rent (0.3 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent (0.2 percent). Household furnishings and operations prices rose 0.6 percent. Higher prices were also reported for medical care (0.6 percent), reflecting price increases for eyeglasses and eye care; other goods and services (0.3 percent); and public transportation. A 0.7-percent decline in prices for apparel along with a 0.3-percent decline in prices for education and communication helped to moderate the overall advance.

From May 2015 to May 2016, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.9 percent. Shelter prices were up 3.0 percent as prices rose for residential rent (3.8 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent (2.9 percent). Other categories with higher prices included other goods and services (2.6 percent), medical care (2.3 percent), education and communication (1.8 percent), and recreation (0.7 percent). By contrast, household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent) and apparel (-1.1 percent) declined over the year.

In May, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 257.715, up 0.2 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 0.7 percent over the year.

The June 2016 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Friday, July 15, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, Middlesex, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.