Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that a decrease in prices for other goods and services helped offset higher energy prices. (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 2.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 4.7 percent. Energy prices fell 8.0 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, July 2020–July 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jul 2020	1.9	2.3
Aug 2020	2.0	2.0
Sep 2020	1.2	1.4
Oct 2020	0.7	1.2
Nov 2020	1.0	1.5
Dec 2020	1.5	1.5
Jan 2021	0.9	0.6
Feb 2021	1.0	0.3
Mar 2021	2.2	0.9
Apr 2021	3.6	1.9
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

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent for the month of July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 1.0 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (1.9 percent) and fruits and vegetables (1.8 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.7 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 3.0 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 7.0 percent.

The energy index advanced 1.8 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (2.5 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 3.4 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 1.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 8.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service fell 11.5 percent, but prices for electricity increased 13.7 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.3 percent in July. Lower prices for other goods and services (-5.2 percent) and apparel (-3.0 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.4 percent) and recreation (4.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-5.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.2 percent).

The August 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2023.

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	May 2023	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Jul. 2022	May 2023	Jun. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		320.514	322.055	321.931	2.7	0.4	0.0
All items (1967=100)		946.941	951.494	951.126	-	-	-
Food and beverages		327.081	328.406	330.276	4.5	1.0	0.6
Food		328.696	329.962	332.354	4.7	1.1	0.7
Food at home		314.387	315.871	318.975	3.0	1.5	1.0
Cereals and bakery products		344.278	343.414	350.051	7.6	1.7	1.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		329.252	337.829	340.830	1.0	3.5	0.9
Dairy and related products		305.662	297.390	300.894	-0.5	-1.6	1.2
Fruits and vegetables		415.760	411.595	418.910	-0.3	0.8	1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		296.064	306.049	304.262	3.0	2.8	-0.6
Other food at home		257.974	258.294	259.738	6.6	0.7	0.6
Food away from home		339.551	340.405	341.524	7.0	0.6	0.3
Alcoholic beverages		283.492	285.493	280.398	2.1	-1.1	-1.8
Housing		364.031	366.319	367.102	5.0	0.8	0.2
Shelter		415.877	418.164	419.001	5.4	0.8	0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)		442.056	443.737	444.931	5.8	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		430.233	432.069	433.348	5.2	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		430.209	432.044	433.323	5.2	0.7	0.3
Fuels and utilities		455.747	460.548	466.723	6.4	2.4	1.3
Household energy		403.312	409.392	420.614	6.5	4.3	2.7
Energy services(2)		401.707	407.773	418.879	6.7	4.3	2.7
Electricity(2)		468.103	475.574	487.574	13.7	4.2	2.5
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		308.215	311.953	322.618	-11.5	4.7	3.4
Household furnishings and operations		131.647	132.982	132.065	-0.2	0.3	-0.7
Apparel		120.655	120.659	116.984	4.1	-3.0	-3.0
Transportation		264.314	265.189	264.953	-5.0	0.2	-0.1
Private transportation		265.202	267.102	267.483	-4.9	0.9	0.1
New and used motor vehicles(4)		113.604	114.195	114.278	-1.6	0.6	0.1
New vehicles(1)		196.377	196.567	196.489	1.2	0.1	0.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		381.702	386.881	385.592	-5.3	1.0	-0.3
Motor fuel		367.636	371.604	375.619	-16.7	2.2	1.1
Gasoline (all types)		358.187	362.182	366.090	-16.8	2.2	1.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		358.808	362.871	366.863	-17.0	2.2	1.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		343.047	346.686	350.244	-16.3	2.1	1.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		343.438	347.052	350.513	-16.0	2.1	1.0
Medical care		556.663	556.890	557.087	-0.1	0.1	0.0
Recreation(6)		123.054	124.389	124.435	4.2	1.1	0.0
Education and communication(6)		157.336	156.957	157.089	0.9	-0.2	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,234.511	2,234.511	2,241.252	3.3	0.3	0.3
Other goods and services		534.207	540.739	512.741	5.0	-4.0	-5.2
Commodity and service group
All items		320.514	322.055	321.931	2.7	0.4	0.0
Commodities		217.508	218.667	218.535	-0.8	0.5	-0.1
Commodities less food & beverages		161.781	162.770	162.044	-4.8	0.2	-0.4
Nondurables less food & beverages		224.661	226.577	225.104	-5.8	0.2	-0.7
Durables		103.231	103.638	103.368	-3.1	0.1	-0.3
Services		411.577	413.438	413.327	4.6	0.4	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		310.093	311.682	311.545	2.9	0.5	0.0
All items less shelter		278.316	279.524	278.963	1.0	0.2	-0.2
Commodities less food		167.101	168.129	167.297	-4.5	0.1	-0.5
Nondurables		277.410	279.075	279.177	0.1	0.6	0.0
Nondurables less food		231.206	233.154	231.442	-5.2	0.1	-0.7
Services less rent of shelter(3)		416.835	418.030	416.357	3.4	-0.1	-0.4
Services less medical care services		397.518	399.506	399.457	5.1	0.5	0.0
Energy		383.790	388.643	395.638	-8.0	3.1	1.8
All items less energy		318.803	320.168	319.644	3.6	0.3	-0.2
All items less food and energy		317.110	318.489	317.529	3.4	0.1	-0.3
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.