Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.2 percent in November following a 0.1-percent increase in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley attributed the increase to higher prices for energy, driven largely by higher prices for gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U increased 5.9 percent, while the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 8.6 percent. Energy prices increased 17.7 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

The November food index increased 0.8 percent, with prices for food at home increasing 0.7 percent and prices for food away from home increasing 1.0 percent. Four of the six grocery categories recorded increases. Among grocery items with higher November prices were lettuce, frozen and freeze dried prepared foods, and cheese and related products.

Over the year, food prices rose 8.6 percent. At-home food prices increased 10.4 percent, and away-from-home food prices increased 6.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 3.2 percent, after declining 0.5 percent in October. Gasoline prices, up 6.6 percent, drove the increase. Household energy prices rose 1.0 percent, with higher fuel oil prices partially offset by declining prices for electricity (-1.4 percent) and natural gas (-0.1 percent).

For the year ending November 2022, energy prices rose 17.7 percent. Household energy prices rose 23.4 percent, with higher prices for fuel oil, natural gas (22.2 percent), and electricity (12.2 percent). Gasoline prices increased 9.7 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.1 percent, following a 0.1-percent October increase. Prices declined for new and used motor vehicles (-3.0 percent), apparel (-4.4 percent), and recreation (-1.3 percent). Partially offsetting the declines was a 0.6-percent rise in shelter prices, with increases of 0.7 percent for owners' equivalent rent and 0.8 percent for residential rent.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.5 percent. Shelter prices, up 4.5 percent, included a 4.8-percent increase for owners’ equivalent rent and a 4.1-percent increase for residential rent. Prices for new and used motor vehicles were up 7.7 percent. Medical care prices increased 6.6 percent.

Table A. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6	0.8	2.5	0.4	1.2	1.1	5.1
February	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.4	0.3	5.1
March	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6	-0.2	2.0	0.4	2.0	1.3	6.1
April	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1	0.7	3.2	0.9	6.3
May	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4	0.5	3.2	0.5	6.3
June	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3	1.0	4.1	1.4	6.7
July	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7	-0.1	3.5	-0.3	6.5
August	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4	0.1	3.7	0.2	6.6
September	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9	0.5	3.8	0.2	6.2
October	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7	0.3	4.3	0.1	6.0
November	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4	0.3	5.0	0.2	5.9
December	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6	-0.2	4.4

The December 2022 Consumer Price Index for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-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.

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