Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/	FOR RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880	7:30 A.M. CT
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte	Wednesday, April 15, 2009
(312) 353-1138

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CHICAGO-GARY-KENOSHA, IL-IN-WI CMSA MARCH 2009

The Chicago-Gary-Kenosha Consumer Price Index was unchanged in March, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today.  The Chicago area Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for March was 207.462 (1982-84=100).  Over the past year, the Chicago area CPI-U was down 1.9 percent compared with a 4.5 percent gain for the 12-month period ending in March 2008.

Jay A. Mousa, regional commissioner for the Bureau in Chicago, said that offsetting price movement among major consumer expenditure categories resulted in no change in the overall items CPI-U from February to March.  Increases were recorded in the components for transportation, apparel, medical care, education and communication, and other goods and services.  These gains were offset by declines in the components for housing, food and beverages, and recreation.

The housing component declined 0.9 percent in March.  The heavily-weighted shelter index fell 0.2 percent while the fuels and utilities index dropped 5.7 percent.  Within the fuels and utilities category, utility (piped) gas, commonly known as natural gas, fell 14.3 percent and electricity fell 1.4 percent.  Prices for household furnishings and operations fell 0.2 percent over the month.  Since March 2008, the housing component in the Chicago area declined 2.4 percent with the shelter index falling 1.8 percent, the fuels and utilities index declining 9.1 percent, and the household furnishings and operations index increasing 1.0 percent.  Within the fuels and utilities index, natural gas prices fell 33.1 percent since March 2008 and electricity prices rose 12.2 percent over the year.

The food and beverages component decreased 0.4 percent in March.  Prices for grocery food items (food at home) declined 1.2 percent while the cost of dining out (food away from home) rose 0.3 percent.  Alcoholic beverage prices were 0.5 percent higher.  Compared with a year ago, food and beverage prices in the Chicago area were 3.7 percent higher with prices for food at home increasing 2.1 percent and prices for food away from home rising 6.0 percent.

The transportation component rose 0.3 percent in March primarily due to a 3.4 percent increase in gasoline prices.  The latest increase in gasoline prices follows a 0.3 percent decline in February and a 13.6 percent increase in January.  Over the year, pump prices in the Chicago area were down 37.9 percent.  During the previous 12-month period, gasoline prices in the Chicago area rose 29.7 percent.

Apparel prices are typically higher in February and March as new spring merchandise replaces post-holiday sales items.  This March was no exception with apparel prices increasing 6.9 percent, in-line with the 5.5 and 6.0 percent increases from February to March in 2007 and 2008, respectively.  On an annual basis, apparel prices were up 2.2 percent.  This increase marks a change from the previous two 12-month periods where apparel prices fell 5.1 percent (March 2007-08) and 2.4 percent (March 2006-07).

The other goods and services component rose 3.5 percent in March.  Higher prices for tobacco and smoking products contributed to this increase.  Over the year, this component was up 5.4 percent.  During the previous 12-month period, the other goods and services component rose 2.2 percent.

The cost of medical care rose 0.7 percent over the month.  For the year, the medical care component was up 2.9 percent.  During the previous March-March period, medical care costs in the Chicago area rose 5.8 percent.

Recreation costs fell 0.2 percent during March. For the year, recreation costs were down 1.1 percent.  This compares with a 4.7 percent increase during the prior year.

The education and communication component edged up 0.1 percent.  For the year, education and communication prices were 3.7 percent higher.  In the previous March-March period, this component rose 4.9 percent.

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Scheduled release date for the April 2009 CPI: Friday, May 15, 2009

CPI HOTLINE SERVICE PROVIDES LATEST INDEXES 24 HOURS A DAY

The all items CPI-U and CPI-W for the U.S. City Average, the Midwest region, and the Chicago area are available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the Bureau's CPI Hotline service. This recorded message also provides percent changes from the prior period and from a year earlier, as well as the scheduled release date for the next CPI issuance. The Hotline number in Chicago is (312) 353-1880, menu option 2.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CPI

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. Prices are collected in 87 urban areas across the country from about 50,000 housing units and approximately 23,000 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. Prices of food, fuels, and a few other items are obtained every month in all 87 locations. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the three largest geographic areas and every other month in other areas. Prices of most goods and services are obtained by personal visits of the Bureau's trained representatives.

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. Separate indexes are also published by size of city, by region of the country, for cross-classifications of regions and population-size classes, and for 27 local areas. Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices among cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

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.

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Last Modified Date: April 15, 2009