Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged down 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the downturn to lower prices for energy. (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 increased 1.6 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.5 percent. (See table A and chart 1.) Price increases for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.2 percent in December, after a 0.1-percent dip in November. Prices for food at home increased 0.2 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery groups. Among the grocery items with higher prices were lettuce, tomatoes, frozen fruits and vegetables, and pork chops. Prices for food away from home also rose 0.2 percent, after no change in the previous month.

Over the year, the food index rose 2.2 percent. Food-away-from-home prices were 2.7 percent higher, and food-at-home prices were 1.8 percent higher.

Energy

The energy index declined 2.8 percent for the second consecutive month. Gasoline prices fell 6.7 percent, after a 4.4-percent drop during the previous month. Household energy prices were unchanged with price declines for electricity (0.5 percent) and for fuel oil and other fuels offsetting a 5.6-percent price increase for natural gas.

For the year ended in December 2018, the energy index increased 1.0 percent. Gasoline prices were up 1.3 percent, and household energy prices, 0.8 percent. Within household energy, natural gas prices were 7.7 percent higher, while electricity prices were 3.1 percent lower.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy dipped 0.1 percent, after remaining unchanged for the two previous months. A seasonal decline in apparel prices (-3.6 percent), as well as decreases in airline fares and education and communication (-0.1 percent), including delivery services, contributed to the downturn.

From December 2017 to December 2018, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent. Shelter prices rose 2.0 percent, including a 2.5-percent rise in owners’ equivalent rent and a 2.0-percent increase in residential rent. Other expenditure categories posting increases of at least 2.0 percent included motor vehicle insurance (4.4 percent), medical care (3.3 percent), other goods and services (2.9 percent), and tuition, other school fees, and childcare (2.7 percent).

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

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		2018
	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	0.5	2.2	0.9	1.9	0.1	-0.5	0.2	0.8	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4
February	0.6	2.4	-0.2	1.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7
March	0.1	1.9	0.4	1.3	0.2	-0.1	0.2	0.7	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7
April	-0.2	1.4	0.0	1.6	0.1	0.0	0.4	1.0	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9
May	0.1	1.4	0.5	1.9	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.9	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2
June	0.3	1.8	0.0	1.7	0.2	0.1	0.2(R)	0.9(R)	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0
July	0.2	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.0	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2
August	0.1	1.7	-0.2	1.3	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.1	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2
September	0.3	1.6	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.3	0.2	1.0	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0
October	-0.6	1.1	-0.2	1.3	-0.1	0.4	0.1	1.2	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0
November	0.1	1.2	-0.4	0.8	-0.2	0.6	0.2	1.6	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9
December	0.0	1.5	-0.5	0.3	-0.4	0.7	0.1	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.6
Footnotes: (R) = revised.

CPI-WIn December, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 268.369, down 0.3 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 1.5 percent over the year.

The January 2019 Consumer Price Index for New York-Newark-Jersey City is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., Core Based Statistical Area includes Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; 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-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, not seasonally adjusted
(1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2018	Nov. 2018	Dec. 2018	Dec. 2017	Oct. 2018	Nov. 2018
Expenditure category
All items	275.101	274.478	273.836	1.6	-0.5	-0.2
All items (1967=100)	795.280	793.479	791.621
Food and beverages	268.054	267.789	268.413	2.3	0.1	0.2
Food	267.978	267.775	268.381	2.2	0.2	0.2
Food at home	257.363	256.920	257.467	1.8	0.0	0.2
Cereals and bakery products	296.814	297.196	299.450	2.6	0.9	0.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	254.372	254.660	254.975	0.1	0.2	0.1
Dairy and related products	228.127	226.092	224.573	0.4	-1.6	-0.7
Fruits and vegetables	327.795	332.100	336.830	4.4	2.8	1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	252.442	248.387	246.390	0.9	-2.4	-0.8
Other food at home	227.388	225.480	225.145	1.9	-1.0	-0.1
Food away from home	290.286	290.423	291.130	2.7	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	264.580	263.475	264.326	3.4	-0.1	0.3
Housing	299.024	298.697	299.249	1.8	0.1	0.2
Shelter	378.368	378.954	379.546	2.0	0.3	0.2
Rent of primary residence	391.085	392.388	392.999	2.0	0.5	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)	386.618	387.794	388.356	2.5	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)	386.139	387.314	387.875	2.5	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities	196.518	193.428	193.771	1.3	-1.4	0.2
Household energy	188.009	184.917	184.852	0.8	-1.7	0.0
Energy services	175.830	173.185	176.312	0.9	0.3	1.8
Electricity	182.879	172.410	171.536	-3.1	-6.2	-0.5
Utility (piped) gas service	154.772	164.370	173.498	7.7	12.1	5.6
Household furnishings and operations	109.369	107.772	108.368	0.3	-0.9	0.6
Apparel	129.684	121.875	117.528	-0.5	-9.4	-3.6
Transportation	223.267	221.386	216.186	0.4	-3.2	-2.3
Private transportation	210.526	207.861	204.137	0.7	-3.0	-1.8
New and used motor vehicles(3)	89.117	89.145	89.426	-2.7	0.3	0.3
New vehicles(1)	202.076	202.727	201.708	-0.9	-0.2	-0.5
Used cars and trucks(1)	261.472	264.798	264.360	1.2	1.1	-0.2
Motor fuel	236.304	225.903	210.915	1.3	-10.7	-6.6
Gasoline (all types)	235.198	224.810	209.860	1.3	-10.8	-6.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	234.450	223.756	208.405	1.2	-11.1	-6.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	242.481	233.920	220.941	2.0	-8.9	-5.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	242.405	234.106	222.012	1.9	-8.4	-5.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	757.522	756.979	756.993	4.4	-0.1	0.0
Medical care	494.226	496.557	497.055	3.3	0.6	0.1
Recreation(3)	121.709	123.800	124.279	0.4	2.1	0.4
Education and communication(3)	142.845	142.920	142.726	0.4	-0.1	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,190.756	1,195.654	1,197.848	2.7	0.6	0.2
Other goods and services	430.881	430.765	432.511	2.9	0.4	0.4
Commodity and service group
All items	275.101	274.478	273.836	1.6	-0.5	-0.2
Commodities	193.314	190.751	188.586	0.9	-2.4	-1.1
Commodities less food and beverages	147.651	144.192	140.883	-0.2	-4.6	-2.3
Nondurables less food and beverages	191.513	185.396	179.128	-0.1	-6.5	-3.4
Durables	92.724	92.353	92.459	-0.4	-0.3	0.1
Services	344.563	345.233	345.596	1.8	0.3	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	265.586	264.835	264.143	1.4	-0.5	-0.3
All items less shelter	234.245	233.082	231.888	1.3	-1.0	-0.5
Commodities less food	152.073	148.664	145.461	0.0	-4.3	-2.2
Nondurables	231.681	228.181	225.014	1.2	-2.9	-1.4
Nondurables less food	196.016	190.158	184.263	0.2	-6.0	-3.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)	318.839	319.628	319.746	1.6	0.3	0.0
Services less medical care services	332.007	332.629	332.933	1.6	0.3	0.1
Energy	209.046	203.113	197.330	1.0	-5.6	-2.8
All items less energy	283.435	283.332	283.194	1.6	-0.1	0.0
All items less food and energy	288.066	287.979	287.724	1.5	-0.1	-0.1
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.