March 8, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices rose 1.7 percent in the Northeast in 1998

In the Northeast region, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 1.7 percent from December 1997 to December 1998, about in line with the national rise of 1.6 percent. The Northeast CPI had risen 1.6 percent in 1997. The CPI-U measures price changes for goods and services purchased by consumers in metropolitan areas.

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In the Northeast, larger increases in food and beverages, medical care, and other goods and services were partially offset by downturns for apparel and transportation, as well as smaller price increases for housing.

The food and beverage index rose 2.8 percent in 1998, while medical care increased 4.3 percent. Other goods and services rose 8.3 percent, reflecting in part the pass-through to retail of a 45-cents-per-pack increase in the wholesale price of cigarettes. The housing index—which accounts for over 40 percent of expenditures—rose 2.1 percent after a 2.3-percent increase in 1997. The transportation index fell 2.5 percent, and the apparel index declined 1.7 percent over the year.

These data are produced by the BLS Consumer Price Index program. More information can be obtained in news release USDL 99-016, "Consumer Prices in the Northeast: December 1998." Annual comparisons are based on changes in indexes from December 1997 to December 1998.