Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the May increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.7 percent. Energy prices advanced 5.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, May 2021–May 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2021	3.9	2.1
Jun 2021	4.0	2.3
Jul 2021	3.9	2.3
Aug 2021	4.0	2.3
Sep 2021	4.6	3.0
Oct 2021	5.4	3.4
Nov 2021	6.0	3.6
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	7.5	5.5
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Mar 2022	8.5	6.2
Apr 2022	7.9	5.8
May 2022	8.0	5.8
Jun 2022	8.6	6.0
Jul 2022	7.7	5.7
Aug 2022	7.6	6.2
Sep 2022	7.8	6.3
Oct 2022	7.5	6.0
Nov 2022	6.0	5.2
Dec 2022	4.9	4.5
Jan 2023	5.8	4.5
Feb 2023	5.1	4.5
Mar 2023	3.7	4.3
Apr 2023	3.8	4.5
May 2023	3.2	4.3
Jun 2023	2.5	4.0
Jul 2023	2.7	3.4
Aug 2023	3.3	3.5
Sep 2023	3.2	3.2
Oct 2023	2.4	2.7
Nov 2023	2.8	2.8
Dec 2023	3.5	3.4
Jan 2024	2.5	3.7
Feb 2024	3.4	3.8
Mar 2024	4.0	4.3
Apr 2024	3.9	3.8
May 2024	3.9	3.8

Food prices rose 0.2 percent for the month of May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home declined 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.7 percent. Prices for food at home increased 3.2 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (8.9 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 4.4 percent.

The energy index fell 1.1 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.9 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 8.7 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 5.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (6.7 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 6.5 percent, while prices for natural gas service declined 8.1 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in May. Higher prices for medical care (0.6 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.8 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.5 percent) and medical care (4.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-2.0 percent), recreation (-1.8 percent), and household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent).

The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2024.

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	May 2024	May 2023	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		330.671	332.572	332.956	3.9	0.7	0.1
All items (1967=100)		976.949	982.566	983.700	-	-	-
Food and beverages		334.781	337.613	338.302	3.4	1.1	0.2
Food		337.171	340.092	340.783	3.7	1.1	0.2
Food at home		322.081	322.600	324.389	3.2	0.7	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		348.307	346.088	343.760	-0.2	-1.3	-0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		351.201	354.902	358.451	8.9	2.1	1.0
Dairy and related products		301.916	299.095	297.772	-2.6	-1.4	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables		417.339	420.401	424.752	2.2	1.8	1.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		308.188	307.748	306.517	3.5	-0.5	-0.4
Other food at home		261.826	261.428	264.576	2.6	1.1	1.2
Food away from home		349.575	355.156	354.603	4.4	1.4	-0.2
Alcoholic beverages		279.886	281.200	281.818	-0.6	0.7	0.2
Housing		379.848	380.319	381.402	4.8	0.4	0.3
Shelter		435.247	437.090	438.671	5.5	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		458.184	460.739	462.776	4.7	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		452.337	454.312	454.458	5.6	0.5	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		452.311	454.286	454.432	5.6	0.5	0.0
Fuels and utilities		483.838	468.149	473.671	3.9	-2.1	1.2
Household energy		428.805	409.116	416.045	3.2	-3.0	1.7
Energy services(2)		427.220	407.423	414.487	3.2	-3.0	1.7
Electricity(2)		506.647	498.648	498.493	6.5	-1.6	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		306.737	260.717	283.320	-8.1	-7.6	8.7
Household furnishings and operations		131.272	131.252	129.515	-1.6	-1.3	-1.3
Apparel		124.614	123.045	122.459	1.5	-1.7	-0.5
Transportation		273.722	280.141	278.824	5.5	1.9	-0.5
Private transportation		274.883	280.347	278.512	5.0	1.3	-0.7
New and used motor vehicles(4)		111.055	110.866	111.381	-2.0	0.3	0.5
New vehicles(1)		192.873	192.628	191.985	-2.2	-0.5	-0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)		346.106	346.094	348.271	-8.8	0.6	0.6
Motor fuel		376.610	403.464	391.911	6.6	4.1	-2.9
Gasoline (all types)		367.031	393.569	382.348	6.7	4.2	-2.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		367.668	394.624	383.079	6.8	4.2	-2.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		350.968	375.568	365.426	6.5	4.1	-2.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		352.023	376.231	366.493	6.7	4.1	-2.6
Medical care		570.845	575.116	578.777	4.0	1.4	0.6
Recreation(6)		122.603	123.111	120.891	-1.8	-1.4	-1.8
Education and communication(6)		159.727	159.468	159.971	1.7	0.2	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,286.262	2,283.871	2,297.171	2.8	0.5	0.6
Other goods and services		529.482	535.089	542.404	1.5	2.4	1.4
Commodity and service group
All items		330.671	332.572	332.956	3.9	0.7	0.1
Commodities		218.184	220.459	219.639	1.0	0.7	-0.4
Commodities less food & beverages		160.586	162.528	161.133	-0.4	0.3	-0.9
Nondurables less food & beverages		226.103	231.787	229.122	2.0	1.3	-1.1
Durables		100.678	100.254	99.770	-3.4	-0.9	-0.5
Services		430.886	432.386	433.914	5.4	0.7	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		320.097	321.901	322.161	3.9	0.6	0.1
All items less shelter		284.361	286.310	286.127	2.8	0.6	-0.1
Commodities less food		165.807	167.762	166.396	-0.4	0.4	-0.8
Nondurables		281.534	285.776	284.811	2.7	1.2	-0.3
Nondurables less food		232.370	237.869	235.364	1.8	1.3	-1.1
Services less rent of shelter(3)		436.505	437.676	439.147	5.4	0.6	0.3
Services less medical care services		416.579	417.923	419.464	5.5	0.7	0.4
Energy		399.743	408.314	404.015	5.3	1.1	-1.1
All items less energy		328.712	330.275	330.905	3.8	0.7	0.2
All items less food and energy		327.366	328.694	329.313	3.8	0.6	0.2
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.