March 15, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices in the Midwest rise 1.6 percent in 1998

In the Midwest region, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 1.6 percent from December 1997 to December 1998, an increase identical to the national figure. The Midwest CPI had risen 1.3 percent in 1997. The CPI-U measures retail price changes for goods and services purchased by consumers in urban areas.

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The food and beverages component, which accounts for 16 percent of expenditures in the Midwest, was up 2.2 percent in 1998, after a 1.2-percent increase in 1997. Food-at-home prices increased 2.1 percent, after having risen only 0.3 percent in 1997.  Medical care prices rose 4.2 percent following a 2.6 percent increase in 1997.  Prices for "other goods and services" increased 9.8 percent, after a 5.4-percent increase in 1997; this increase reflected, in part, a sharp rise in tobacco prices.

The transportation index and apparel index both experienced declines in 1998, –1.3 percent and –0.7 percent, respectively. The housing component, which accounts for about 37 percent of expenditures in the Midwest, rose 1.8 percent following a 2.4-percent increase in 1997.

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 Midwest: December 1998." Annual comparisons are based on changes in indexes from December 1997 to December 1998.