Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.5 percent in May, following a 0.9-percent increase in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the May increase primarily to higher 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 advanced 6.3 percent, while the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices climbed 37.5 percent, led by higher prices for gasoline. Food prices rose 9.6 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.7 percent in May, following a 1.5-percent increase in April. Prices for food at home rose 0.8 percent, led by a 1.7-percent increase in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Higher food-at-home prices were moderated by a 0.7-percent decline in prices for fruits and vegetables. Prices for food away from home rose 0.6 percent.

From May 2021 to May 2022, food prices were up 9.6 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 11.1 percent—the largest over-the-year increase in 43 years. Prices for food away from home rose 7.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 8.5 percent in May, following a 1.2-percent increase in April. Gasoline prices climbed 12.6 percent in May. Household energy prices rose 5.3 percent, including a 5.8-percent increase in natural gas prices and a 2.8-percent increase in electricity prices.

For the year ended in May 2022, energy prices rose 37.5 percent. Higher energy prices were led by a 53.4-percent jump in gasoline prices. Household energy prices increased 26.1 percent—the largest over-the-year increase since October 2005—with electricity prices advancing 13.0 percent and natural gas prices increasing 28.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent in May. A 6.3-percent decline in prices for new and used motor vehicles was led by lower prices for leased cars and trucks. Prices for household furnishings and operations decreased 0.7 percent. These declines were partially offset by higher prices for apparel (4.0 percent) and shelter (0.3 percent). Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent and residential rent both increased 0.3 percent.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.6 percent. A 2.2-percent increase in shelter prices reflected, in part, a 2.7-percent increase in owners’ equivalent rent and a 1.8-percent rise in residential rent. Recreation prices rose 7.8 percent over the year. New and used motor vehicle prices were up 7.9 percent, including increases of 16.7 percent for new vehicles and 17.0 percent for used cars and trucks.

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
July	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7	-0.1	3.5
August	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4	0.1	3.7
September	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9	0.5	3.8
October	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7	0.3	4.3
November	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4	0.3	5.0
December	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6	-0.2	4.4

The June 2022 Consumer Price Index for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 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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