Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 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 energy. (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 2.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 2.8 percent. Energy prices declined 2.5 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, October 2020–October 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Oct 2020	1.1	1.1
Dec 2020	2.0	1.4
Feb 2021	1.6	0.9
Apr 2021	3.8	2.9
Jun 2021	3.2	2.3
Aug 2021	3.7	2.5
Oct 2021	3.8	2.4
Dec 2021	4.2	2.8
Feb 2022	5.2	3.4
Apr 2022	5.0	2.7
Jun 2022	6.8	4.4
Aug 2022	5.7	4.1
Oct 2022	6.0	4.1
Dec 2022	4.9	4.0
Feb 2023	5.3	4.6
Apr 2023	4.2	4.7
Jun 2023	2.9	3.9
Aug 2023	3.4	3.6
Oct 2023	2.8	3.1

Food prices were unchanged for the two months ending in October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.4 percent, with lower prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 0.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.8 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories.  Prices for food away from home advanced 5.0 percent.

The energy index increased 6.8 percent for the two months ending in October. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (8.3 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 18.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 0.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 2.5 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-8.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 12.2 percent, but electricity prices advanced 14.1 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.8 percent) and shelter (0.1 percent) were offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-2.9 percent), recreation (-0.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included household furnishings and operations (4.9 percent) and shelter (3.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-6.8 percent).

The December 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

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

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=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		340.094	-	341.219	2.8	0.3	-
All items (1967=100)		1,045.544	-	1,049.001	-	-	-
Food and beverages		363.484	-	363.712	2.8	0.1	-
Food		366.277	-	366.142	2.8	0.0	-
Food at home		331.589	330.240	330.300	1.9	-0.4	0.0
Cereals and bakery products		326.609	330.298	332.010	2.8	1.7	0.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		354.085	359.745	359.247	2.0	1.5	-0.1
Dairy and related products		338.521	334.243	336.736	-0.3	-0.5	0.7
Fruits and vegetables		416.407	413.420	415.948	-1.9	-0.1	0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		239.132	241.778	249.969	6.5	4.5	3.4
Other food at home		298.757	290.595	285.068	3.4	-4.6	-1.9
Food away from home		406.376	-	409.744	5.0	0.8	-
Alcoholic beverages		333.818	-	338.114	3.4	1.3	-
Housing		391.561	-	393.659	3.9	0.5	-
Shelter		436.689	436.017	437.202	3.6	0.1	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)		501.255	502.863	502.626	4.7	0.3	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		467.028	467.004	468.810	3.4	0.4	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		467.028	467.004	468.810	3.4	0.4	0.4
Fuels and utilities		568.379	-	587.603	5.2	3.4	-
Household energy		523.691	542.934	551.068	4.7	5.2	1.5
Energy services(2)		525.493	545.071	553.244	5.0	5.3	1.5
Electricity(2)		617.731	627.505	619.499	14.1	0.3	-1.3
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		368.634	403.323	436.938	-12.2	18.5	8.3
Household furnishings and operations		171.606	-	174.636	4.9	1.8	-
Apparel		117.759	-	114.346	2.9	-2.9	-
Transportation		254.009	-	256.018	-3.1	0.8	-
Private transportation		255.641	-	257.641	-2.3	0.8	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		121.463	-	117.888	-2.5	-2.9	-
New vehicles(1)		196.016	-	194.805	0.1	-0.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		359.111	-	333.804	-6.8	-7.0	-
Motor fuel		370.944	398.486	401.688	-7.9	8.3	0.8
Gasoline (all types)		368.512	395.843	399.007	-8.1	8.3	0.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		368.820	396.493	399.529	-8.3	8.3	0.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		343.435	368.226	371.517	-7.9	8.2	0.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		348.359	373.037	376.494	-7.4	8.1	0.9
Medical care		591.060	-	594.003	1.1	0.5	-
Recreation(6)		145.580	-	144.574	4.7	-0.7	-
Education and communication(6)		161.488	-	160.472	2.7	-0.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	1,945.129	0.1	-	-
Other goods and services		629.145	-	632.977	10.7	0.6	-
Commodity and service group
All items		340.094	-	341.219	2.8	0.3	-
Commodities		235.609	-	236.108	0.2	0.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		168.637	-	169.145	-2.0	0.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		225.002	-	230.276	-1.6	2.3	-
Durables		116.655	-	115.076	-1.0	-1.4	-
Services		428.124	-	429.785	4.0	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		329.675	-	330.728	2.9	0.3	-
All items less shelter		302.755	-	304.254	2.1	0.5	-
Commodities less food		176.054	-	176.660	-1.7	0.3	-
Nondurables		296.189	-	299.255	1.3	1.0	-
Nondurables less food		233.700	-	238.950	-1.1	2.2	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		441.080	-	444.924	4.7	0.9	-
Services less medical care services		416.663	-	418.547	4.3	0.5	-
Energy		433.524	457.669	462.892	-2.5	6.8	1.1
All items less energy		339.847	-	339.705	3.1	0.0	-
All items less food and energy		336.662	-	336.518	3.1	0.0	-
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.