Consumer Price Index, Midwest Region – December 2021

Area prices were up 0.3 percent over the past month, up 7.5 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The food index rose 0.6 percent in December while the index for energy declined 2.1 percent as a result of lower gasoline prices. The all items less food and energy index increased 0.5 percent in December due to advances in the categories for new and used motor vehicles, medical care, household furnishings and operations, and recreation. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 7.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent over the year. Energy prices jumped 30.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices increased 7.5 percent. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices rose 0.6 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent, and prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 7.5 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 7.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 7.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 2.1 percent over the month. The decrease was due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.0 percent) and to a lesser extent, a 0.8 percent drop in costs for natural gas service. The electricity index increased 0.2 percent in December.

Energy prices rose 30.6 percent over the year. Gasoline prices were up 48.8 percent compared to a year ago and natural gas service costs rose 33.7 percent over the year. Prices for electricity advanced 3.8 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.5 percent in December. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (2.0 percent), medical care (0.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.1 percent), and recreation (0.9 percent) were only partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.1 percent) and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (20.2 percent), shelter (4.5 percent), and household furnishings and operations (9.1 percent).

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.7	2.2	0.6	1.6	0.2	0.8	0.4	2.5	0.5	1.2
February	0.2	2.4	0.2	1.7	0.7	1.3	0.3	2.1	0.8	1.7
March	0.1	1.9	0.2	1.8	0.6	1.7	-0.5	1.0	0.7	3.0
April	0.4	1.8	0.4	1.8	0.3	1.5	-1.1	-0.4	0.8	4.9
May	0.0	1.4	0.5	2.3	0.3	1.3	0.3	-0.4	1.0	5.6
June	0.0	0.9	0.2	2.5	0.0	1.2	0.8	0.4	1.0	5.8
July	0.0	1.3	0.0	2.4	0.2	1.5	0.5	0.7	0.6	5.9
August	0.3	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.0	1.5	0.4	1.1	0.2	5.7
September	0.3	1.5	0.1	1.9	0.0	1.4	0.2	1.3	0.2	5.7
October	-0.2	1.5	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.5	-0.1	1.0	0.8	6.6
November	0.2	1.9	-0.6	1.4	-0.2	1.9	-0.2	1.0	0.4	7.3
December	-0.2	1.7	-0.4	1.3	0.0	2.3	0.1	1.1	0.3	7.5

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 10, 2022.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on December 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended almost entirely since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in December was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month.

For each month from March 2020 to December 2021, BLS has published a summary of the impact of the pandemic on the Consumer Price Index news release and data. The impact summary for December is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/consumer-price-index-covid19-impacts-december-2021.htm. Beginning with publication of January 2022 data in February 2022, this month-specific impact summary will be discontinued. However, information related to the impact of the pandemic will continue to be available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.

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 U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 6,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000. Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpiand the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

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 Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: [phone].

Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from
	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Dec. 2020	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021
All items	257.793	258.911	259.609	7.5	0.7	0.3
All items (December 1977 = 100)	419.443	421.262	422.397
Food and beverages	270.883	272.279	273.898	7.1	1.1	0.6
Food	271.335	272.824	274.453	7.5	1.1	0.6
Food at home	249.139	249.142	250.622	7.4	0.6	0.6
Cereals and bakery products	275.701	276.763	280.192	5.6	1.6	1.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	288.098	288.855	289.510	13.5	0.5	0.2
Dairy and related products	212.930	214.270	213.581	1.9	0.3	-0.3
Fruits and vegetables	287.671	285.533	290.090	7.6	0.8	1.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	178.911	177.167	179.750	6.9	0.5	1.5
Other food at home	214.122	214.685	214.591	5.9	0.2	0.0
Food away from home	307.993	311.731	313.604	7.7	1.8	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	263.730	263.968	265.448	1.7	0.7	0.6
Housing	252.586	253.207	253.832	5.9	0.5	0.2
Shelter	299.370	300.638	301.055	4.5	0.6	0.1
Rent of primary residence	300.024	301.403	302.039	3.7	0.7	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of residences	305.161	306.554	307.251	4.1	0.7	0.2
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence	305.072	306.458	307.156	4.1	0.7	0.2
Fuels and utilities	252.684	251.448	251.445	12.0	-0.5	0.0
Household energy	207.489	206.161	206.067	15.0	-0.7	0.0
Energy services	213.649	212.021	211.704	13.7	-0.9	-0.1
Electricity	207.141	205.495	205.980	3.8	-0.6	0.2
Utility (piped) gas service	209.867	208.374	206.809	33.7	-1.5	-0.8
Household furnishings and operations	128.294	128.187	129.614	9.1	1.0	1.1
Apparel	114.918	111.784	110.516	3.6	-3.8	-1.1
Transportation	233.869	238.028	238.179	21.3	1.8	0.1
Private transportation	233.468	237.102	237.489	21.9	1.7	0.2
New and used motor vehicles	118.647	120.995	123.421	20.2	4.0	2.0
New vehicles	154.523	156.811	159.150	12.5	3.0	1.5
New cars and trucks	109.221	110.826	112.491	12.5	3.0	1.5
New cars	151.004	154.160
Used cars and trucks	194.686	199.847	207.038	37.6	6.3	3.6
Motor fuel	287.353	293.355	282.043	48.7	-1.8	-3.9
Gasoline (all types)	286.005	291.916	280.384	48.8	-2.0	-4.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular	279.256	285.061	273.494	49.8	-2.1	-4.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade	327.821	334.716	324.063	43.1	-1.1	-3.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium	304.170	309.998	301.188	39.5	-1.0	-2.8
Motor vehicle insurance	736.807	737.669	736.357	4.8	-0.1	-0.2
Medical care	523.379	524.390	527.708	1.8	0.8	0.6
Medical care commodities	369.884	369.497	370.093	-1.9	0.1	0.2
Medical care services	574.339	575.798	579.994	2.6	1.0	0.7
Professional services	437.642	437.309	439.930	2.4	0.5	0.6
Recreation	126.909	127.123	128.253	3.5	1.1	0.9
Education and communication	142.260	141.904	141.707	0.9	-0.4	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,227.067	1,226.444	1,224.927	0.6	-0.2	-0.1
Other goods and services	463.890	465.276	465.205	4.1	0.3	0.0
Commodity and service group
Commodities	199.863	200.972	201.727	12.4	0.9	0.4
Commodities less food and beverages	165.124	166.079	166.486	15.9	0.8	0.2
Nondurables less food and beverages	208.738	208.651	205.916	14.2	-1.4	-1.3
Durables	120.242	121.706	123.932	17.6	3.1	1.8
Services	317.009	318.113	318.732	4.3	0.5	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	245.313	246.386	247.181	8.8	0.8	0.3
All items less medical care	245.254	246.379	246.950	8.2	0.7	0.2
Commodities less food	168.277	169.216	169.653	15.2	0.8	0.3
Nondurables	239.224	239.844	239.169	10.2	0.0	-0.3
Nondurables less food	211.524	211.458	208.995	13.1	-1.2	-1.2
Services less rent of shelter	345.139	346.078	346.946	4.0	0.5	0.3
Services less medical care services	297.816	298.896	299.232	4.6	0.5	0.1
Energy	243.658	245.627	240.486	30.6	-1.3	-2.1
All items less energy	262.589	263.643	264.891	5.9	0.9	0.5
All items less food and energy	261.811	262.791	263.975	5.7	0.8	0.5
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.