Consumer Price Index, New York-Northern New Jersey – December 2016

Area prices up 0.1 percent over the month and 2.1 percent over the year

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 up 0.1 percent in December after edging up 0.2 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that higher energy prices were partly offset by a seasonal decline in prices for apparel. (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 advanced 2.1 percent, the largest 12-month increase in over three years. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent. (See table A and chart 1.) Higher prices for shelter drove the 12-month change in both indexes. (See table 1.)