Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.3 percent in March, following a 0.2-percent increase in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the rise to higher prices for energy and shelter. (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 rose 1.7 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 increased 0.3 percent, after edging up 0.1 percent in February. Prices for food at home rose 0.3 percent, with price increases in five of the six grocery groups. Groceries with higher prices in March included lettuce and bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products. Prices for food away from home increased 0.2 percent.

For the year ending in March 2019, the food index rose 2.6 percent. Food-away-from-home prices advanced 2.9 percent, and food-at-home prices increased 2.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 2.7 percent, after declining in 2.2 percent in February. Gasoline prices jumped 6.0 percent, the first increase since June of last year. Higher prices for electricity (2.8 percent), partially offset by a decline in natural gas (-3.2 percent), led to a 0.6-percent increase in household energy prices.   

Over the year, the energy index was down 1.4 percent. A 2.5-percent decline in electricity prices, partially offset by a 2.5-percent rise in natural gas prices, contributed to a 1.0-percent decline in household energy prices. Gasoline prices decreased 1.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent, after rising 0.5 percent in each of the first two months of the year. Shelter prices rose 0.2 percent, with increases in residential rent (0.3 percent), owners’ equivalent rent (0.1 percent), and lodging away from home. Higher prices were also reported for used cars and trucks (0.9 percent), medical care (0.5 percent), and education and communication (0.3 percent). Price declines in apparel (-1.9 percent), household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent), and recreation (-0.6 percent) largely offset these increases.

From March 2018 to March 2019, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent. A 2.0-percent rise in shelter prices included increases of 2.5 percent for residential rent and 2.2 percent for owners’ equivalent rent. Other expenditure categories posting increases of at least 2.0 percent included medical care (3.8 percent), tuition, other school fees, and childcare (3.3 percent), alcoholic beverages (2.9 percent), and motor vehicle insurance (2.6 percent). In contrast, prices were down 3.1 percent for apparel.

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

Month	2014		2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	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	0.9	1.9	0.1	-0.5	0.2	0.8	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6
February	-0.2	1.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3
March	0.4	1.3	0.2	-0.1	0.2	0.7	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6
April	0.0	1.6	0.1	0.0	0.4	1.0	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9
May	0.5	1.9	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.9	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2
June	0.0	1.7	0.2	0.1	0.2(R)	0.9(R)	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0
July	0.1	1.6	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.0	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2
August	-0.2	1.3	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.1	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2
September	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.3	0.2	1.0	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0
October	-0.2	1.3	-0.1	0.4	0.1	1.2	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0
November	-0.4	0.8	-0.2	0.6	0.2	1.6	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9
December	-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 March, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 271.123, up 0.3 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 1.5 percent over the year.

The April 2019 Consumer Price Index for New York-Newark-Jersey City is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 10, 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.

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