Consumer Price Index, Northeast Region – December 2020

News Release Information

21-63-PHI
Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Regional prices up 0.2 percent over the month; up 1.4 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Northeast edged up 0.2 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Frank Waligorski noted that the recent increase reflected a rise in the energy index, up 3.3 percent since November. The food index also increased over the month, up 0.8 percent, while the all items less food and energy index inched down 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the Northeast all items CPI-U increased 1.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) This reflected an advance in the all items less food and energy index, up 1.6 percent. The food index also rose, up 4.0 percent, while the energy index fell 5.9 percent since December 2019. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 0.8 percent since November. Prices were higher for both food away from home and food at home, up 0.9 and 0.6 percent, respectively.

From December 2019 to December 2020, the food index increased 4.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased over the year, up 3.8 percent; those for food away from home also rose, up 4.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index, which includes prices for household and transportation fuels, rose 3.3 percent in December, led by a 3.7-percent advance in gasoline prices. Prices were also higher for electricity (2.4 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (1.4 percent) over the month.

The energy index fell 5.9 percent since December 2019. The decrease reflected a drop in prices for gasoline (-12.8 percent). Prices for utility (piped) gas service also decreased over the year, down 0.1 percent, while those for electricity increased 3.7 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched down 0.1 percent over the month. Price decreases for new and used motor vehicles (-0.8 percent), apparel (-1.5 percent), and medical care (-0.3 percent) were moderated by higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.9 percent) and other goods and services (1.5 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent since December 2019, led by higher prices for shelter and new and used motor vehicles, up 1.9 and 3.6 percent, respectively. Prices also increased for recreation (2.0 percent) and education and communication (1.3 percent) over the year.

Month	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
January	0.0	0.7	0.6	2.5	0.5	1.6	0.3	1.5	0.7	2.3
February	0.2	0.7	0.3	2.6	0.4	1.7	0.2	1.3	0.3	2.4
March	0.2	0.6	-0.1	2.2	0.1	2.0	0.5	1.7	-0.2	1.7
April	0.6	1.0	0.3	1.9	0.4	2.1	0.4	1.7	-0.4	0.8
May	0.3	0.9	0.1	1.7	0.4	2.5	0.3	1.5	0.0	0.6
June	0.2	0.7	0.0	1.5	0.0	2.6	0.1	1.6	0.3	0.8
July	0.0	0.8	-0.2	1.3	0.0	2.7	0.1	1.7	0.4	1.1
August	0.1	1.0	0.3	1.6	0.2	2.7	0.1	1.5	0.1	1.1
September	0.2	1.3	0.5	1.9	0.1	2.2	0.0	1.4	0.1	1.2
October	0.2	1.6	-0.1	1.5	-0.1	2.3	-0.1	1.5	-0.2	1.1
November	0.0	1.6	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.9	0.1	1.9	0.1	1.1
December	0.0	1.9	0.1	1.7	-0.1	1.7	-0.1	1.9	0.2	1.4

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the two divisions of the Northeast. Over the month, the all items CPI-U increased in the New England division, up 0.3 percent, and the Middle Atlantic division, up 0.2 percent.

Over the year, prices rose in the Middle Atlantic division, up 1.6 percent. The all items index also rose in the New England division (0.8 percent). (See table B.)

Area	1-month change	12-month change
Northeast	0.2	1.4
New England Division	0.3	0.8
Middle Atlantic Division	0.2	1.6

The Consumer Price Index for January 2021 is scheduled to be released 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 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/cpi and 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 Northeast region is comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The New Englanddivision is comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The Middle Atlanticdivision is comprised of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

