Last week, we added to our coverage of the state economy by highlighting two reports demonstrating that the federal poverty line woefully fails to account for NJ’s cost of living. This occurs in a context where unemployment continues to hover above the national average and WARN notices outpace the past three years while cuts to Food Assistance are in place at the federal level and state and municipal governments continue to pursue a building development economy that has not fulfilled its promise of affordable housing and hasn’t appeared to make a dent in the state’s employment woes.
The news isn’t getting any better today.
Inflation stayed above the national rate across the two metropolitan areas used by the federal government to track price changes in New Jersey according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Prices across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington region went up 5.4% from June 2025 to June 2026, while the New York-Newark-Jersey City region hit a 4.1% annual increase, both outpacing the 3.5% rate reported during the same time period.
The local figures aren’t statewide; the Philly index covers Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties, along with portions of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
The NY index includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties, along with portions of New York and Pennsylvania.
South Jersey
The Philly region took the bigger hit, with prices rising 5.4% over the year and 1.3% from April through June.
The index excluding food and energy (core inflation) went up 4.7% over the year.
Shelter went up 6.5%, while overall food prices rose 4.2%.
Prices for food purchased at grocery stores increased 5.2%, compared with a 2.6% increase for food purchased at restaurants, cafeterias and other locations outside the home.
Every major grocery category increased over the year. Fruit and vegetable prices rose 9%, while the broader “other food at home” category increased 7.5%.
Energy prices climbed 16.7%, including a 30.1% increase in gasoline prices compared with June 2025.
Those increases came despite gasoline prices rising just 0.2% during the most recent two-month measurement period, showing how much of the annual increase occurred before June.
New York-Newark Region
The NY-Newark region was a bit more mixed.
Overall prices came down 0.2% from May to June, but were still 4.1% higher than one year earlier.
The slight decline was largely driven by lower energy prices with the energy index falling 2.1% in June, including a 7.4% decline in gasoline prices after four back-to-back increases.
Despite the monthly drop, energy prices stayed 16.2% higher than in June 2025 while gas was up 33.8% over the year.
Food prices were stable in June but increased 3.7% over the year. Grocery prices rose 4%, while food purchased away from home went up 3.2%.
Shelter increased 4.3%, including a 4.2% increase in rent for primary residences and a 4.5% increase in owners’ equivalent rent – which estimates how much homeowners would pay to rent their own homes.
Core inflation rose 3.4% over the year, but declined 0.1% during June. Clothing prices fell 2.4% during the month and medical-care prices went down 1.7%, while recreation and vehicle costs increased.
As more working-class families in NJ struggle to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table they can continue to question their municipal and state government about the enormous tax breaks developers in the state are getting in what continues to be an onslaught of luxury housing rather than housing that meets the needs of the folks already here.
Important Limits to the Numbers
The local indexes measure the rate at which prices change within each area. They cannot be used to determine whether an item is more expensive in the New York region than in the Philadelphia region.
The local data are also not seasonally adjusted, meaning short-term movements can be influenced by normal seasonal changes.BLS publishes the New York-Newark index monthly, while the Philadelphia-Camden index is released every other month. That means the short-term figures are not direct comparisons: New York’s 0.2% decline covers May to June, while Philadelphia’s 1.3% increase covers April through June.
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