Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.4 percent in March, following a 0.3-percent increase in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the increase was influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy. (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 rose 2.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 3.9 percent. Energy prices rose 6.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.4 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index climbed 0.3 percent in March. Prices for food at home rose 0.3 percent, with three of the six grocery indexes reporting increases. Groceries with higher March prices included chicken, fresh fish and seafood, and beef roasts. The index for food away from home rose 0.3 percent.  

Over the year, the food index was up 3.9 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.3 percent, the largest over-the-year increase since May 2008. At-home food prices rose 2.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 1.6 percent in March, after rising 4.5 percent in February. Household energy prices fell 8.5 percent, which included a 13.8-percent drop in electricity prices. A 9.8-percent jump in gasoline prices largely offset the household energy decline.   

From March 2020 to March 2021, energy prices increased 6.3 percent. Price increases for gasoline (15.8 percent) and natural gas (6.8 percent) were partially offset by a decline in electricity prices (-4.9 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in March. New and used motor vehicles prices rose 3.7 percent, and other goods and services, 3.2 percent. Lower prices for residential rent (-0.3 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent (-0.1 percent) partially offset the increases.

For the year ended in March 2021, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.4 percent. New and used motor vehicles rose 9.2 percent, and household furnishings and operations, 6.5 percent. Shelter prices rose 0.5 percent, with a 0.9-percent increase in owners’ equivalent rent. Residential rent rose 0.3 percent, the smallest over-the-year increase recorded since February 1958.

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	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6	0.8	2.5	0.4	1.2
February	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.4
March	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6	-0.2	2.0	0.4	2.0
April	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1
May	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4
June	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7
August	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4
September	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9
October	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7
November	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4
December	0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6

The April 2021 Consumer Price Index for New York-Newark-Jersey City is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 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.

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