Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), inched up 0.1 percent in May, after edging up 0.2 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown said that increases in prices for food and shelter were mostly offset by a drop in the price of gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

For the year ended in May 2012, the CPI-U rose 1.8 percent, reflecting higher prices for shelter and food. May was the first time since January 2011 that the 12-month percent change in prices for all items fell below 2.0 percent. (See chart 1. and table A. ) The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.3 percent, about the same rate it has been since August 2011.

Food

The food index increased 0.5 percent, after rising 0.2 percent in April. Prices for food at home jumped 0.7 percent, with higher prices recorded for a wide range of groceries including bread, soups, fish, frozen food, carbonated drinks, and ice cream. Prices for food away from home edged up 0.2 percent.

Over the year, food rose 3.8 percent. Food at home advanced 4.5 percent and food away from home, 3.0 percent. (See table 1.)

Energy

The energy index turned down 1.2 percent in May, following increases in each of the prior four months. A 2.8-percent decrease in the price of gasoline accounted for most of the downturn. Natural gas dropped 2.9 percent, and fuel oil charges also declined. These price decreases were partly offset by a 3.4-percent increase in electricity charges.

From May 2011 to May 2012, the energy index dropped 5.7 percent. Gasoline prices retreated 4.5 percent, registering the first decline in the 12-month percent change since October 2009. Household energy services fell 7.7 percent, with natural gas prices dropping 16.8 percent and prices for electricity, 3.2 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent, after ticking up 0.1 percent in April. Prices for shelter and residential rent rose 0.4 percent. Medical care prices jumped 0.7 percent, with higher prices reported for eyeglasses and eye care. Prices also rose for used cars and trucks and intercity transportation. Price increases were tempered by 0.3-percent reduction in prices for both recreation and apparel.

For the 12 months ended in May, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent. Shelter prices increased 2.0 percent, with residential rent rising 2.6 percent. Prices for medical care climbed 5.5 percent.

CPI-W

In May, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 248.955, up 0.1 percent over the month. The CPI-W increased 1.9 percent over the year.

The June 2012 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 17, 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-
	March 2012	April 2012	May 2012	May 2011	March 2012	April 2012
Expenditure category
All items	251.887	252.349	252.652	1.8	0.3	0.1
All items (1967=100)	728.171	729.507	730.381
Food and beverages	242.203	242.597	243.844	3.6	0.7	0.5
Food	241.884	242.256	243.517	3.8	0.7	0.5
Food at home	242.428	242.545	244.331	4.5	0.8	0.7
Food away from home	247.632	248.345	248.953	3.0	0.5	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	242.927	243.636	244.667	1.1	0.7	0.4
Housing	263.648	263.310	264.114	1.0	0.2	0.3
Shelter	322.080	321.721	323.014	2.0	0.3	0.4
Rent of primary residence (1)	325.323	326.117	327.492	2.6	0.7	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	328.984	329.219	329.997	1.7	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	328.833	329.059	329.833	1.7	0.3	0.2
Fuels and utilities	196.419	194.044	195.024	-5.5	-0.7	0.5
Household energy	193.145	190.355	191.373	-6.7	-0.9	0.5
Energy services (1)	174.637	171.964	174.320	-7.7	-0.2	1.4
Electricity (1)	176.213	174.990	180.866	-3.2	2.6	3.4
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	166.159	160.683	155.968	-16.8	-6.1	-2.9
Household furnishings and operations	122.266	123.736	122.534	-0.5	0.2	-1.0
Apparel	127.061	127.399	127.004	4.3	0.0	-0.3
Transportation	228.950	231.835	230.196	0.4	0.5	-0.7
Private transportation	218.496	220.918	218.751	0.0	0.1	-1.0
Motor fuel	300.810	310.219	301.504	-4.4	0.2	-2.8
Gasoline (all types)	299.659	309.185	300.472	-4.5	0.3	-2.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	304.028	313.535	304.056	-4.9	0.0	-3.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	298.680	308.666	301.616	-3.7	1.0	-2.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	290.438	300.082	293.312	-3.5	1.0	-2.3
Medical care	409.317	410.020	412.765	5.5	0.8	0.7
Recreation (5)	118.547	118.524	118.206	2.1	-0.3	-0.3
Education and communication (5)	138.471	138.576	138.761	2.5	0.2	0.1
Other goods and services	391.090	391.012	390.507	2.5	-0.1	-0.1
Commodity and service group
All items	251.887	252.349	252.652	1.8	0.3	0.1
Commodities	194.735	195.827	195.181	1.7	0.2	-0.3
Commodities less food and beverages	162.193	163.571	162.036	0.3	-0.1	-0.9
Nondurables less food and beverages	207.455	209.459	206.633	0.1	-0.4	-1.3
Durables	104.776	105.396	105.364	1.0	0.6	0.0
Services	300.914	300.840	301.952	1.9	0.3	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	244.878	245.329	245.542	1.6	0.3	0.1
All items less shelter	224.500	225.286	225.198	1.7	0.3	0.0
Commodities less food	165.626	166.990	165.527	0.4	-0.1	-0.9
Nondurables	227.455	228.715	227.809	1.8	0.2	-0.4
Nondurables less food	209.984	211.920	209.306	0.2	-0.3	-1.2
Services less rent of shelter (2)	288.292	288.548	289.485	1.8	0.4	0.3
Services less medical care services	292.085	291.895	292.934	1.7	0.3	0.4
Energy	237.342	239.373	236.536	-5.7	-0.3	-1.2
All items less energy	255.079	255.390	256.004	2.5	0.4	0.2
All items less food and energy	259.089	259.389	259.883	2.3	0.3	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.