Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.4 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that the September decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline. (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 rose 0.7 percent.  (See chart 1.) Energy prices dropped 11.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.6 percent for the month of September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent, and prices for food away from home advanced 0.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.5 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 2.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 0.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 8.5 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-13.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 1.1 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices dropped 11.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity declined 4.9 percent, and prices for natural gas service  moved down 4.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in September. The increase was influenced by higher prices for apparel (2.6 percent), other goods and services (0.7 percent), and shelter (0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (3.5 percent) and medical care (2.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in recreation (-1.8 percent) and apparel (-1.7 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.4	1.8	0.9	1.8	0.8	2.1	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1
February	0.0	1.4	0.5	2.3	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1
March	0.4	1.9	1.1	3.0	1.0	2.0	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5
April	0.2	1.9	0.5	3.3	0.0	1.5	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5
May	0.2	1.8	0.0	3.1	0.1	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1
June	-0.2	0.9	-0.4	2.9	-0.4	1.6	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8
July	0.1	0.9	-0.4	2.4	-0.1	1.9	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4
August	0.2	0.8	0.2	2.4	0.6	2.3	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1
September	-0.1	0.4	0.5	3.1	0.4	2.2	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7
October	0.3	0.7	0.0	2.8	0.8	3.0	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4
November	-0.4	0.7	-0.1	3.0	-1.0	2.1	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3
December	0.3	1.3	-0.5	2.2	-0.7	1.9	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7

The October 2015 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County is scheduled to be released on November 17, 2015.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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-Riverside-Orange County, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jul. 2015	Aug. 2015	Sep. 2015	Sep. 2014	Jul. 2015	Aug. 2015
Expenditure category
All items	247.066	246.328	245.431	0.7	-0.7	-0.4
All items (1967=100)	729.944	727.763	725.112	-	-	-
Food and beverages	249.259	248.660	249.965	1.4	0.3	0.5
Food	249.521	249.024	250.499	1.5	0.4	0.6
Food at home	258.745	257.616	259.351	0.9	0.2	0.7
Food away from home	234.295	234.608	235.732	2.5	0.6	0.5
Alcoholic beverages	231.106	229.310	228.488	0.0	-1.1	-0.4
Housing	267.487	268.128	268.534	2.6	0.4	0.2
Shelter	303.424	304.185	304.641	3.5	0.4	0.1
Rent of primary residence (1)	316.908	318.359	318.925	3.9	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	315.254	316.295	316.537	3.3	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	315.232	316.270	316.513	3.3	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities	294.852	295.443	295.078	-2.4	0.1	-0.1
Household energy	259.298	260.081	259.239	-4.8	0.0	-0.3
Energy services (1)	258.017	258.988	258.159	-4.7	0.1	-0.3
Electricity (1)	290.696	290.671	290.671	-4.9	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	223.608	226.483	224.068	-4.2	0.2	-1.1
Household furnishings and operations	115.233	115.445	115.943	0.5	0.6	0.4
Apparel	106.516	111.391	114.341	-1.7	7.3	2.6
Transportation	214.516	207.441	198.005	-5.1	-7.7	-4.5
Private transportation	209.783	203.110	193.629	-4.8	-7.7	-4.7
Motor fuel	309.603	283.806	246.755	-15.5	-20.3	-13.1
Gasoline (all types)	303.245	277.944	241.579	-15.4	-20.3	-13.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	305.141	278.966	242.193	-15.7	-20.6	-13.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	284.904	267.946	233.497	-13.8	-18.0	-12.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	284.780	261.694	229.035	-14.7	-19.6	-12.5
Medical care	424.680	424.885	426.277	2.2	0.4	0.3
Recreation (5)	104.267	103.423	103.544	-1.8	-0.7	0.1
Education and communication (5)	146.469	146.567	147.006	1.0	0.4	0.3
Other goods and services	384.517	386.009	388.613	2.0	1.1	0.7
Commodity and service group
All items	247.066	246.328	245.431	0.7	-0.7	-0.4
Commodities	181.321	179.536	177.301	-1.8	-2.2	-1.2
Commodities less food & beverages	144.657	142.441	138.788	-4.1	-4.1	-2.6
Nondurables less food & beverages	193.161	188.535	181.951	-5.6	-5.8	-3.5
Durables	97.431	97.499	96.637	-1.3	-0.8	-0.9
Services	304.917	305.226	305.665	2.2	0.2	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	239.111	238.348	237.382	0.7	-0.7	-0.4
All items less shelter	222.521	221.135	219.652	-0.8	-1.3	-0.7
Commodities less food	148.602	146.381	142.790	-3.9	-3.9	-2.5
Nondurables	222.829	220.043	217.102	-1.9	-2.6	-1.3
Nondurables less food	197.538	193.046	186.764	-5.2	-5.5	-3.3
Services less rent of shelter (2)	315.729	315.380	315.800	0.5	0.0	0.1
Services less medical care services	294.282	294.610	295.050	2.3	0.3	0.1
Energy	291.646	275.895	252.521	-11.6	-13.4	-8.5
All items less energy	245.738	246.085	246.813	1.8	0.4	0.3
All items less food and energy	245.394	245.896	246.488	1.8	0.4	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.