Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.5 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The all items less food and energy index increased 0.6 percent, led by an increase in the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences. Food prices increased 0.3 percent over the month. A decline in the index for energy (-1.0 percent) was almost entirely driven by falling natural gas service prices. (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 advanced 5.6 percent. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent over the year, while food prices advanced 10.2 percent. Energy prices rose 2.8 percent over the same period. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Midwest region, February 2020–February 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Feb 2020	2.1	2.2
Mar 2020	1.0	1.8
Apr 2020	-0.4	1.2
May 2020	-0.4	0.8
Jun 2020	0.4	1.2
Jul 2020	0.7	1.6
Aug 2020	1.1	1.9
Sep 2020	1.3	1.9
Oct 2020	1.0	1.6
Nov 2020	1.0	1.6
Dec 2020	1.1	1.6
Jan 2021	1.2	1.2
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Mar 2021	3.0	1.8
Apr 2021	4.9	3.3
May 2021	5.6	4.3
Jun 2021	5.8	4.6
Jul 2021	5.9	4.6
Aug 2021	5.7	4.2
Sep 2021	5.7	4.0
Oct 2021	6.6	4.6
Nov 2021	7.3	5.0
Dec 2021	7.5	5.7
Jan 2022	7.9	6.4
Feb 2022	8.0	6.4
Mar 2022	8.6	6.4
Apr 2022	8.2	6.0
May 2022	8.8	5.9
Jun 2022	9.5	5.7
Jul 2022	8.6	5.4
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Sep 2022	8.1	6.2
Oct 2022	7.4	5.8
Nov 2022	6.8	5.5
Dec 2022	6.0	5.2
Jan 2023	6.0	4.9
Feb 2023	5.6	5.0

Food prices increased 0.3 percent for the month of February. Prices for food at home (grocery store products) similarly rose 0.3 percent, while prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) advanced 0.4 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, prices paid for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+1.6 percent) and other food at home (+0.7 percent) contributed most to the over-the-month increase. Declining prices for fruits and vegetables (-0.7 percent) somewhat moderated these increases.

Over the year, food prices advanced 10.2 percent. Prices for food at home rose 10.8 percent since a year ago, with all six major grocery store food group indexes contributing to the rise. The other food at home index (which includes sugar, sweets, fats, and oils) contributed the most to the rise at 14.0 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 9.3 percent over the same period.

The energy index fell 1.0 percent over the month. The decrease was almost entirely due to lower prices for natural gas service (-5.7 percent), but the index for electricity also declined (-0.1 percent). An increase in the index for gasoline (+0.2 percent) somewhat offset these decreases.

From February 2022 to February 2023, energy prices rose 2.8 percent, largely due to higher prices for electricity (+7.2 percent) and natural gas service (+6.6 percent). Partially offsetting the rise was a decrease in prices paid for gasoline (-1.2 percent) for the same period.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in February. The over-the-month increase was most driven by higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (+1.8 percent), and apparel (+3.6 percent). Partially offsetting the rise were declining prices paid for used cars and trucks (-1.5 percent) and medical care services (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent. The largest component contributing to the increase was owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+6.7 percent), establishing a new series high. Increases to rent of primary residence (+7.2 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+7.3 percent) also made notable contributions. Partly offsetting these increases was a decline in prices paid for used cars and trucks (-13.7 percent).

The March 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.

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 Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

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.