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 for the second consecutive month in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that rising prices for new and used motor vehicles and shelter were partly offset by declining prices for energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U increased 6.3 percent, while the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 8.6 percent. Energy prices rose 13.3 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

The December food index edged up 0.2 percent, with prices for food away from home rising 0.4 percent and prices for food at home inching up 0.1 percent. Prices for fruits and vegetables rose 1.3 percent. Among the five other grocery categories, three posted offsetting declines, and two were unchanged.

For the year ending in December 2022, food prices rose 8.6 percent. At-home food prices increased 10.1 percent, and away-from-home food prices advanced 6.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 5.0 percent, after increasing 3.2 percent in November. Gasoline prices dropped 9.5 percent, and household energy prices declined 2.0 percent. Within household energy, lower prices were recorded for electricity (-0.3 percent) and fuel oil. In contrast, prices for natural gas rose 4.4 percent following three consecutive monthly declines.

From December 2021 to December 2022, energy prices rose 13.3 percent. Household energy prices increased 22.6 percent, with higher prices for electricity (15.7 percent), natural gas (23.2 percent), and fuel oil. Gasoline prices were up 0.5 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent. Prices for new and used motor vehicles, a category that also includes leased and rental vehicles, increased 5.1 percent. Shelter prices rose 0.7 percent, including a 0.7-percent increase in owners' equivalent rent and a 0.9-percent increase for rent of primary residence—the largest monthly increase since July 2008. Prices for household furnishings and operations rose 1.8 percent.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.4 percent, the largest 12-month increase recorded since July 1991. Shelter prices, up 5.5 percent, included a 5.4-percent increase for owners’ equivalent rent and a 4.9-percent increase for rent of primary residence. Prices for new and used motor vehicles were up 11.3 percent. Medical care prices increased 5.8 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	0.2	6.3

The January 2023 Consumer Price Index for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 14, 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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