Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), inched down 0.1 percent, after edging up 0.2 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the decrease largely to lower energy prices. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U was up 0.4 percent. (See table A.) The October increase was the largest since November 2014. (See chart 1.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent. (See table 1.)

 

Food

The food index inched up 0.1 percent in October, following a 0.4-percent increase in September. Higher prices for breakfast cereal and coffee contributed to a 0.1-percent increase in prices for food at home. Prices for food away from home were unchanged.

Over the year, the food index increased 1.6 percent. At-home food prices rose 1.4 percent, while away-from-home food prices rose 1.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 4.8 percent in October. Gasoline prices dropped 5.7 percent, down for the fourth consecutive month. A 5.4-percent seasonal decline in electricity prices also contributed to lower energy prices, as did decreases in prices for natural gas (-1.8 percent) and fuel oil.

For the year ended October 2015, the energy index fell 19.9 percent, largely due to a 31.9-percent drop in gasoline prices. Household energy prices fell 10.0 percent due to lower prices for natural gas (-8.6 percent), electricity (-5.0 percent), and fuel oil.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent after a 0.5-percent increase in September. Medical care prices rose 1.7 percent. Shelter prices advanced 0.2 percent, reflecting increases of 0.4 percent for residential rent and 0.1 percent for owners’ equivalent rent. Moderating the rise of the all items less food and energy index was a 3.1-percent decline in apparel prices.

From October 2014 to October 2015, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent. Shelter prices rose 3.1 percent, reflecting higher prices for residential rent (3.7 percent) and owners’ equivalent rent (3.1 percent). The advance in the residential rent index was the largest since June 2009. Prices for medical care rose 3.2 percent.

Table A. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2010		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	1-month	12-month
January	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.5	0.4	2.8	0.5	2.2	0.9	1.9	0.1	-0.5
February	0.0	1.8	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.6	0.6	2.4	-0.2	1.1	0.3	0.1
March	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.3	0.6	2.6	0.1	1.9	0.4	1.3	0.2	-0.1
April	0.2	2.1	0.4	2.5	0.2	2.4	-0.2	1.4	0.0	1.6	0.1	0.0
May	0.2	2.2	0.6	2.9	0.1	1.8	0.1	1.4	0.5	1.9	0.4	-0.1
June	-0.1	1.5	0.2	3.2	-0.1	1.6	0.3	1.8	0.0	1.7	0.2	0.1
July	0.1	1.5	0.3	3.3	-0.2	1.1	0.2	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.1	-0.1
August	0.2	1.4	0.4	3.5	0.6	1.4	0.1	1.7	-0.2	1.3	0.1	0.1
September	0.0	1.2	0.2	3.8	0.4	1.6	0.3	1.6	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.3
October	0.2	1.5	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	1.7	-0.6	1.1	-0.2	1.3	-0.1	0.4
November	0.0	1.3	-0.3	3.0	0.0	2.0	0.1	1.2	-0.4	0.8
December	0.0	1.4	-0.4	2.7	-0.3	2.1	0.0	1.5	-0.5	0.3

CPI-W

In October, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 255.932, down 0.2 percent over the month. The CPI-W was unchanged over the year.

The November 2015 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Tuesday, December 15, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 approximately 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/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 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. consolidated area covered in this release is comprised of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, Middlesex, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

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, New York-Northern N.J.-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)(not seasonally adjusted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Aug. 2015	Sept. 2015	Oct. 2015	Oct. 2014	Aug. 2015	Sept. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	261.347	261.887	261.515	0.4	0.1	-0.1
All items (1967=100)	755.517	757.080	756.003
Food and beverages	256.254	257.249	257.485	1.6	0.5	0.1
Food	256.147	257.272	257.468	1.6	0.5	0.1
Food at home	254.656	255.562	255.938	1.4	0.5	0.1
Food away from home	264.980	266.439	266.390	1.8	0.5	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	253.419	252.427	253.265	1.9	-0.1	0.3
Housing	279.988	281.295	280.808	1.6	0.3	-0.2
Shelter	351.038	353.080	353.807	3.1	0.8	0.2
Rent of primary residence (1)	360.239	363.025	364.511	3.7	1.2	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	357.346	359.282	359.793	3.1	0.7	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	356.962	358.867	359.380	3.0	0.7	0.1
Fuels and utilities	185.294	183.888	177.376	-8.3	-4.3	-3.5
Household energy	177.971	176.237	168.873	-10.0	-5.1	-4.2
Energy services (1)	172.104	170.232	162.600	-6.0	-5.5	-4.5
Electricity (1)	187.481	185.034	174.991	-5.0	-6.7	-5.4
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	135.772	135.133	132.664	-8.6	-2.3	-1.8
Household furnishings and operations	113.295	114.099	113.679	-3.2	0.3	-0.4
Apparel	131.507	136.900	132.622	1.7	0.8	-3.1
Transportation	215.733	211.043	209.410	-7.5	-2.9	-0.8
Private transportation	201.825	197.045	194.577	-8.8	-3.6	-1.3
Motor fuel	206.476	186.623	175.975	-31.9	-14.8	-5.7
Gasoline (all types)	205.570	185.782	175.165	-31.9	-14.8	-5.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	204.321	183.471	172.554	-32.9	-15.5	-6.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	216.306	200.936	191.207	-27.8	-11.6	-4.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	217.238	203.448	194.610	-25.6	-10.4	-4.3
Medical care	447.186	445.282	452.809	3.2	1.3	1.7
Recreation (5)	118.631	118.392	119.023	0.4	0.3	0.5
Education and communication (5)	141.283	142.713	142.863	1.4	1.1	0.1
Other goods and services	404.239	405.528	406.409	1.4	0.5	0.2
Commodity and service group
All items	261.347	261.887	261.515	0.4	0.1	-0.1
Commodities	189.319	189.115	187.444	-3.3	-1.0	-0.9
Commodities less food and beverages	147.649	146.878	144.375	-7.2	-2.2	-1.7
Nondurables less food and beverages	185.517	183.949	179.477	-9.8	-3.3	-2.4
Durables	98.894	99.002	98.710	-1.8	-0.2	-0.3
Services	322.714	323.852	324.499	2.2	0.6	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	253.238	253.870	253.196	0.2	0.0	-0.3
All items less shelter	225.997	225.906	225.062	-1.3	-0.4	-0.4
Commodities less food	151.745	150.963	148.540	-6.8	-2.1	-1.6
Nondurables	222.589	222.239	219.980	-3.7	-1.2	-1.0
Nondurables less food	189.766	188.224	184.023	-9.1	-3.0	-2.2
Services less rent of shelter (2)	302.539	302.694	303.266	1.0	0.2	0.2
Services less medical care services	312.851	314.068	314.275	2.1	0.5	0.1
Energy	191.334	182.653	173.933	-19.9	-9.1	-4.8
All items less energy	269.948	271.373	271.795	2.0	0.7	0.2
All items less food and energy	274.190	275.679	276.144	2.0	0.7	0.2
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.
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA consolidated area comprises the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield, New Haven, and Middlesex Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.