Jan 15, 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their December 2009 report of the Consumer Price Index for NY, Long Island, Northern NJ, CT and PA.
The BLS defines the NY-NJ-CT-PA consolidated area as "the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, New Haven, and Middlesex Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania."
At the national level, all urban consumers experienced a 0.1% increase in the CPI. Based on all items, the month to month CPI for the NY-NJ region witnessed the opposite of the national average with a decrease of -0.1%.
When broken down by CPI components, most items were down to flat for the month to month period. Only transportation (+0.4%) experienced some increase in December. When drilling down further, the increase of transportation was derived primarily from private transportation.
When examining the CPI data for this region from December 2008 to December 2009, based on all items, the CPI rose 2.3%. The national average increased by 2.7% in the same 12 month period. When broken down by components, the NY-NJ region experienced increases in the following components: housing = 0.4%, apparel = 7.6%, transportation = 12.4%, medical = 1.2%, and education and communication = 1.1%.
When analyzing transportation costs for the region, much of the increase was due to fuel costs that rose 46.9% in the 12 month period.
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