Memo to CFOs of firms in the Midwest:
If you think costs in your area are rising more quickly than those in the rest of the United States, you’re absolutely right.
This morning’s Consumer Price Index release, which showed an overall 0.6 percent spike in January consumer prices, showed an even greater increase in the Midwest.
Hit hard by a tough winter and surges in both natural gas and gasoline prices, the Midwest experienced the greatest price rise, 1.0 percent, of any domestic region during the month.
Suburban towns of less than 50,000 population in that area saw the heftiest price rise, 1.4 percent.
In addition, the specific region containing Chicago; Gary, Indiana; and Kenosha, Wisconsin saw the sharpest increase of any major population center specifically broken out in the study. Prices in that area are up 1.3 percent for the month of January and 4.6 percent over the past year.
On the other hand, prices in the Northeast rose by 0.5 percent during January, as did prices in the South. Out west, the figure was 0.7 percent. Click here for the complete CPI report by the U.S. Department of Labor