Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.8 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The May increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and 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 advanced 1.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices decreased 9.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged down 0.1 percent for the month of May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent, but prices for food away from home increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.8 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.0 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 0.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 9.6 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (15.1 percent). Prices for electricity rose 4.0 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 1.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 9.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 1.5 percent, but prices for electricity rose 1.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in May. Higher prices for used cars and trucks (0.7 percent), recreation (0.5 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-0.6 percent) and education and communication (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.0 percent) and medical care (3.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in apparel (-1.3 percent) and education and communication (-0.5 percent).

Table A. West Region 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	0.3	1.9	0.5	1.4	0.4	2.6	0.3	1.7	0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.7
February	0.1	1.4	0.6	1.9	0.4	2.5	0.8	2.0	0.4	1.3	0.6	0.9
March	0.3	1.6	0.9	2.6	0.9	2.4	0.4	1.5	0.6	1.5	0.8	1.1
April	0.2	1.5	0.6	3.0	0.2	2.1	0.0	1.3	0.3	1.8	0.3	1.0
May	0.1	1.3	0.3	3.2	0.2	2.0	0.2	1.3	0.6	2.3	0.8	1.2
June	-0.1	0.6	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.0	0.1	1.5	0.1	2.3
July	0.1	0.8	-0.1	2.9	-0.3	1.8	0.0	1.9	0.1	2.3
August	0.1	0.7	0.2	3.0	0.5	2.1	0.1	1.5	-0.1	2.1
September	-0.1	0.5	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.2	0.2	1.3	0.1	2.0
October	0.1	0.6	0.0	3.4	0.4	2.5	-0.1	0.9	-0.1	2.0
November	0.0	0.9	-0.2	3.2	-0.7	1.9	-0.4	1.3	-0.6	1.7
December	0.2	1.3	-0.3	2.7	-0.5	1.7	0.0	1.8	-0.5	1.3

The June 2015 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on July 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 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

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

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Mar. 2015	Apr. 2015	May 2015	May 2014	Mar. 2015	Apr. 2015
Expenditure category
All Items	241.690	242.302	244.227	1.2	1.0	0.8
All items (December 1977=100)	390.678	391.668	394.779
Food and beverages	248.281	248.465	248.352	1.7	0.0	0.0
Food	248.400	248.641	248.429	1.8	0.0	-0.1
Food at home	247.781	247.676	247.018	0.9	-0.3	-0.3
Food away from home	248.050	248.779	249.196	3.0	0.5	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	243.357	242.818	243.962	1.3	0.2	0.5
Housing	251.885	252.715	253.790	3.5	0.8	0.4
Shelter	284.398	285.244	286.077	4.0	0.6	0.3
Rent of primary residence (1)	297.729	298.514	299.516	4.4	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	297.959	298.891	299.898	4.0	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	297.951	298.884	299.887	4.0	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	274.195	275.144	281.185	1.8	2.5	2.2
Household energy	239.035	239.889	247.553	0.1	3.6	3.2
Energy services (1)	241.174	242.277	250.363	0.4	3.8	3.3
Electricity (1)	263.530	264.929	275.611	1.0	4.6	4.0
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	203.122	203.588	205.983	-1.5	1.4	1.2
Household furnishings and operations	129.328	130.059	129.596	1.0	0.2	-0.4
Apparel	121.096	121.179	120.486	-1.3	-0.5	-0.6
Transportation	203.799	203.645	212.655	-4.8	4.3	4.4
Private transportation	197.986	197.192	205.723	-4.9	3.9	4.3
New and used motor vehicles (3)	101.604	102.118	102.208	0.4	0.6	0.1
New vehicles	147.602	147.433	147.661	1.0	0.0	0.2
New cars and trucks (3) (4)	102.591	102.436	102.610	1.1	0.0	0.2
New cars (4)	147.144	146.593	147.015	0.1	-0.1	0.3
Used cars and trucks	142.077	144.846	145.806	-1.0	2.6	0.7
Motor fuel	239.295	233.860	268.693	-16.2	12.3	14.9
Gasoline (all types)	238.388	232.967	268.144	-16.1	12.5	15.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)	236.261	230.937	266.188	-16.5	12.7	15.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)	227.372	222.347	254.903	-14.9	12.1	14.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)	231.223	226.015	258.601	-14.6	11.8	14.4
Medical Care	450.675	456.010	455.768	3.6	1.1	-0.1
Medical care commodities	345.619	345.117	344.021	4.6	-0.5	-0.3
Medical care services	483.719	491.296	491.402	3.4	1.6	0.0
Professional services	336.518	336.675	336.863	1.4	0.1	0.1
Recreation (3)	109.869	109.966	110.491	0.1	0.6	0.5
Education and communication (3)	138.151	138.366	137.667	-0.5	-0.4	-0.5
Other goods and services	401.413	402.053	401.752	1.1	0.1	-0.1
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	241.690	242.302	244.227	1.2	1.0	0.8
Commodities	181.002	180.769	183.355	-1.6	1.3	1.4
Commodities less food & beverages	146.995	146.598	150.207	-3.8	2.2	2.5
Nondurables less food & beverages	186.651	185.309	192.865	-5.8	3.3	4.1
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	232.908	230.603	243.739	-7.1	4.7	5.7
Durables	110.348	110.805	110.832	-0.5	0.4	0.0
Services	297.488	298.908	300.174	2.9	0.9	0.4
Rent of shelter (2)	302.570	303.474	304.362	4.1	0.6	0.3
Transportation services	279.612	282.205	285.891	0.7	2.2	1.3
Other services	334.112	334.619	334.293	0.4	0.1	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	232.108	232.528	234.530	1.0	1.0	0.9
All items less food	240.824	241.495	243.761	1.1	1.2	0.9
All items less shelter	225.665	226.183	228.591	-0.3	1.3	1.1
Commodities less food	150.707	150.304	153.862	-3.5	2.1	2.4
Nondurables	217.779	217.139	221.181	-2.0	1.6	1.9
Nondurables less food	191.002	189.702	196.912	-5.3	3.1	3.8
Nondurables less food and apparel	233.555	231.423	243.387	-6.4	4.2	5.2
Services less rent of shelter (2)	324.729	326.987	328.894	1.6	1.3	0.6
Services less medical care services	284.546	285.601	286.924	2.9	0.8	0.5
Energy	241.612	238.975	261.834	-9.9	8.4	9.6
All items less energy	243.653	244.516	244.871	2.2	0.5	0.1
All items less food and energy	243.588	244.563	245.018	2.3	0.6	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	141.211	141.427	141.292	-0.1	0.1	-0.1
Energy commodities	243.220	237.637	272.201	-16.1	11.9	14.5
Services less energy services	301.824	303.268	304.102	3.1	0.8	0.3
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) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.