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 0.6 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown said the rise primarily reflected higher prices for apparel, often up in March, and energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

For the year ended in March 2012, the CPI-U rose 2.6 percent, reflecting higher prices for shelter, food, and gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.5 percent. For both indexes, the 12-month percent increase has changed relatively little since December. (See table A.and chart 1.)

Food

The food index dipped 0.1 percent in March. The index for food at home dropped 0.4 percent, reflecting lower prices for milk and apples. By contrast, food away from home edged up 0.2 percent.

From March 2011 to March 2012, food rose 3.5 percent, with food at home rising 3.7 percent, and food away from home, 3.3 percent. (See table 1.)

Energy

The energy index advanced 2.8 percent in March, after increases of 1.7 percent in both January and February. Gasoline prices rose 4.4 percent—the third consecutive monthly increase. Natural gas prices, which had declined for the previous three months, increased 4.2 percent, the largest monthly rise since November 2009.

For the year ended in March 2012, energy rose 1.3 percent, with gasoline prices increasing 8.5 percent. In contrast, household energy services dropped 5.1 percent, largely due to a 14.5-percent decline in the price of natural gas. Natural gas has recorded over-the-year declines for 36 consecutive months.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent. Apparel prices, often higher at this time of year with the introduction of spring lines, jumped 6.0 percent. Shelter prices increased 0.4 percent, reflecting a 0.4-percent rise in owners' equivalent rent. Prices also rose for medical care, airline fares, and used cars.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.5 percent. Shelter prices increased 2.2 percent, with residential rent rising 2.3 percent. The indexes for medical care and recreation advanced 4.9 and 4.4 percent, respectively.

CPI-W

In March, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 248.152, up 0.7 percent over the month. The CPI-W increased 2.7 percent over the year.

The April 2012 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

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: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the New York-New Jersey Information Office at (646) 264-3600 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.

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-
	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012	Mar. 2011	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012
Expenditure category
All items	249.322	250.285	251.887	2.6	1.0	0.6
All items (1967=100)	720.754	723.540	728.171
Food and beverages	242.539	242.470	242.203	3.3	-0.1	-0.1
Food	242.086	242.208	241.884	3.5	-0.1	-0.1
Food at home	243.238	243.360	242.428	3.7	-0.3	-0.4
Food away from home	247.043	247.169	247.632	3.3	0.2	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	245.153	242.387	242.927	0.6	-0.9	0.2
Housing	262.677	262.504	263.648	1.4	0.4	0.4
Shelter	320.412	320.751	322.080	2.2	0.5	0.4
Rent of primary residence (1)	324.920	324.670	325.323	2.3	0.1	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	328.120	327.814	328.984	2.0	0.3	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	327.973	327.659	328.833	1.9	0.3	0.4
Fuels and utilities	197.277	194.362	196.419	-4.3	-0.4	1.1
Household energy	194.115	190.831	193.145	-5.1	-0.5	1.2
Energy services (1)	177.444	172.204	174.637	-6.9	-1.6	1.4
Electricity (1)	178.691	175.962	176.213	-3.0	-1.4	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	169.534	159.461	166.159	-14.5	-2.0	4.2
Household furnishings and operations	122.360	122.507	122.266	0.8	-0.1	-0.2
Apparel	119.285	119.832	127.061	1.9	6.5	6.0
Transportation	222.709	226.009	228.950	4.4	2.8	1.3
Private transportation	212.431	215.867	218.496	5.0	2.9	1.2
Motor fuel	273.712	288.323	300.810	8.4	9.9	4.3
Gasoline (all types)	272.330	287.100	299.659	8.5	10.0	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	275.529	291.156	304.028	8.4	10.3	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	272.921	286.330	298.680	8.6	9.4	4.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	266.482	278.905	290.438	8.8	9.0	4.1
Medical care	407.792	408.337	409.317	4.9	0.4	0.2
Recreation (5)	117.031	118.512	118.547	4.4	1.3	0.0
Education and communication (5)	138.439	138.570	138.471	2.1	0.0	-0.1
Other goods and services	387.179	388.643	391.090	2.7	1.0	0.6
Commodity and service group
All items	249.322	250.285	251.887	2.6	1.0	0.6
Commodities	191.069	192.473	194.735	3.3	1.9	1.2
Commodities less food and beverages	156.761	158.812	162.193	3.3	3.5	2.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	197.447	201.293	207.455	3.9	5.1	3.1
Durables	104.666	104.634	104.776	2.4	0.1	0.1
Services	299.385	299.875	300.914	2.1	0.5	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	242.332	243.263	244.878	2.4	1.1	0.7
All items less shelter	221.559	222.789	224.500	2.7	1.3	0.8
Commodities less food	160.404	162.316	165.626	3.2	3.3	2.0
Nondurables	222.279	224.297	227.455	3.5	2.3	1.4
Nondurables less food	200.648	204.127	209.984	3.6	4.7	2.9
Services less rent of shelter (2)	286.935	287.545	288.292	2.0	0.5	0.3
Services less medical care services	290.660	291.014	292.085	2.0	0.5	0.4
Energy	227.181	230.974	237.342	1.3	4.5	2.8
All items less energy	253.300	253.938	255.079	2.7	0.7	0.4
All items less food and energy	256.953	257.658	259.089	2.5	0.8	0.6
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 Dece 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=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, Esses, 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.