Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.2 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  Acting Regional Commissioner Bryan Droste noted that the July increase was influenced by higher prices for new and used motor vehicles, shelter, and apparel. (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 increased 1.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent over the year. Food prices rose 4.0 percent. Energy prices fell 12.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged for the month of July.  Prices for food at home (groceries) declined 0.4 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.6 percent for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were higher in July for other miscellaneous foods and other fresh vegetables, but lower for pork chops and uncooked ground beef.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 7.3 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home were unchanged.

Energy

The energy index advanced 0.6 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.3 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.0 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service decreased 1.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 12.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-23.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 4.0 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service decreased 3.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in July. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (1.3 percent), shelter (0.1 percent), and apparel (1.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.2 percent) and other goods and services (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (2.2 percent) and recreation (1.9 percent).

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

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.8	0.9	0.7	1.8	0.8	1.8	0.6	0.8	0.9	2.6
February	-0.2	0.7	0.1	2.2	0.0	1.6	0.6	1.4	0.0	2.0
March	0.1	0.2	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5	-0.7	1.1
April	0.6	0.7	0.4	1.7	0.7	2.1	-0.1	0.8	-0.9	0.3
May	0.0	0.3	0.2	1.8	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.4
June	0.5	0.7	0.0	1.3	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0	0.3	1.1
July	-0.8	-0.1	0.0	2.2	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	0.2	1.0
August	0.2	-0.2	0.3	2.3	0.1	1.7	0.2	1.6
September	0.6	0.6	0.4	2.1	0.4	1.6	0.2	1.4
October	0.1	0.8	-0.4	1.6	0.0	2.0	0.3	1.8
November	0.2	1.5	0.4	1.8	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	2.2
December	-0.2	1.9	-0.4	1.7	-0.3	1.1	-0.2	2.2

The August 2020 Consumer Price Index for Chicago is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 11, 2020.

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 93 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, 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-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2020	Jun. 2020	Jul. 2020	Jul. 2019	May 2020	Jun. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	242.650	243.475	244.046	1.0	0.6	0.2
All items (1967=100)	724.936	727.403	729.109	-	-	-
Food and beverages	262.358	261.380	261.891	3.8	-0.2	0.2
Food	262.924	261.520	261.601	4.0	-0.5	0.0
Food at home	251.541	252.216	251.201	7.3	-0.1	-0.4
Cereals and bakery products	276.744	274.718	277.926	4.1	0.4	1.2
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	278.308	292.447	279.904	10.0	0.6	-4.3
Dairy and related products	230.478	226.689	228.118	8.9	-1.0	0.6
Fruits and vegetables	312.519	309.179	312.591	6.4	0.0	1.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	211.929	209.277	207.069	5.7	-2.3	-1.1
Other food at home	201.535	198.971	201.867	7.1	0.2	1.5
Food away from home	272.961	268.653	270.282	0.0	-1.0	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	253.608	258.135	264.204	1.0	4.2	2.4
Housing	258.551	258.871	258.864	2.1	0.1	0.0
Shelter	328.585	329.276	329.702	2.2	0.3	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)	348.344	349.214	350.090	2.6	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	338.070	338.897	339.121	3.0	0.3	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	338.070	338.897	339.121	3.0	0.3	0.1
Fuels and utilities	210.766	207.978	208.234	1.3	-1.2	0.1
Household energy	163.017	159.803	159.964	1.0	-1.9	0.1
Energy services(2)	166.371	163.074	163.230	1.1	-1.9	0.1
Electricity(2)	172.302	164.248	165.959	4.0	-3.7	1.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	143.897	147.961	145.788	-3.4	1.3	-1.5
Household furnishings and operations	90.748	91.522	90.463	1.6	-0.3	-1.2
Apparel	77.607	78.294	79.524	-3.9	2.5	1.6
Transportation	173.100	177.140	178.567	-7.0	3.2	0.8
Private transportation	172.964	177.537	179.789	-5.1	3.9	1.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)	97.501	97.171	98.477	2.2	1.0	1.3
New vehicles(1)	175.528	174.527	174.836	1.5	-0.4	0.2
Used cars and trucks(1)	265.771	262.946	272.236	-1.1	2.4	3.5
Motor fuel	190.983	206.698	209.208	-23.4	9.5	1.2
Gasoline (all types)	188.856	204.664	207.227	-23.4	9.7	1.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	180.957	196.418	198.893	-23.8	9.9	1.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	214.645	229.581	232.457	-22.0	8.3	1.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	216.928	232.306	234.981	-19.6	8.3	1.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	470.457	527.832	540.884	1.5	15.0	2.5
Medical care	532.128	534.562	536.764	-	0.9	0.4
Recreation(4)	114.174	113.634	114.416	1.9	0.2	0.7
Education and communication(4)	142.051	141.326	141.495	0.1	-0.4	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,208.054	1,214.893	1,217.376	2.7	0.8	0.2
Other goods and services	408.491	413.408	409.841	1.1	0.3	-0.9
Commodity and service group
All items	242.650	243.475	244.046	1.0	0.6	0.2
Commodities	166.572	167.392	167.969	-1.1	0.8	0.3
Commodities less food and beverages	120.787	122.203	122.765	-4.5	1.6	0.5
Nondurables less food and beverages	157.391	161.149	162.277	-9.0	3.1	0.7
Durables	85.622	85.448	85.603	1.7	0.0	0.2
Services	315.215	316.008	316.546	2.2	0.4	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	230.193	230.947	231.444	0.5	0.5	0.2
All items less shelter	213.575	214.443	215.060	0.4	0.7	0.3
Commodities less food	125.337	126.846	127.554	-4.2	1.8	0.6
Nondurables	209.334	210.883	211.731	-2.0	1.1	0.4
Nondurables less food	163.555	167.369	168.797	-8.2	3.2	0.9
Services less rent of shelter(3)	316.885	317.824	318.504	2.1	0.5	0.2
Services less medical care services	298.431	299.073	299.467	1.4	0.3	0.1
Energy	173.208	177.580	178.678	-12.6	3.2	0.6
All items less energy	251.119	251.645	252.176	2.1	0.4	0.2
All items less food and energy	249.850	250.728	251.342	1.7	0.6	0.2
Footnotes (1) Index on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Index on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (5) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (6) Index on a December 1993=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.