The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area increased 0.3 percent for the second consecutive month in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that a decline in energy prices was outweighed by a rise in prices for non-food items such as shelter and apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the New York area all items CPI-U increased 3.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A). The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.4 percent, and food prices rose 1.9 percent. In contrast, energy prices ticked down 0.1 percent. (See table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, August 2021–August 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2021	3.7	2.6
Sep 2021	3.8	2.5
Oct 2021	4.3	2.8
Nov 2021	5.0	3.4
Dec 2021	4.4	3.0
Jan 2022	5.1	3.3
Feb 2022	5.1	4.0
Mar 2022	6.1	4.1
Apr 2022	6.3	4.4
May 2022	6.3	3.6
Jun 2022	6.7	4.1
Jul 2022	6.5	4.2
Aug 2022	6.6	4.6
Sep 2022	6.2	5.0
Oct 2022	6.0	4.9
Nov 2022	5.9	4.5
Dec 2022	6.3	5.4
Jan 2023	6.0	5.7
Feb 2023	6.0	5.6
Mar 2023	4.6	5.1
Apr 2023	3.7	4.4
May 2023	3.5	5.1
Jun 2023	2.5	3.8
Jul 2023	3.2	4.4
Aug 2023	3.5	4.5
Sep 2023	3.7	4.1
Oct 2023	3.5	4.0
Nov 2023	3.0	3.9
Dec 2023	2.9	3.4
Jan 2024	3.1	3.7
Feb 2024	2.9	3.4
Mar 2024	3.4	3.5
Apr 2024	3.8	3.9
May 2024	3.9	4.0
Jun 2024	4.2	4.4
Jul 2024	4.1	4.3
Aug 2024	3.7	4.4

Food prices were flat in August after declining 0.3 percent in July. A 0.1-percent increase in prices for food away from home was offset by a 0.1-percent decrease in prices for food at home. Four of the six grocery categories had lower prices in August; food products with higher prices included meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, as well as fruits and vegetables. 

Over the year, the food index increased 1.9 percent. Away-from-home food prices rose 3.2 percent, while at-home food prices increased 1.0 percent compared to last August.

The energy index was down 3.7 percent in August following a 0.5-percent increase in July. Prices for household energy declined 4.0 percent with lower prices for electricity (-4.4 percent), natural gas (-3.4 percent), and fuel oil. Gasoline prices fell 3.2 percent. 

From August 2023 to August 2024, the New York area energy index inched down 0.1 percent. A 9.1-percent fall in gasoline prices outweighed a 5.3-percent rise in household energy prices. Within household energy, electricity prices increased 9.1 percent, and natural gas prices rose 3.4 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in August. A 0.6-percent increase in shelter reflected higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent (0.6 percent), rent of primary residence (0.4 percent), and lodging away from home. A seasonal price increase buoyed the apparel index 5.1 percent. Prices for recreation rose 1.2 percent. Prices for education and communication increased 0.3 percent with a 0.8-percent rise in tuition, other school fees, and childcare. 

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent. Shelter prices were up 6.0 percent, with increases of 6.5 percent for owners’ equivalent rent and 5.0 percent for rent of primary residence. Recreation prices were 7.0 percent higher than they were last August. Higher prices for motor vehicle insurance also contributed to the index movement. On the other hand, prices declined for medical care (-1.9 percent) and for new and used motor vehicles (-2.4 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for September 2024 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for New York is published monthly. The Consumer Price Index 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 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, 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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