Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.6 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the food index increased 0.5 percent, and the energy index rose 4.2 percent in February. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.3 percent in February. Among the indexes within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher for recreation, household furnishings and operations, 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 rose 1.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 5.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent over the year. Energy prices increased 0.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of utility (piped) gas service. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.5 percent for the month of February. Prices for food at home (groceries) decreased 1.0 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 2.3 percent for the same period. Within the food at home group, indexes were lower in February for other fresh vegetables, lettuce, and frozen and freeze dried prepared foods.

Over the year, food prices rose 5.5 percent. Prices for food at home rose 3.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home advanced 8.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.2 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (7.7 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 1.3 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 1.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 0.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for utility (piped) gas service (8.0 percent). Prices paid for gasoline advanced 1.2 percent, while prices for electricity decreased 4.8 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in February. Higher prices for recreation (3.0 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.2 percent), and apparel (1.5 percent) were contributing factors.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (1.7 percent), new and used motor vehicles (2.5 percent), and recreation (2.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-4.7 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-8.0 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	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	0.7	1.8	0.8	1.8	0.6	0.8	0.9	2.6	0.7	0.7
February	0.1	2.2	0.0	1.6	0.6	1.4	0.0	2.0	0.6	1.2
March	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.8	0.1	1.5	-0.7	1.1
April	0.4	1.7	0.7	2.1	-0.1	0.8	-0.9	0.3
May	0.2	1.8	0.4	2.3	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.4
June	0.0	1.3	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	1.0	0.3	1.1
July	0.0	2.2	-0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	0.2	1.0
August	0.3	2.3	0.1	1.7	0.2	1.6	0.1	1.0
September	0.4	2.1	0.4	1.6	0.2	1.4	0.6	1.4
October	-0.4	1.6	0.0	2.0	0.3	1.8	-0.1	1.0
November	0.4	1.8	-0.6	1.0	-0.2	2.2	-0.4	0.8
December	-0.4	1.7	-0.3	1.1	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	0.9

The March 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 13, 2021.

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/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 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 individuals with sensory impairments 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-
	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021	Feb. 2020	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021
Expenditure category
All items	244.235	246.008	247.387	1.2	1.3	0.6
All items (1967=100)	729.673	734.970	739.089	-	-	-
Food and beverages	265.590	268.085	269.599	5.5	1.5	0.6
Food	265.459	267.960	269.334	5.5	1.5	0.5
Food at home	247.226	249.411	247.034	3.4	-0.1	-1.0
Cereals and bakery products	277.367	280.160	283.585	5.4	2.2	1.2
Meats, poultry, fish and eggs	267.326	264.775	262.222	1.3	-1.9	-1.0
Dairy and related products	224.876	229.751	228.352	4.0	1.5	-0.6
Fruits and vegetables	314.042	322.852	307.816	0.4	-2.0	-4.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	207.245	208.695	212.581	6.1	2.6	1.9
Other food at home	198.202	199.599	198.055	4.9	-0.1	-0.8
Food away from home	285.114	288.005	294.649	8.1	3.3	2.3
Alcoholic beverages	265.835	268.235	271.539	5.7	2.1	1.2
Housing	260.098	260.496	261.111	1.5	0.4	0.2
Shelter	331.560	332.383	332.520	1.7	0.3	0.0
Rent of primary residence(2)	354.001	354.330	355.015	2.3	0.3	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	342.176	343.037	343.187	2.2	0.3	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)(3)	342.176	343.037	343.187	2.2	0.3	0.0
Fuels and utilities	209.972	209.982	211.752	0.3	0.8	0.8
Household energy	161.384	161.535	163.304	-0.1	1.2	1.1
Energy services(2)	164.653	164.791	166.578	-0.1	1.2	1.1
Electricity(2)	162.431	160.875	162.441	-4.8	0.0	1.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	154.471	157.124	159.093	8.0	3.0	1.3
Household furnishings and operations	89.955	89.537	90.626	1.1	0.7	1.2
Apparel	77.675	81.311	82.551	-4.7	6.3	1.5
Transportation	176.894	180.646	183.848	-1.3	3.9	1.8
Private transportation	178.651	181.898	185.258	0.9	3.7	1.8
New and used motor vehicles(4)	98.913	98.780	99.255	2.5	0.3	0.5
New vehicles(1)	174.468	178.438	178.926	1.9	2.6	0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)	289.813	287.743	288.278	9.4	-0.5	0.2
Motor fuel	202.109	218.179	234.916	1.2	16.2	7.7
Gasoline (all types)	200.005	215.937	232.627	1.2	16.3	7.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)	191.939	207.432	223.654	1.2	16.5	7.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)	224.519	240.008	260.261	1.8	15.9	8.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)	227.023	243.622	258.655	1.5	13.9	6.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	500.010	508.159	502.996	-8.0	0.6	-1.0
Medical care	533.028	536.511	533.523	0.1	0.1	-0.6
Recreation(4)	113.473	114.161	117.597	2.6	3.6	3.0
Education and communication(4)	141.366	141.344	141.553	-0.8	0.1	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)	1,218.595	1,220.439	1,221.704	1.0	0.3	0.1
Other goods and services	404.635	405.674	403.580	-0.9	-0.3	-0.5
Commodity and service group
All items	244.235	246.008	247.387	1.2	1.3	0.6
Commodities	168.208	170.924	172.650	2.4	2.6	1.0
Commodities less food and beverages	121.736	124.351	126.039	0.2	3.5	1.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	158.107	163.620	167.029	-2.2	5.6	2.1
Durables	86.615	87.173	87.625	3.1	1.2	0.5
Services	316.670	317.316	318.245	0.5	0.5	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	231.818	233.519	235.110	1.3	1.4	0.7
All items less shelter	214.698	216.779	218.563	1.0	1.8	0.8
Commodities less food	126.584	129.218	130.963	0.4	3.5	1.4
Nondurables	211.258	215.401	217.950	2.2	3.2	1.2
Nondurables less food	164.966	170.304	173.715	-1.5	5.3	2.0
Services less rent of shelter(3)	316.882	317.361	319.193	-0.8	0.7	0.6
Services less medical care services	299.653	300.080	301.338	0.4	0.6	0.4
Energy	176.684	183.197	190.938	0.5	8.1	4.2
All items less energy	252.556	253.936	254.777	1.3	0.9	0.3
All items less food and energy	251.094	252.275	253.022	0.5	0.8	0.3
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.