Consumer Price Index, New York-Newark-Jersey City – March 2024

Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that the March increase was influenced by higher prices for non-food items, including shelter and energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A). The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.5 percent over the year. Energy prices advanced 6.9 percent, and food prices rose 1.2 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices inched down 0.1 percent in March. Prices for food at home decreased 0.2 percent, and prices for food away from home ticked up 0.1 percent for the same period. Three of the six grocery categories experienced price declines.

Over the year, food prices rose 1.2 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 4.0 percent, while prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.2 percent over the month. Higher prices for household energy (2.2 percent) included a 4.2-percent increase in electricity prices. Prices fell for natural gas (0.2 percent) and fuel oil. Prices for gasoline increased 2.2 percent.

Energy prices advanced 6.9 percent over the year, as prices increased for household energy (11.4 percent). Within household energy, prices rose for electricity (19.4 percent) and natural gas (3.1 percent). On the other hand, prices for gasoline fell 0.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was up 0.3 percent in March. Shelter prices rose 0.4 percent, with increases in owners' equivalent rent (0.3 percent), residential rent (0.1 percent), and lodging away from home. Apparel prices rose 2.3 percent, and new and used motor vehicles, a category that includes leased cars and trucks, increased 1.5 percent. The increases were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent) and recreation (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.5 percent, largely due to a 4.9-percent increase in shelter prices. Within the shelter component, owners' equivalent rent advanced 5.6 percent and residential rent increased 4.3 percent. Prices for recreation rose 4.0 percent. Prices decreased for apparel (-3.7 percent) and medical care (-0.8 percent).

Table A. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.8	2.5	0.4	1.2	1.1	5.1	0.8	6.0	1.0	3.1
February	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.4	0.3	5.1	0.4	6.0	0.2	2.9
March	-0.2	2.0	0.4	2.0	1.3	6.1	-0.1	4.6	0.4	3.4
April	-0.5	1.1	0.7	3.2	0.9	6.3	0.1	3.7
May	0.5	1.4	0.5	3.2	0.5	6.3	0.2	3.5
June	0.1	1.3	1.0	4.1	1.4	6.7	0.4	2.5
July	0.5	1.7	-0.1	3.5	-0.3	6.5	0.4	3.2
August	-0.1	1.4	0.1	3.7	0.2	6.6	0.6	3.5
September	0.4	1.9	0.5	3.8	0.2	6.2	0.4	3.7
October	-0.2	1.7	0.3	4.3	0.1	6.0	-0.1	3.5
November	-0.3	1.4	0.3	5.0	0.2	5.9	-0.2	3.0
December	0.4	1.6	-0.2	4.4	0.2	6.3	0.1	2.9

The Consumer Price Index for April 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for New York is published monthly. 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 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/cpi and 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.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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

Item and Group	Indexes	Percent change from-
Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	March 2024	March 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024
Expenditure category
All items	328.006	328.606	329.829	3.4	0.6	0.4
All items (1967=100)	948.219	949.955	953.490
Food and beverages	336.611	335.278	334.882	1.2	-0.5	-0.1
Food	338.232	336.813	336.438	1.2	-0.5	-0.1
Food at home	317.847	315.929	315.211	-0.3	-0.8	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products	386.116	385.046	378.797	0.3	-1.9	-1.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	317.801	314.927	316.246	0.0	-0.5	0.4
Dairy and related products	275.912	274.056	267.880	-1.6	-2.9	-2.3
Fruits and vegetables	382.195	378.293	370.866	-0.7	-3.0	-2.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	322.658	316.794	323.057	1.2	0.1	2.0
Other food at home	280.346	281.878	285.091	-1.1	1.7	1.1
Food away from home	378.685	378.117	378.338	4.0	-0.1	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	308.137	308.193	307.470	1.1	-0.2	-0.2
Housing	355.317	355.982	357.462	5.1	0.6	0.4
Shelter	444.186	445.467	447.121	4.9	0.7	0.4
Rent of primary residence	453.146	456.233	456.832	4.3	0.8	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	456.358	458.015	459.528	5.6	0.7	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	455.793	457.448	458.959	5.6	0.7	0.3
Fuels and utilities	257.695	253.178	258.306	10.2	0.2	2.0
Household energy	249.184	243.893	249.165	11.4	0.0	2.2
Energy services	235.768	229.767	236.024	13.6	0.1	2.7
Electricity	235.251	226.880	236.379	19.4	0.5	4.2
Utility (piped) gas service	222.155	221.204	220.675	3.1	-0.7	-0.2
Household furnishings and operations	133.504	134.927	134.025	2.4	0.4	-0.7
Apparel	131.085	130.345	133.315	-3.7	1.7	2.3
Transportation	276.927	277.405	280.719	4.8	1.4	1.2
Private transportation	277.409	276.040	279.701	5.2	0.8	1.3
New and used motor vehicles(3)	123.386	122.707	124.573	2.3	1.0	1.5
New vehicles(1)	259.047	259.345	258.993	0.4	0.0	-0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)	350.557	352.927	355.028	-1.4	1.3	0.6
Motor fuel	257.794	260.937	266.676	-0.3	3.4	2.2
Gasoline (all types)	256.613	259.749	265.490	-0.3	3.5	2.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	252.454	255.807	261.886	-0.5	3.7	2.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	279.810	281.259	285.829	0.6	2.2	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	287.994	290.057	294.053	0.9	2.1	1.4
Medical care	564.674	566.846	565.162	-0.8	0.1	-0.3
Recreation(3)	149.438	151.586	150.882	4.0	1.0	-0.5
Education and communication(3)	159.955	159.958	159.968	0.2	0.0	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,363.667	1,365.958	1,365.942	0.9	0.2	0.0
Other goods and services	497.457	505.954	508.030	3.7	2.1	0.4
Commodity and service group
All items	328.006	328.606	329.829	3.4	0.6	0.4
Commodities	225.829	225.695	226.233	0.0	0.2	0.2
Commodities less food and beverages	162.537	162.930	163.834	-1.0	0.8	0.6
Nondurables less food and beverages	203.164	204.817	206.299	-0.7	1.5	0.7
Durables	110.655	110.148	110.529	-1.2	-0.1	0.3
Services	414.474	415.692	417.493	5.0	0.7	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	317.633	318.173	319.496	3.7	0.6	0.4
All items less shelter	281.548	281.869	282.919	2.4	0.5	0.4
Commodities less food	167.826	168.214	169.088	-0.9	0.8	0.5
Nondurables	270.692	270.867	271.422	0.3	0.3	0.2
Nondurables less food	209.414	210.985	212.351	-0.6	1.4	0.6
Services less rent of shelter(2)	394.315	395.491	397.522	5.0	0.8	0.5
Services less medical care services	399.638	400.773	402.787	5.6	0.8	0.5
Energy	257.051	254.754	260.297	6.9	1.3	2.2
All items less energy	337.557	338.376	339.302	3.2	0.5	0.3
All items less food and energy	339.836	341.051	342.211	3.5	0.7	0.3
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

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