Prices in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 percent in February after rising 0.6 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the February increase was primarily due to higher prices for recreation and apparel. (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 advanced 2.6 percent, the largest 12-month increase since March 2012. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.2 percent. (See table A and chart 1.) Higher prices for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index dipped 0.1 percent over the month, after increasing 0.6 percent in January. Prices for food away from home edged down 0.2 percent, while prices for food at home were unchanged. A variety of groceries had higher prices in February, including lettuce, pork chops, and beverage materials including tea, but these price increases were offset by lower prices for food items including soups and snacks. 

Over the year, the food index increased 0.4 percent. A 2.4-percent rise in prices for food away from home was largely offset by a 1.1-percent drop in prices for food at home

Energy

The energy index edged up 0.2 percent after rising at least 2.5 percent in each of the prior three months. Household energy prices rose 1.9 percent in February, but the increase was largely offset by a 2.2-percent fall in gasoline prices, the first decline since August. Within household energy, electricity prices rose 2.0 percent, and natural gas prices increased 2.6 percent.

For the year ended in February 2017, energy prices advanced 18.8 percent, the largest increase since September 2008. Gasoline prices climbed 32.9 percent, and household energy prices rose 11.1 percent. Among household energy components, natural gas jumped 23.7 percent—the largest 12-month increase in 11 years. Electricity prices rose 3.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent, following a 0.4-percent rise in January. Prices for apparel, often up in February, increased 2.7 percent, and prices for recreation jumped 2.0 percent, due in part to higher prices for cable and satellite television service. Prices for shelter and medical care, however, were unchanged over the month. Within shelter, residential rent ticked up 0.1 percent, and owners’ equivalent rent was flat.

From February 2016 to February 2017, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.9 percent. Shelter prices increased 2.8 percent. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 2.7 percent and residential rent, 2.4 percent. Recreation prices advanced 3.9 percent, and medical care prices increased 3.7 percent. Apparel prices, in contrast, declined 0.7 percent.

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

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	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	0.4	2.8	0.5	2.2	0.9	1.9	0.1	-0.5	0.2	0.8	0.6	2.5
February	0.4	2.6	0.6	2.4	-0.2	1.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.3	2.6
March	0.6	2.6	0.1	1.9	0.4	1.3	0.2	-0.1	0.2	0.7
April	0.2	2.4	-0.2	1.4	0.0	1.6	0.1	0.0	0.4	1.0
May	0.1	1.8	0.1	1.4	0.5	1.9	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.9
June	-0.1	1.6	0.3	1.8	0.0	1.7	0.2	0.1	0.2(R)	0.9(R)
July	-0.2	1.1	0.2	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.0
August	0.6	1.4	0.1	1.7	-0.2	1.3	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.1
September	0.4	1.6	0.3	1.6	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.3	0.2	1.0
October	-0.1	1.7	-0.6	1.1	-0.2	1.3	-0.1	0.4	0.1	1.2
November	0.0	2.0	0.1	1.2	-0.4	0.8	-0.2	0.6	0.2	1.6
December	-0.3	2.1	0.0	1.5	-0.5	0.3	-0.4	0.7	0.1	2.1
Footnotes: (R) = revised.

CPI-W

In February, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 262.086, up 0.3 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 2.7 percent over the year.

The March 2017 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released Friday, April 14, 2017, 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.

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