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 in October, following increases of 0.6 percent in August and 0.4 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli said the downturn was primarily due to lower prices for energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U advanced 1.7 percent. (See chart 1. and table A. ) The over-the-year increase was primarily due to higher prices for shelter. Food, gasoline, and medical care also contributed to the rise. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent.

Food

The food index edged up 0.2 percent, after dipping 0.1 percent in September. Higher prices for groceries, including tomatoes and pork products, pushed the food-at-home index up 0.3 percent. Prices for food away from home ticked up 0.1 percent.

For the year ended in October 2012, the food index rose 1.9 percent. At-home food prices increased 1.4 percent, and away-from-home food prices rose 2.5 percent. (See table 1.)

Energy

The energy index dropped 2.3 percent in October, following increases of 3.4 percent in September and 2.4 percent in August. With the removal of seasonal surcharges, electricity prices fell 7.6 percent. Despite higher charges for natural gas (1.8 percent) and fuel oil, the decline in electricity pulled down household energy prices 3.6 percent. Gasoline also posted an October price decrease, -1.1 percent, in contrast to increases during the two prior months.

From October 2011 to October 2012, energy prices advanced 3.3 percent. A 10.1-percent increase in gasoline prices overshadowed a 2.8-percent decline in household energy, which reflected lower prices for both natural gas and electricity.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy ticked up 0.1 percent, following a 0.2-percent rise in September. Shelter prices edged up 0.2 percent, with residential rent and owners’ equivalent rent each increasing by 0.2 percent. Other goods and services rose 0.8 percent, partially reflecting higher funeral expenses. The price of motor vehicle insurance also rose. These advances, however, were largely offset by a 2.5-percent decline in apparel prices and a 0.4-precent drop in household furnishings and operations. Price decreases were also reported for used cars and trucks.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent. Prices increased for medical care (4.7 percent), other goods and services (2.2 percent), and shelter (1.6 percent). On the other hand, apparel prices dropped 2.1 percent.

CPI-W

In October, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 250.539, down 0.2 percent over the month. The CPI-W increased 1.7 percent over the year.

The November 2012 Consumer Price Index for New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island is scheduled to be released on Friday, December 14, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 25,000 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/homch17_a.htm.

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; TDD message referral phone number: 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. 2012	Sept. 2012	Oct. 2012	Oct. 2011	Aug. 2012	Sept. 2012
Expenditure category
All items	253.472	254.554	254.277	1.7	0.3	-0.1
All items (1967=100)	732.751	735.879	735.080
Food and beverages	244.211	244.015	244.664	1.9	0.2	0.3
Food	243.779	243.556	244.124	1.9	0.1	0.2
Food at home	243.344	242.835	243.651	1.4	0.1	0.3
Food away from home	250.857	251.001	251.262	2.5	0.2	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	246.486	246.684	248.452	1.8	0.8	0.7
Housing	266.008	266.552	265.971	1.2	0.0	-0.2
Shelter	325.299	325.264	325.920	1.6	0.2	0.2
Rent of primary residence (1)	329.964	330.906	331.459	2.4	0.5	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences (1) (2)	332.036	332.480	333.107	1.5	0.3	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence (1) (2)	331.857	332.300	332.931	1.5	0.3	0.2
Fuels and utilities	198.149	202.433	195.984	-2.0	-1.1	-3.2
Household energy	194.197	198.945	191.714	-2.8	-1.3	-3.6
Energy services (1)	178.173	182.499	173.670	-4.6	-2.5	-4.8
Electricity (1)	183.321	190.635	176.088	-2.5	-3.9	-7.6
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	162.485	160.734	163.547	-8.5	0.7	1.8
Household furnishings and operations	122.039	121.717	121.219	0.7	-0.7	-0.4
Apparel	126.515	131.132	127.798	-2.1	1.0	-2.5
Transportation	228.775	231.409	231.761	3.0	1.3	0.2
Private transportation	218.182	220.918	220.964	3.5	1.3	0.0
Motor fuel	296.917	309.887	306.696	10.0	3.3	-1.0
Gasoline (all types)	296.016	309.028	305.757	10.1	3.3	-1.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	299.363	312.702	309.072	10.1	3.2	-1.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	296.945	310.115	307.346	10.0	3.5	-0.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	290.172	301.927	299.865	10.0	3.3	-0.7
Medical care	414.055	414.170	413.925	4.7	0.0	-0.1
Recreation (5)	118.698	118.623	118.718	1.8	0.0	0.1
Education and communication (5)	139.613	140.191	140.314	1.6	0.5	0.1
Other goods and services	391.735	391.219	394.396	2.2	0.7	0.8
Commodity and service group
All items	253.472	254.554	254.277	1.7	0.3	-0.1
Commodities	194.680	196.353	195.641	1.8	0.5	-0.4
Commodities less food and beverages	161.139	163.638	162.300	1.7	0.7	-0.8
Nondurables less food and beverages	205.953	211.162	208.787	2.8	1.4	-1.1
Durables	104.265	103.644	103.515	-0.4	-0.7	-0.1
Services	303.899	304.478	304.573	1.6	0.2	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	246.341	247.451	247.175	1.5	0.3	-0.1
All items less shelter	225.443	226.966	226.322	1.7	0.4	-0.3
Commodities less food	164.711	167.152	165.903	1.7	0.7	-0.7
Nondurables	227.622	230.307	229.353	2.3	0.8	-0.4
Nondurables less food	208.767	213.703	211.558	2.7	1.3	-1.0
Services less rent of shelter (2)	291.109	292.260	291.731	1.6	0.2	-0.2
Services less medical care services	294.959	295.561	295.653	1.4	0.2	0.0
Energy	236.440	244.487	238.804	3.3	1.0	-2.3
All items less energy	256.921	257.322	257.578	1.5	0.3	0.1
All items less food and energy	260.930	261.454	261.651	1.5	0.3	0.1
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.