Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent in September, following a 0.6-percent rise in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli said the September increase was driven by higher prices for energy and apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

For the year ended in September 2012, the CPI-U rose 1.6 percent. (See chart 1. and table A. ) The over-the-year rise was primarily due to an increase in shelter. Food, gasoline, and medical care also contributed to the advance. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent.

Food

The food index dipped 0.1 percent, after rising 0.2 percent in each of the two prior months. Lower prices for food at home accounted for the downturn, with declines reported for uncooked beef roasts and steaks, sugar and artificial sweeteners, and candy and chewing gum. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.1 percent, the tenth consecutive rise.

From September 2011 to September 2012, the food index increased 2.0 percent. At-home food prices rose 1.5 percent, and away-from-home food prices increased 2.6 percent. (See table 1.)

Energy

The energy index rose 3.4 percent, following a 2.4-percent rise in August. The September increase, the largest since May 2011, was primarily due to gasoline prices climbing 4.4 percent. Electricity prices jumped 4.0 percent after declining in each of the two prior months, and fuel oil also contributed to the advance. In contrast, natural gas prices declined 1.1 percent.

The 12-month percent change for energy turned positive, 1.1 percent, after being negative since April. A 6.5-percent rise in gasoline prices outweighed a 3.8-percent decline in household energy, reflecting declines in both natural gas and electricity.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent, following a 0.5-percent increase in August. A 3.6-percent rise in apparel reflected seasonal price increases. Higher child care and nursery school fees contributed to a 0.4-percent rise in education and communication. Shelter was unchanged over the month; residential rent rose 0.3 percent, but was offset by a decline in out-of-town lodging.

For the 12 months ended in September, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent. Also increasing by 1.6 percent were apparel and shelter. The shelter increase partly reflected a 2.5-percent advance in residential rent. Education and communication increased 1.7 percent, and medical care prices rose 4.8 percent.

CPI-W

In September, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 250.980, up 0.5 percent over the month. The CPI-W increased 1.7 percent over the year.

The October 2012 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 15, 2012 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.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods, New York-Northern N.J.-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	July 2012	Aug. 2012	Sept. 2012	Sept. 2011	July 2012	Aug. 2012
Expenditure category
All items	252.016	253.472	254.554	1.6	1.0	0.4
All items (1967=100)	728.545	732.751	735.879
Food and beverages	243.866	244.211	244.015	1.9	0.1	-0.1
Food	243.307	243.779	243.556	2.0	0.1	-0.1
Food at home	243.116	243.344	242.835	1.5	-0.1	-0.2
Food away from home	250.052	250.857	251.001	2.6	0.4	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	247.947	246.486	246.684	1.1	-0.5	0.1
Housing	265.403	266.008	266.552	1.1	0.4	0.2
Shelter	324.246	325.299	325.264	1.6	0.3	0.0
Rent of primary residence (1)	328.979	329.964	330.906	2.5	0.6	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	331.195	332.036	332.480	1.5	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	331.019	331.857	332.300	1.4	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities	198.977	198.149	202.433	-2.9	1.7	2.2
Household energy	195.096	194.197	198.945	-3.8	2.0	2.4
Energy services (1)	181.160	178.173	182.499	-5.5	0.7	2.4
Electricity (1)	187.778	183.321	190.635	-1.9	1.5	4.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	162.456	162.485	160.734	-12.5	-1.1	-1.1
Household furnishings and operations	121.900	122.039	121.717	0.9	-0.2	-0.3
Apparel	120.646	126.515	131.132	1.6	8.7	3.6
Transportation	226.001	228.775	231.409	1.8	2.4	1.2
Private transportation	214.664	218.182	220.918	2.2	2.9	1.3
Motor fuel	281.734	296.917	309.887	6.5	10.0	4.4
Gasoline (all types)	280.808	296.016	309.028	6.5	10.0	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	283.506	299.363	312.702	6.5	10.3	4.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	282.980	296.945	310.115	6.7	9.6	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	276.488	290.172	301.927	6.5	9.2	4.1
Medical care	413.555	414.055	414.170	4.8	0.1	0.0
Recreation (5)	118.500	118.698	118.623	1.5	0.1	-0.1
Education and communication (5)	138.508	139.613	140.191	1.7	1.2	0.4
Other goods and services	391.136	391.735	391.219	1.8	0.0	-0.1
Commodity and service group
All items	252.016	253.472	254.554	1.6	1.0	0.4
Commodities	192.140	194.680	196.353	1.9	2.2	0.9
Commodities less food and beverages	157.654	161.139	163.638	1.9	3.8	1.6
Nondurables less food and beverages	199.261	205.953	211.162	3.2	6.0	2.5
Durables	104.498	104.265	103.644	-0.7	-0.8	-0.6
Services	303.369	303.899	304.478	1.4	0.4	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	244.860	246.341	247.451	1.4	1.1	0.5
All items less shelter	223.828	225.443	226.966	1.6	1.4	0.7
Commodities less food	161.363	164.711	167.152	1.8	3.6	1.5
Nondurables	223.887	227.622	230.307	2.5	2.9	1.2
Nondurables less food	202.522	208.767	213.703	3.0	5.5	2.4
Services less rent of shelter (2)	291.154	291.109	292.260	1.2	0.4	0.4
Services less medical care services	294.407	294.959	295.561	1.2	0.4	0.2
Energy	230.964	236.440	244.487	1.1	5.9	3.4
All items less energy	255.853	256.921	257.322	1.6	0.6	0.2
All items less food and energy	259.742	260.930	261.454	1.6	0.7	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA consolidated area comprises the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, New Haven, and Middlesex Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.