U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

New York-New Jersey Information Office

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until                       NYLS - 7419
8:30 a.m. (EST), Friday, February 19, 2010

Technical information: Martin Kohli (646) 264-3620 • BLSInfoNewYork@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ro2
Media contact:         Michael L. Dolfman (212) 337-2500


   Consumer Price Index, New York-Northern New Jersey - January 2011
Area prices up 0.3 percent over the month and 1.5 percent over the year
 
Prices in the greater New York area, as measured by the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.3 percent in
January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The
increase followed two months of no price change in the New York
area. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Michael L. Dolfman
attributed the rise to price increases of 1.5 percent for both food
at home and energy. For food at home, this was the largest over-the-
month increase since January 2007. (Data in this report are not
seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect
seasonal influences.)
 
Over the year, the CPI-U rose 1.5 percent. (See chart 1.) The index
for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent, reflecting
relatively low price increases over the past 12 months for shelter.

Food
In January, the food index jumped 0.9 percent, after edging down 0.2
percent during the prior month. Prices for food at home climbed 1.5
percent over the month, with increases for a wide range of groceries,
including coffee, lettuce and other fresh vegetables, ham and other
pork products, fresh fish and seafood, and eggs. The food-away-from-
home component edged up 0.2 percent. (See table 1.)

Over the year, food prices rose 2.0 percent, with groceries advancing
2.8 percent and food away from home, 1.1 percent.

Energy
The energy index rose 1.5 percent after increasing 2.9 percent in
December. Price increases for gasoline (3.0 percent) and household
energy (0.3 percent) were smaller than in either of the two prior
months. Within household energy, higher fuel oil prices, as well as a
1.2-percent rise in natural gas prices, were tempered by a 2.5-percent
drop in electricity prices.

From January 2010 to January 2011, energy prices advanced 6.2 percent,
with gasoline prices climbing 15.1 percent. Household energy prices,
on the other hand, edged down 0.2 percent, with charges for energy
services falling 3.7 percent.

All items less food and energy
The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent
after declining 0.3 percent during each of the two prior months. Among
the index components with January increases were shelter (0.2 percent)
and medical care (0.7 percent). Within shelter, increases for owners'
equivalent rent (0.1 percent) and out-of-town lodging outweighed a 0.3-
percent drop in residential rent, the largest monthly decrease posted
since April 1994. Declining index categories included recreation and
apparel (each at -0.5 percent). For recreation, January marked the
sixth consecutive decline.

For the year ended in January 2011, the index for all items less food
and energy rose 1.0 percent, primarily reflecting a 1.0-percent
increase in shelter. Other components with increases over the year
included medical care (2.6 percent) and apparel (2.8 percent). In
contrast, recreation dropped 2.3 percent.

Table A. New York-Northern New Jersey CPI monthly and annual percent changes
(not seasonally adjusted)

           |2006    |   2007    |   2008    |   2009    |   2010    |   2011  
   Month   | Mo | Ann  | Mo | Ann  | Mo | Ann  | Mo | Ann  | Mo | Ann  | Mo | Ann

January     0.8  3.7    0.2  2.7    0.2  3.7    0.2  1.5    0.2  2.4    0.3  1.5
February    0.2  3.6    0.6  3.1    0.5  3.6    0.5  1.6    0.0  1.8
March       0.8  2.7    0.7  2.9    0.9  3.8    0.2  0.8    0.5  2.1
April       0.9  3.6    0.5  2.5    0.3  3.6    0.2  0.8    0.2  2.1
May         0.6  4.8    0.6  2.5    1.0  4.0    0.2 -0.1    0.2  2.2
June        0.5  5.6    0.5  2.5    1.0  4.5    0.5 -0.6   -0.1  1.5
    
July        0.2  5.0    0.2  2.5    0.7  5.1    0.2 -1.1    0.1  1.5
August      0.4  4.7   -0.1  1.9    0.1  5.4    0.3 -0.9    0.2  1.4
September-0.5  3.3    0.0  2.4   -0.2  5.2    0.1 -0.6    0.0  1.2
October-0.5  2.4    0.1  3.1   -0.7  4.3   -0.1  0.0    0.2  1.5
November   -0.4  2.6    0.4  3.9   -1.6  2.2    0.2  1.8    0.0  1.3
December 0.2  3.3    0.0  3.7   -0.6  1.6   -0.1  2.3    0.0  1.4


CPI-W
In January, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 238.396, up 0.3 percent over the month.
The CPI-W increased 1.8 percent over the year.

The February 2011 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey
is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) 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
87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners
and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 percent of the total
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 87 urban areas across the country
from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 25,000 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
(1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example,
is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as
follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and
services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further
details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the
BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available
on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

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-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.
consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Bronx,
Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond,
Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York State; Bergen,
Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean,
Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey;
Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, Middlesex, and New Haven
Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

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referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price
Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the New York-New
Jersey Information Office at (646) 264-3600 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30
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