Consumer Price Index, New York-Newark-Jersey City – December 2020

News Release Information

21-33-NEW
Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Area prices up 0.4 percent over the month and 1.6 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), rose 0.4 percent in December, following a 0.3-percent decline in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that higher energy prices contributed to the upturn. (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 rose 1.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 4.1 percent and shelter prices, 1.3 percent. Energy prices declined 4.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 0.3 percent in December, after edging down 0.2 percent in November. Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent. At-home food prices rose 0.2 percent, with three of the six major grocery groups recording price increases.

Over the year, the food index was up 4.1 percent, with rising prices for food away from home (4.6 percent) and for food at home (3.7 percent).

Energy

The energy index rose 3.4 percent in December, following a 0.6-percent increase in November. Household energy prices rose 3.4 percent, with higher prices for electricity (4.6 percent) partially offset by lower prices for natural gas (-0.8 percent). Gasoline prices were up 3.5 percent.

From December 2019 to December 2020, energy prices declined 4.9 percent, primarily due to a 14.6-percent fall in gasoline prices. Household energy prices were up 1.6 percent, driven by higher electricity prices (9.3 percent) which were partially offset by lower prices for natural gas (-2.6 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in December, after a 0.4-percent November decline. Other goods and services, up 3.4 percent, and household furnishings and operations, up 2.3 percent, drove the overall category increase.

For the year ended in December 2020, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent. A 1.3-percent rise in shelter prices included increases of 1.6 percent for owners' equivalent and 1.3 percent for residential rent. Prices for medical care rose 3.2 percent, recreation rose 3.8 percent, and new and used motor vehicles rose 5.3 percent.

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	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	0.1	-0.5	0.2	0.8	0.6	2.5	0.4	1.4	0.5	1.6	0.8	2.5
February	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.3	2.6	0.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.2	2.4
March	0.2	-0.1	0.2	0.7	0.0	2.3	0.0	1.7	0.3	1.6	-0.2	2.0
April	0.1	0.0	0.4	1.0	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.9	0.3	1.6	-0.5	1.1
May	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.9	0.1	1.8	0.4	2.2	0.2	1.5	0.5	1.4
June	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.9	0.2	1.8	0.1	2.0	0.3	1.7	0.1	1.3
July	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.0	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.2	0.0	1.7	0.5	1.7
August	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.1	0.2	1.7	0.1	2.2	0.2	1.8	-0.1	1.4
September	0.2	0.3	0.2	1.0	0.5	2.1	0.4	2.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.9
October	-0.1	0.4	0.1	1.2	-0.2	1.8	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.5	-0.2	1.7
November	-0.2	0.6	0.2	1.6	-0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.9	0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.4
December	-0.4	0.7	0.1	2.1	0.1	1.6	-0.2	1.6	0.1	2.2	0.4	1.6

CPI-W

In December, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 278.844, up 0.4 percent over the month. The CPI-W rose 1.8 percent over the year.

The January 2021 Consumer Price Index for New York-Newark-Jersey City is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 10, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on December 2020 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended 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. Additional information is available at

https://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. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020	Dec. 2019	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	284.121	283.291	284.350	1.6	0.1	0.4
All items (1967=100)	821.355	818.956	822.015
Food and beverages	283.288	282.741	283.888	4.1	0.2	0.4
Food	283.504	283.049	283.892	4.1	0.1	0.3
Food at home	268.221	267.638	268.160	3.7	0.0	0.2
Cereals and bakery products	309.804	311.966	312.008	3.0	0.7	0.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	267.554	264.553	263.533	2.8	-1.5	-0.4
Dairy and related products	238.447	237.267	239.769	5.3	0.6	1.1
Fruits and vegetables	340.972	345.518	346.208	3.5	1.5	0.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	258.466	254.793	264.311	7.8	2.3	3.7
Other food at home	236.981	235.920	233.564	2.9	-1.4	-1.0
Food away from home	312.912	312.624	313.944	4.6	0.3	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	275.545	273.745	279.033	4.3	1.3	1.9
Housing	308.123	308.787	309.952	1.5	0.6	0.4
Shelter	392.135	393.007	392.874	1.3	0.2	0.0
Rent of primary residence	409.322	410.546	410.110	1.3	0.2	-0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences	401.223	401.824	402.036	1.6	0.2	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence	400.726	401.327	401.538	1.6	0.2	0.1
Fuels and utilities	190.687	194.119	199.732	2.0	4.7	2.9
Household energy	179.454	182.846	189.054	1.6	5.3	3.4
Energy services	176.265	179.803	185.024	5.4	5.0	2.9
Electricity	179.729	179.045	187.346	9.3	4.2	4.6
Utility (piped) gas service	157.117	168.904	167.567	-2.6	6.7	-0.8
Household furnishings and operations	112.634	110.968	113.575	3.8	0.8	2.3
Apparel	118.483	114.335	113.195	-1.6	-4.5	-1.0
Transportation	216.154	215.169	215.559	-2.1	-0.3	0.2
Private transportation	204.563	204.391	206.238	-0.9	0.8	0.9
New and used motor vehicles	94.748	94.648	95.119	5.3	0.4	0.5
New vehicles	204.696	205.107	208.742	2.9	2.0	1.8
Used cars and trucks	298.465	294.608	291.581	10.1	-2.3	-1.0
Motor fuel	178.728	175.714	181.789	-14.5	1.7	3.5
Gasoline (all types)	177.803	174.763	180.864	-14.6	1.7	3.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular	175.184	172.047	178.335	-15.1	1.8	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade	194.001	191.651	196.519	-11.8	1.3	2.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium	198.960	196.662	201.334	-10.7	1.2	2.4
Motor vehicle insurance	731.880	745.228	745.257	-4.6	1.8	0.0
Medical care	535.668	534.456	536.246	3.2	0.1	0.3
Recreation	133.937	132.484	133.042	3.8	-0.7	0.4
Education and communication	150.858	150.086	149.973	1.6	-0.6	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,275.436	1,271.265	1,271.176	2.4	-0.3	0.0
Other goods and services	445.601	433.731	448.673	2.0	0.7	3.4
Commodity and service group
All items	284.121	283.291	284.350	1.6	0.1	0.4
Commodities	191.470	189.798	191.140	0.7	-0.2	0.7
Commodities less food and beverages	138.164	136.087	137.435	-2.4	-0.5	1.0
Nondurables less food and beverages	171.431	168.511	169.643	-5.3	-1.0	0.7
Durables	94.419	93.306	94.709	2.7	0.3	1.5
Services	361.529	361.306	362.182	2.0	0.2	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	273.212	272.399	273.426	1.5	0.1	0.4
All items less shelter	241.254	239.748	241.280	1.9	0.0	0.6
Commodities less food	143.143	141.062	142.536	-2.0	-0.4	1.0
Nondurables	228.039	226.220	227.376	0.2	-0.3	0.5
Nondurables less food	177.646	174.788	176.162	-4.5	-0.8	0.8
Services less rent of shelter	339.630	338.268	340.205	2.9	0.2	0.6
Services less medical care services	346.352	346.178	346.997	1.8	0.2	0.2
Energy	181.818	182.860	189.109	-4.9	4.0	3.4
All items less energy	295.786	294.791	295.428	2.0	-0.1	0.2
All items less food and energy	299.979	298.888	299.496	1.7	-0.2	0.2