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

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020	Dec. 2019	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020
All items		273.374	273.543	274.225	1.4	0.3	0.2
All items (December 1977 = 100)		430.481	430.747	431.820
Food and beverages		274.419	274.106	276.114	4.0	0.6	0.7
Food		275.072	274.706	276.795	4.0	0.6	0.8
Food at home		259.598	258.979	260.581	3.8	0.4	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		306.610	304.567	307.198	2.4	0.2	0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		267.170	264.874	267.244	5.3	0.0	0.9
Dairy and related products		236.485	237.381	238.650	2.9	0.9	0.5
Fruits and vegetables		324.559	326.677	327.624	5.0	0.9	0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		179.406	176.107	178.328	2.5	-0.6	1.3
Other food at home		229.788	230.672	231.179	3.1	0.6	0.2
Food away from home		301.677	301.705	304.570	4.3	1.0	0.9
Alcoholic beverages		264.979	265.376	266.296	3.9	0.5	0.3
Housing		292.539	293.678	294.992	1.9	0.8	0.4
Shelter		366.774	367.346	367.393	1.9	0.2	0.0
Rent of primary residence		371.893	372.793	372.690	1.8	0.2	0.0
Owners' equivalent rent of residences		381.675	382.354	382.169	2.1	0.1	0.0
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence		381.338	382.014	381.840	2.1	0.1	0.0
Fuels and utilities		218.026	223.098	228.635	0.1	4.9	2.5
Household energy		188.983	194.052	199.844	-0.6	5.7	3.0
Energy services		193.263	198.393	202.564	2.5	4.8	2.1
Electricity		201.876	202.066	206.963	3.7	2.5	2.4
Utility (piped) gas service		162.305	176.489	178.959	-0.1	10.3	1.4
Household furnishings and operations		121.822	122.361	124.738	4.2	2.4	1.9
Apparel		121.984	118.008	116.236	-2.3	-4.7	-1.5
Transportation		199.317	199.860	199.557	-2.6	0.1	-0.2
Private transportation		193.363	193.422	194.078	-1.6	0.4	0.3
New and used motor vehicles		99.427	99.684	98.922	3.6	-0.5	-0.8
New vehicles		143.979	144.085	145.750	2.1	1.2	1.2
New cars and trucks		99.803	99.839	100.998	2.1	1.2	1.2
New cars		134.103	134.498	135.738	2.9	1.2	0.9
Used cars and trucks		161.126	159.067	157.746	10.1	-2.1	-0.8
Motor fuel		190.260	187.602	194.536	-12.8	2.2	3.7
Gasoline (all types)		189.295	186.622	193.555	-12.8	2.3	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular		185.717	182.960	190.000	-13.3	2.3	3.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade		209.248	207.237	213.683	-10.3	2.1	3.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium		206.906	204.989	210.700	-9.8	1.8	2.8
Motor vehicle insurance		584.681	592.578	594.559	-5.5	1.7	0.3
Medical care		547.497	546.128	544.695	0.9	-0.5	-0.3
Medical care commodities		386.889	382.544	381.360	-4.1	-1.4	-0.3
Medical care services		594.428	594.004	592.502	2.0	-0.3	-0.3
Professional services		407.269	407.942	407.468	1.9	0.0	-0.1
Recreation		128.903	129.333	129.070	2.0	0.1	-0.2
Education and communication		149.003	148.692	148.572	1.3	-0.3	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		1,312.285	1,310.250	1,310.454	1.5	-0.1	0.0
Other goods and services		513.566	510.586	518.064	3.2	0.9	1.5
Commodity and service group
Commodities		190.542	189.784	191.377	1.0	0.4	0.8
Commodities less food and beverages		147.066	146.166	147.512	-1.1	0.3	0.9
Nondurables less food and beverages		184.416	182.728	183.736	-4.9	-0.4	0.6
Durables		103.297	103.044	104.450	3.9	1.1	1.4
Services		352.848	353.904	353.715	1.6	0.2	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		241.104	241.130	242.040	1.1	0.4	0.4
All items less medical care		261.283	261.522	262.300	1.5	0.4	0.3
Commodities less food		151.179	150.309	151.652	-0.9	0.3	0.9
Nondurables		228.694	227.662	229.158	0.1	0.2	0.7
Nondurables less food		189.142	187.579	188.581	-4.2	-0.3	0.5
Services less rent of shelter		349.889	351.503	351.056	1.3	0.3	-0.1
Services less medical care services		336.204	337.361	337.263	1.5	0.3	0.0
Energy		189.574	191.517	197.774	-5.9	4.3	3.3
All items less energy		284.489	284.498	284.681	1.9	0.1	0.1
All items less food and energy		287.971	288.047	287.893	1.6	0.0	-0.1