Consumer Price Index, New York-Newark-Jersey City – October 2021

Area prices up 0.3 percent over the month and 4.3 percent over the year

Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 percent in October after increasing 0.5 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the increase to higher prices for energy, food, and other items. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U advanced 4.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 27.2 percent, driven by an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 5.5 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent in October. Prices for food away from home rose 0.7 percent. Prices for food at home increased 0.3 percent, with four of the six grocery categories recording increases. Higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (2.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-2.2 percent).

From October 2020 to October 2021, food prices rose 5.5 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 6.2 percent, while prices for food at home advanced 4.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.2 percent over the month, with a 4.1-percent advance in prices for gasoline. Household energy rose 0.7 percent, including a 4.0-percent increase in natural gas prices and a 3.9-percent decrease in electricity prices.

Energy prices climbed 27.2 percent over the year, largely due to a 49.5-percent jump in gasoline prices, the largest over-the-year increase in gasoline prices since January 2010. Household energy prices advanced 14.4 percent, the largest 12-month increase in over 13 years. Within household energy, natural gas prices jumped 21.7 percent, and electricity prices increased 5.7 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in October. Higher prices for new and used vehicles (2.3 percent) and recreation (1.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for shelter (-0.2 percent), household furnishings and operations (-1.4 percent), and apparel (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (14.8 percent) included increases in used cars and trucks (27.2 percent) and new vehicles (14.4 percent). Prices for shelter rose 1.4 percent, including a 1.5-percent increase in owners' equivalent rent and a 0.2-percent rise in residential rent.

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6	0.8	2.5	0.4	1.2
February	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.4
March	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6	-0.2	2.0	0.4	2.0
April	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1	0.7	3.2
May	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4	0.5	3.2
June	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3	1.0	4.1
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7	-0.1	3.5
August	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4	0.1	3.7
September	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9	0.5	3.8
October	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7	0.3	4.3
November	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4
December	0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6

The November 2021 Consumer Price Index for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area is scheduled to be released on Friday, December 10, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000. Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpiand the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

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-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Core Based Statistical Area includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

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