January Midwest Region prices up 0.8 percent
MIDWEST – Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.8 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday. Increases in the indexes for food at home, new and used motor vehicles, household furnishings and operations, and apparel were the largest contributors to the all-items increase. The energy index rose 0.1 percent in January as increases in the indexes for electricity and gasoline more than offset a decline in the natural gas service index. Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 7.9 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.4 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 25.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 8.0 percent.
