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News Release Information

20-64-NEW
Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Consumer Price Index, New York-Newark-Jersey City – December 2019

Area prices up 0.1 percent over the month and 2.2 percent over the year

Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), ticked up 0.1 percent for the second consecutive month in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the December change to rising prices for shelter. (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 advanced 2.2 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.4 percent, the highest rate posted since April 2012. (See table A and chart 1.) Price increases for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes.(See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.5 percent after dropping 0.8 percent in November. Higher prices in four of the six grocery groups drove a 0.6-percent rise in the food-at-home index. Among the groceries with higher prices in December were bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products; eggs; and other bakery products. Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent.

Over the year, the food index increased 1.6 percent. Prices for food away from home were up 3.1 percent, and prices for food at home rose 0.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index was unchanged in December. Household energy prices declined 0.1 percent, with a 2.3-percent decline in electricity prices and a 2.2-percent rise in natural gas prices. Gasoline prices were flat.   

From December 2018 to December 2019, the energy index increased 0.8 percent. Gasoline prices rose 0.9 percent. Household energy prices were up 0.7 percent, with price increases for fuel oil and other fuels partially offset by declines in prices for natural gas (-0.9 percent) and electricity (-0.1 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy ticked up 0.1 percent in December. Shelter edged up 0.2 percent, led by higher prices for out-of-town lodging. Owners’ equivalent rent and residential rent each rose 0.1 percent. Among other categories with price increases were new and used motor vehicles (1.9 percent), motor vehicle insurance (1.0 percent), household furnishings and operations (0.8 percent), and recreation (0.7 percent). These increases were largely offset by a decline in public transportation, including airline fares, and a seasonal decline in apparel prices (-3.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.4 percent. A 2.2-percent increase in shelter prices included a 3.0-percent rise in residential rent and a 1.9-percent increase in owners’ equivalent rent. Medical care prices rose 4.5 percent. A 3.7-percent rise in prices for tuition, other school fees, and childcare contributed to a 3.4-percent increase in prices for education and communication. Prices for motor vehicle insurance and recreation rose 3.2 and 3.1 percent, respectively. In contrast, apparel prices declined 2.1 percent since last December.

Table A. New York-Newark-Jersey City CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)
Month201420152016201720182019
1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month1-month12-month

January

0.91.90.1-0.50.20.80.62.50.41.40.51.6

February

-0.21.10.30.10.20.60.32.60.51.70.21.3

March

0.41.30.2-0.10.20.70.02.30.01.70.31.6

April

0.01.60.10.00.41.00.12.00.31.90.31.6

May

0.51.90.4-0.10.30.90.11.80.42.20.21.5

June

0.01.70.20.10.2(R)0.9(R)0.21.80.12.00.31.7

July

0.11.6-0.1-0.1-0.11.0-0.21.60.02.20.01.7

August

-0.21.30.10.10.21.10.21.70.12.20.21.8

September

0.01.00.20.30.21.00.52.10.42.00.01.4

October

-0.21.3-0.10.40.11.2-0.21.8-0.12.00.01.5

November

-0.40.8-0.20.60.21.6-0.11.6-0.21.90.11.8

December

-0.50.3-0.40.70.12.10.11.6-0.21.60.12.2

Footnotes:
(R) = revised.

CPI-W

In December, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 274.027, up 0.1 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 2.1 percent over the year.

The January 2020 Consumer Price Index for New York-Newark-Jersey City is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 13, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).


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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., Core Based Statistical Area includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; 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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, not seasonally adjusted
(1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and GroupIndexesPercent change from-
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019
Dec.
2018
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019

Expenditure category

All items

279.255279.468279.8162.20.20.1

All items (1967=100)

807.287807.902808.908   

Food and beverages

273.279271.232272.6441.6-0.20.5

Food

273.370271.226272.6781.6-0.30.5

Food at home

260.764256.906258.5040.4-0.90.6

Cereals and bakery products

305.650301.352302.8441.1-0.90.5

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

257.535251.183256.3000.5-0.52.0

Dairy and related products

229.767228.754227.6811.4-0.9-0.5

Fruits and vegetables

334.425331.159334.575-0.70.01.0

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

256.687249.305245.190-0.5-4.5-1.7

Other food at home

227.025225.520226.9830.80.00.6

Food away from home

298.679298.940300.2203.10.50.4

Alcoholic beverages

267.412266.733267.5911.20.10.3

Housing

303.491304.498305.3312.00.60.3

Shelter

386.148387.012387.9792.20.50.2

Rent of primary residence

402.619404.275404.7973.00.50.1

Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)

393.549395.433395.8381.90.60.1

Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)

393.061394.943395.3481.90.60.1

Fuels and utilities

191.750195.591195.7431.02.10.1

Household energy

182.209186.271186.1400.72.2-0.1

Energy services

172.674176.586175.579-0.41.7-0.6

Electricity

172.177175.324171.328-0.1-0.5-2.3

Utility (piped) gas service

163.461168.327171.997-0.95.22.2

Household furnishings and operations

109.011108.530109.4371.00.40.8

Apparel

123.379118.933115.059-2.1-6.7-3.3

Transportation

219.524221.339220.1511.80.3-0.5

Private transportation

205.575206.397208.0851.91.20.8

New and used motor vehicles(3)

88.87588.65190.2971.01.61.9

New vehicles(1)

201.972202.117202.8820.60.50.4

Used cars and trucks(1)

266.558264.906264.9460.2-0.60.0

Motor fuel

212.834212.725212.7290.90.00.0

Gasoline (all types)

211.818211.705211.7060.9-0.10.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

210.090210.034210.0670.80.00.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

223.396223.364222.7820.8-0.3-0.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

226.229225.608225.4541.6-0.3-0.1

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

758.714774.086781.5083.23.01.0

Medical care

518.374518.443519.5284.50.20.2

Recreation(3)

126.975127.234128.1593.10.90.7

Education and communication(3)

147.038147.417147.6493.40.40.2

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,241.4811,241.7151,241.7503.70.00.0

Other goods and services

441.435438.292439.8041.7-0.40.3

Commodity and service group

All items

279.255279.468279.8162.20.20.1

Commodities

191.387189.674189.8760.7-0.80.1

Commodities less food and beverages

142.574141.116140.753-0.1-1.3-0.3

Nondurables less food and beverages

182.270179.968179.1420.0-1.7-0.5

Durables

92.47292.01192.176-0.3-0.30.2

Services

353.071354.608355.0732.70.60.1

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

268.873269.092269.4082.00.20.1

All items less shelter

236.876236.807236.8892.20.00.0

Commodities less food

147.204145.761145.4330.0-1.2-0.2

Nondurables

229.035226.803227.0110.9-0.90.1

Nondurables less food

187.410185.191184.4550.1-1.6-0.4

Services less rent of shelter(2)

328.421330.752330.6673.40.70.0

Services less medical care services

339.026340.558340.9732.40.60.1

Energy

196.399198.918198.8370.81.20.0

All items less energy

289.276289.262289.6552.30.10.1

All items less food and energy

294.023294.338294.5702.40.20.1

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
(2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2020