Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in October 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and medical care. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.4 percent. Energy prices declined 0.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, October 2020–October 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Oct 2020	0.7	1.4
Dec 2020	0.5	1.0
Feb 2021	1.0	1.0
Apr 2021	4.9	4.2
Jun 2021	5.4	4.7
Aug 2021	5.1	4.7
Oct 2021	7.1	6.4
Dec 2021	9.7	8.3
Feb 2022	10.9	9.9
Apr 2022	11.0	9.7
Jun 2022	12.3	10.2
Aug 2022	13.0	12.3
Oct 2022	12.1	11.1
Dec 2022	9.5	10.2
Feb 2023	8.5	9.1
Apr 2023	7.4	8.1
Jun 2023	4.4	5.9
Aug 2023	3.7	3.5
Oct 2023	2.9	3.2

Food prices decreased 0.7 percent for the two months ending in October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.9 percent with lower prices in three of the six categories. Prices for food away from home decreased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.4 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.0 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (10.2 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 5.7 percent.

The energy index increased 1.8 percent for the two months ending in October. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 0.2 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 2.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 0.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 16.0 percent, and prices for electricity rose 5.1 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for medical care (3.4 percent) and shelter (0.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-3.1 percent) and apparel (-2.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (6.3 percent) and medical care (5.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-4.5 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.2 percent).

The December 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on January 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2022	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		180.387	-	181.391	2.9	0.6	-
Food and beverages		187.180	-	185.935	3.3	-0.7	-
Food		190.190	-	188.936	3.4	-0.7	-
Food at home		184.490	183.818	182.841	2.0	-0.9	-0.5
Cereals and bakery products		247.761	246.219	239.559	9.6	-3.3	-2.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		211.512	212.180	214.171	-5.7	1.3	0.9
Dairy and related products		147.304	146.864	150.083	2.3	1.9	2.2
Fruits and vegetables		159.402	158.446	161.060	10.2	1.0	1.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		141.981	144.857	136.358	-1.8	-4.0	-5.9
Other food at home		186.245	183.385	182.276	1.6	-2.1	-0.6
Food away from home		201.187	-	200.591	5.7	-0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		154.395	-	153.237	2.7	-0.8	-
Housing		203.849	-	204.782	5.4	0.5	-
Shelter		219.216	219.866	221.167	6.3	0.9	0.6
Rent of primary residence		233.587	236.109	238.200	8.4	2.0	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		216.038	217.475	217.809	5.7	0.8	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		216.038	217.475	217.809	5.7	0.8	0.2
Fuels and utilities		205.466	-	202.032	5.7	-1.7	-
Household energy		206.333	201.600	201.658	6.1	-2.3	0.0
Energy services		206.244	201.419	201.450	6.4	-2.3	0.0
Electricity		215.022	209.505	209.505	5.1	-2.6	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		161.839	161.933	162.213	16.0	0.2	0.2
Household furnishings and operations		118.314	-	116.780	-0.2	-1.3	-
Apparel		149.817	-	145.815	2.2	-2.7	-
Transportation		156.841	-	158.313	-3.6	0.9	-
Private transportation		162.873	-	163.329	-3.3	0.3	-
New and used motor vehicles		113.920	-	110.398	-4.5	-3.1	-
New vehicles		113.256	-	112.593	-0.2	-0.6	-
Used cars and trucks		119.670	-	111.420	-8.8	-6.9	-
Motor fuel		359.620	399.983	378.563	-6.1	5.3	-5.4
Gasoline (all types)		358.380	398.468	376.878	-6.4	5.2	-5.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		362.233	403.755	380.658	-6.7	5.1	-5.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		369.682	409.428	390.729	-5.7	5.7	-4.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		348.896	384.165	367.804	-5.2	5.4	-4.3
Medical care		217.245	-	224.544	5.3	3.4	-
Recreation		123.324	-	125.644	1.8	1.9	-
Education and communication		117.894	-	118.163	0.2	0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		236.071	-	236.752	-	0.3	-
Other goods and services		171.515	-	173.599	2.7	1.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		180.387	-	181.391	2.9	0.6	-
Commodities		150.189	-	149.082	-0.7	-0.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages		131.793	-	130.763	-3.0	-0.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		184.277	-	185.580	-1.6	0.7	-
Durables		89.958	-	87.771	-5.3	-2.4	-
Services		201.521	-	204.173	5.0	1.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		178.483	-	179.095	2.7	0.3	-
All items less shelter		160.985	-	161.518	0.7	0.3	-
Commodities less food		132.755	-	131.718	-2.9	-0.8	-
Nondurables		186.428	-	186.344	1.1	0.0	-
Nondurables less food		181.960	-	183.050	-1.4	0.6	-
Services less rent of shelter		177.812	-	181.466	2.9	2.1	-
Services less medical care services		200.206	-	202.321	5.0	1.1	-
Energy		278.896	292.823	283.903	-0.9	1.8	-3.0
All items less energy		175.117	-	175.940	3.3	0.5	-
All items less food and energy		172.714	-	173.853	3.2	0.7	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.