Consumer Price Index, New York-Northern New Jersey – November 2012

Area prices unchanged over the month and up 2.0 percent over the year

Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were flat in November, after ticking down 0.1 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli said that declining energy prices were offset by rising food prices. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U advanced 2.0 percent. (See chart 1. and table A. ) The over-the-year increase was primarily due to higher prices for shelter. Food, energy, and medical care also contributed to the rise. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent.

Food

The food index increased 0.5 percent, following a 0.2-percent rise in October. Prices for food at home jumped 0.9 percent, the largest over-the-month increase reported since December 2011. Higher prices were recorded for a wide range of groceries, including breakfast cereal; milk; some fresh fruits; cheese; rice, pasta, cornmeal; and snacks. In contrast, prices for food away from home were unchanged, following upticks of 0.1 percent in the two prior months. From November 2011 to November 2012, the food index rose 2.8 percent. At-home food prices increased 2.8 percent, and away-from-home food prices rose 2.7 percent. (See table 1.)

Energy

The energy index edged down 0.2 percent, after dropping 2.3 percent in October. A 2.5-percent fall in gasoline prices was tempered by a 2.1-percent rise in household energy prices. Natural gas prices climbed 5.1 percent over the month, the largest increase in three years. Electricity charges rose 1.5 percent.

Over the year, energy prices advanced 3.9 percent. Gasoline prices increased 9.0 percent, and household energy prices declined 0.6 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy dipped 0.1 percent, after inching up 0.1 percent in October. The apparel component fell 2.4 percent in November, reflecting seasonal sales on clothing and accessories. The education and communication component registered a 0.4-percent decline, with lower prices recorded for personal computers. Other goods with reduced prices included televisions and used and leased cars and trucks. Residential rent was unchanged, following eight increases. In contrast, medical care prices rose 0.4 percent.

For the year ended in November 2012, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.7 percent. Medical care prices climbed 4.8 percent. The indexes for shelter and recreation each increased 1.9 percent. On the other hand, apparel prices declined 1.6 percent.

CPI-W

In November, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 250.586, unchanged over the month. The CPI-W increased 2.1 percent over the year.

The December 2012 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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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