Consumer Price Index, New York-Newark-Jersey City – December 2021

News Release Information

22-43-NEW
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Area prices down 0.2 percent over the month and up 4.4 percent over the year

Prices in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.2 percent in December, following a 0.3-percent increase in each of the prior two months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli attributed the decrease to lower prices for energy and other non-food items. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the year, the CPI-U advanced 4.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent. Energy prices jumped 21.8 percent, driven by gasoline price increases. Food prices rose 6.4 percent. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices increased 0.3 percent in December. Prices for food at home rose 0.4 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.1 percent.

Over the year, food prices rose 6.4 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 6.0 percent, while prices for food away from home increased 6.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 1.3 percent over the month, with a 1.3-percent decline in household energy prices. Within household energy, electricity prices-down 3.4 percent-were partially offset by increases in natural gas prices-up 3.5 percent. Gasoline prices were down 1.2 percent in December, following 12 consecutive months of increases.

Energy prices climbed 21.8 percent over the year, primarily due to a 50.9-percent jump in gasoline prices. Household energy prices rose 5.5 percent. Within household energy, natural gas prices increased 19.8 percent, while electricity prices declined 5.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent in December. Lower prices for shelter (-0.3 percent) and recreation (-1.5 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (1.7 percent) and household furnishings and operations (1.3 percent).

From December 2020 to December 2021, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent. An 18.2-percent rise in prices for new and used motor vehicles included a 38.1-percent jump in prices for used cars and trucks. Prices for shelter increased 1.2 percent. Among shelter components, owners' equivalent rent rose 1.6 percent, while residential rent edged up 0.2 percent. Household furnishings and operations rose 8.6 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	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6	0.8	2.5	0.4	1.2
February	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.2	2.4	0.3	1.4
March	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6	-0.2	2.0	0.4	2.0
April	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1	0.7	3.2
May	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4	0.5	3.2
June	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3	1.0	4.1
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7	-0.1	3.5
August	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4	0.1	3.7
September	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9	0.5	3.8
October	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7	0.3	4.3
November	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4	0.3	5.0
December	0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6	-0.2	4.4

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the New York-Newark-Jersey City area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 measures 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-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 individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: [phone].

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Dec. 2020	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021
Expenditure category
All items	296.472	297.490	296.865	4.4	0.1	-0.2
All items (1967=100)	857.059	860.003	858.197
Food and beverages	297.968	300.351	301.014	6.0	1.0	0.2
Food	299.049	301.334	302.121	6.4	1.0	0.3
Food at home	281.298	283.223	284.340	6.0	1.1	0.4
Cereals and bakery products	319.918	325.432	325.086	4.2	1.6	-0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	298.135	303.561	302.863	14.9	1.6	-0.2
Dairy and related products	241.650	243.515	249.876	4.2	3.4	2.6
Fruits and vegetables	340.750	343.561	342.009	-1.2	0.4	-0.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	279.078	276.801	278.989	5.6	0.0	0.8
Other food at home	244.643	243.003	245.372	5.1	0.3	1.0
Food away from home	332.368	335.227	335.567	6.9	1.0	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	278.108	281.782	280.751	0.6	1.0	-0.4
Housing	316.451	317.081	316.425	2.1	0.0	-0.2
Shelter	397.565	398.601	397.582	1.2	0.0	-0.3
Rent of primary residence	410.024	410.245	410.839	0.2	0.2	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences	407.277	407.973	408.337	1.6	0.3	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence	406.773	407.468	407.832	1.6	0.3	0.1
Fuels and utilities	215.260	212.512	210.056	5.2	-2.4	-1.2
Household energy	205.259	202.221	199.504	5.5	-2.8	-1.3
Energy services	194.851	191.445	189.511	2.4	-2.7	-1.0
Electricity	189.933	183.584	177.392	-5.3	-6.6	-3.4
Utility (piped) gas service	191.279	194.030	200.794	19.8	5.0	3.5
Household furnishings and operations	120.390	121.767	123.350	8.6	2.5	1.3
Apparel	128.729	123.389	121.188	7.1	-5.9	-1.8
Transportation	243.749	247.737	247.278	14.7	1.4	-0.2
Private transportation	241.912	245.805	247.184	19.9	2.2	0.6
New and used motor vehicles	108.791	110.560	112.455	18.2	3.4	1.7
New vehicles	234.143	237.957	236.025	13.1	0.8	-0.8
Used cars and trucks	379.652	388.432	402.629	38.1	6.1	3.7
Motor fuel	266.644	277.098	273.756	50.6	2.7	-1.2
Gasoline (all types)	265.799	276.242	272.929	50.9	2.7	-1.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular	265.288	275.908	272.403	52.7	2.7	-1.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade	272.936	282.846	280.706	42.8	2.8	-0.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium	271.924	281.379	279.159	38.7	2.7	-0.8
Motor vehicle insurance	781.223	781.194	783.181	5.1	0.3	0.3
Medical care	537.642	540.729	542.646	1.2	0.9	0.4
Recreation	138.870	140.562	138.384	4.0	-0.3	-1.5
Education and communication	155.327	155.350	155.115	3.4	-0.1	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,305.689	1,305.689	1,302.743	2.5	-0.2	-0.2
Other goods and services	466.697	459.329	460.486	2.6	-1.3	0.3
Commodity and service group
All items	296.472	297.490	296.865	4.4	0.1	-0.2
Commodities	210.314	211.587	211.471	10.6	0.6	-0.1
Commodities less food and beverages	157.720	158.413	157.953	14.9	0.1	-0.3
Nondurables less food and beverages	196.570	196.548	194.047	14.4	-1.3	-1.3
Durables	107.002	108.264	109.670	15.8	2.5	1.3
Services	369.375	370.231	369.208	1.9	0.0	-0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	285.982	286.912	286.182	4.7	0.1	-0.3
All items less shelter	256.352	257.363	256.895	6.5	0.2	-0.2
Commodities less food	162.312	163.099	162.619	14.1	0.2	-0.3
Nondurables	248.516	249.654	248.642	9.4	0.1	-0.4
Nondurables less food	201.499	201.691	199.273	13.1	-1.1	-1.2
Services less rent of shelter	350.106	350.790	349.746	2.8	-0.1	-0.3
Services less medical care services	354.343	354.983	353.729	1.9	-0.2	-0.4
Energy	231.275	233.247	230.256	21.8	-0.4	-1.3
All items less energy	305.179	306.129	305.694	3.5	0.2	-0.1
All items less food and energy	308.434	309.172	308.535	3.0	0.0	-0.2