The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Chicago-Gary-Kenosha area edged down 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that energy prices decreased 2.5 percent and food prices increased 0.3 percent in July. The all items less food and energy index saw no change over the month. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices rose for education and communication; shelter; and household furnishings and operations, but were lower for public transportation and apparel in July. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the Chicago area all items CPI-U decreased 0.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The energy index fell 18.8 percent over the year due to falling gasoline prices and utility (piped) gas service costs. The all items less food and energy index was 1.2 percent higher over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.3 percent in July following a 0.2 percent increase in June. Of the two components within the food index, prices for food at home (groceries) rose 0.5 percent while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) edged up 0.1 percent over the month. Within the food at home group, categories experiencing price increases included carbonated drinks and cakes, cupcakes, and cookies, while prices were lower for lettuce.

From July 2014 to July 2015, the food index increased 2.3 percent. Grocery food prices rose 1.5 percent over the year, while prices for food eaten away from home increased 3.5 percent from the previous July.

Energy

The energy index was down 2.5 percent in July, due mostly to a 4.7 percent decrease in gasoline prices.  The electricity index declined 0.7 percent from June to July, while utility (piped) gas service costs had a 1.1 percent increase.

On an annual basis, the Chicago area energy index declined 18.8 percent. Over the year, prices for gasoline, utility (piped) gas service, and electricity fell 20.2 percent, 34.0 percent, and 0.6 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy remained unchanged in July. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for education and communication (0.6 percent), shelter (0.1 percent), and household furnishings and operations (1.0 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for public transportation and apparel (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent. Annual increases in the indexes for shelter (2.4 percent) and medical care (2.9 percent) were the major contributing factors. In contrast, apparel prices were down 5.5 percent and costs for household furnishings and operations declined 1.5 percent over the year.

Table A. Chicago CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.6	1.4	0.6	2.1	0.2	1.2	0.9	1.2	-0.2	0.4
February	0.5	1.8	0.0	1.6	1.1	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	-0.2
March	0.8	2.3	1.2	2.1	-0.1	0.9	1.1	1.9	0.7	-0.6
April	0.4	2.7	0.0	1.7	0.0	0.9	0.5	2.4	0.1	-0.9
May	0.6	3.3	-0.1	1.0	0.5	1.5	-0.1	1.8	0.3	-0.5
June	0.0	3.8	-0.1	0.9	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.0	0.2	-0.7
July	-0.4	3.2	-0.2	1.1	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.9	-0.1	-0.5
August	0.2	3.2	0.6	1.5	0.1	1.1	0.1	1.9
September	0.2	3.1	0.3	1.6	-0.2	0.7	0.0	2.1
October	-0.2	2.9	-0.2	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	2.0
November	-0.2	2.9	-0.4	1.5	-0.3	0.6	-0.8	1.6
December	-0.5	2.1	-0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.5	-0.4	1.5

The August 2015 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 16, 2015.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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/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 Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2015	Jun. 2015	Jul. 2015	Jul. 2014	May 2015	Jun. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	228.494	228.837	228.588	-0.5	0.0	-0.1
All items (1967=100)	682.645	683.671	682.925	-	-	-
Food and beverages	240.318	240.623	241.342	2.1	0.4	0.3
Food	239.823	240.348	241.147	2.3	0.6	0.3
Food at home	237.947	237.049	238.284	1.5	0.1	0.5
Food away from home	237.040	239.574	239.735	3.5	1.1	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	245.943	242.970	242.506	-0.5	-1.4	-0.2
Housing	231.959	231.882	232.275	0.2	0.1	0.2
Shelter	286.568	288.019	288.348	2.4	0.6	0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	303.922	305.505	306.063	3.8	0.7	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	291.884	292.567	293.019	2.5	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	291.884	292.567	293.019	2.5	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities	203.060	196.390	196.291	-11.5	-3.3	-0.1
Household energy	166.847	159.390	159.334	-17.2	-4.5	0.0
Energy services (1)	170.112	162.367	162.332	-17.3	-4.6	0.0
Electricity (1)	178.185	162.951	161.749	-0.6	-9.2	-0.7
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	142.946	146.285	147.867	-34.0	3.4	1.1
Household furnishings and operations	96.145	95.712	96.654	-1.5	0.5	1.0
Apparel	88.657	86.902	86.532	-5.5	-2.4	-0.4
Transportation	190.443	193.672	190.042	-6.5	-0.2	-1.9
Private transportation	185.909	190.499	187.814	-6.2	1.0	-1.4
Motor fuel	256.541	277.470	264.394	-20.2	3.1	-4.7
Gasoline (all types)	253.927	274.695	261.715	-20.2	3.1	-4.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	247.665	267.733	254.318	-20.9	2.7	-5.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	271.120	294.639	283.318	-18.2	4.5	-3.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	257.019	278.413	269.855	-15.9	5.0	-3.1
Medical care	463.528	463.984	463.774	2.9	0.1	0.0
Recreation (5)	110.275	109.725	110.086	0.1	-0.2	0.3
Education and communication (5)	141.260	141.275	142.080	0.5	0.6	0.6
Other goods and services	383.096	383.121	381.913	-0.6	-0.3	-0.3
Commodity and service group
All items	228.494	228.837	228.588	-0.5	0.0	-0.1
Commodities	169.011	170.113	169.318	-2.9	0.2	-0.5
Commodities less food & beverages	132.461	133.875	132.446	-6.5	0.0	-1.1
Nondurables less food & beverages	174.280	177.605	174.838	-9.1	0.3	-1.6
Durables	92.396	92.004	91.842	-1.5	-0.6	-0.2
Services	284.842	284.470	284.735	1.0	0.0	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	218.430	218.769	218.517	-0.8	0.0	-0.1
All items less shelter	209.051	209.005	208.549	-1.8	-0.2	-0.2
Commodities less food	136.644	137.950	136.536	-6.2	-0.1	-1.0
Nondurables	208.177	210.099	208.965	-3.2	0.4	-0.5
Nondurables less food	179.182	182.187	179.528	-8.5	0.2	-1.5
Services less rent of shelter (2)	297.833	295.496	295.702	-0.6	-0.7	0.1
Services less medical care services	271.259	270.843	271.137	0.7	0.0	0.1
Energy	201.380	204.979	199.859	-18.8	-0.8	-2.5
All items less energy	232.881	232.916	233.130	1.4	0.1	0.1
All items less food and energy	232.447	232.392	232.497	1.2	0.0	0.0
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.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.