On September 15th, 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the Midwest Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
The Chicago-Gary-Kenosha region reported an increase of the All Items August Consumer Price Index by 0.2% and 3.2% for the past 12 months. The August Core Consumer Price Index (excluding food and energy) increased by 0.4% and 1.6% for the last 12 months. Food and energy are excluded in the core index as those are historically the most volatile components of the index.
For comparison, the All Items National CPI for August increased by 0.3% and 3.8% for the last 12 months.
BLS Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer stated August food prices increased by 0.4% in the region and energy prices fell by 1.7%.
The food component is derived from two sub components, food at home (increased by 0.9%) and food away from home (fell by 0.2%). Over the 12 months the food index increased by 3.8% and ended August 2011. The food at home component experienced price increases for “processed fish and seafood; cheese and related products; and non-frozen, non-carbonated juices and drinks.”
The energy index increased 18.3% in the last 12 months ended August 2011. The utility piped gas and gasoline subsectors fell by 9.8% and 0.3% respectively in August and electricity was unchanged. Over the past 12 months ended August 2011, the gasoline index rose 36.8%. The utility piped gas services and electricity subcategories fell by 2.3% and 1.1% respectively.
Other subcategories that increased in August included: Apparel by 4.9%, Education and Communication by 1.2%, and transportation at 0.3%. In the last 12 months ending August 2011, the following subcategories in the core index experienced the largest increases: Transportation 12.8%, Apparel 4.8% and medical care 1.2%.
The Midwest region is comprised of 6 local levels: Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Minneapolis – St. Paul. However, only Chicago is reported on a monthly basis.
The BLS notes “The Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.” The BLS also notes “All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.”
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